The Las Vegas Raiders attempted to move up from seventh overall to the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft with the Chicago Bears earlier in the offseason.
It’s rather obvious that the target was quarterback with Alabama’s Bryce Young and C.J. Stroud from Ohio State drawing interest from the Raiders. Unfortunately, general manager Dave Ziegler and Co. missed out on trading up when the Carolina Panthers pulled off a blockbuster deal with Chicago.
With days to go before the 2023 NFL Draft, the Raiders now might find themselves in an ideal situation. Several media reports indicate that Stroud, one of their primary pre-draft targets, could slip down the board when Round 1 comes calling from Kansas City Thursday evening.
If that is indeed the case, we fully expect the Raiders to pounce. In fact, Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network suggests that Stroud will not get past the Raiders at seven.
This would be the best of both worlds for the Raiders. A lot has been made about Stroud’s score in the S2 Cognition Test. It was the lowest among quarterbacks likely to be selected later this week in the NFL Draft (explanation here).
Even then, several reports have pointed to the Raiders only targeting two quarterbacks in the draft. With Bryce Young slated to go No. 1, Stroud is the other signal caller mentioned. That included talks of a potential trade up for Stroud with the Houston Texans at two.
“I think it’s much more likely if Houston’s going to make a deal to move out of 2, it’s going to be with Las Vegas and I’m told that Las Vegas is only interested if the quarterback is named Young or Stroud.”
Todd McShay on the Las Vegas Raiders’ quarterback targets in the 2023 NFL Draft
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C.J. Stroud as an ideal fit for the Las Vegas Raiders
Being able to land one of their top quarterbacks without trading up would be a boon for the Raiders. It would enable them to target defense on Day 2 while finding a potential long-term replacement for stopgap quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
- C.J. Stroud college stats: 69.3% completion, 8,123 yards, 85 TD, 12 INT
It’s not yet known whether the leaks regarding Stroud leading up to the draft are simply teams attempting to position themselves to land him. That could very well include the Raiders.
What we do know is that Las Vegas met with Stroud during the NFL Scouting Combine and hosted him in Sin City leading up to the draft. While it has also shown interest in Will Levis (Kentucky) and Anthony Richardson (Florida), it appears that the team is zeroing in on Stroud.
We won’t know until the Las Vegas Raiders are on the block Thursday night. But things are setting up well for the downtrodden organization to land one of their preferred quarterback prospects in the 2023 NFL Draft.
Of course, there is also a chance the team goes in another direction and attempts to fill a need on the other side of the ball. It will certainly be interesting to see what happens here.