The Raiders have the no. 6 pick in the upcomimg draft and the player they’ve been most frequently connected to in recent months is Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Many believe the Raiders will take Sanders in the draft if they get the opportunity and the presence of minority owner Tom Brady is a big reason for that sentiment.
According to Yahoo Sports insider Charles Robinson, Brady hasn’t been shy about sharing his feelings on Sanders and Robinson detailed what he is hearing about those conversations in a report this week.
“From what I’ve been told about Brady’s opinion of Sanders — which he has shared with a handful of NFL coaches and executives over the past 18 months — there is a great amount of respect for Sanders’ focus on preparation, his ability to learn and adapt, his accuracy and determination in the pocket, and his toughness to take hits and still be resilient,” Robinson reported this week.
“I’ve been told that Brady has also been impressed that Sanders has avoided the pitfalls of being thrust onto the center stage of college football’s limelight after transferring to Colorado to play for his father, Deion,” Robinson continued. “For the most part, Shedeur has never become a distraction, developed selfish tendencies or created issues with his public profile or fame that overshadowed his team or his game. He also stayed in school for four years and developed, which is something Brady has repeatedly and publicly said he values in a young quarterback.”
For what it’s worth, Brady might be a fan of Sanders, but the scouting community has hardly reached a consensus on the 2025 quarterback class.
Some believe Sanders would have been no higher than the sixth quarterback taken in last year’s draft and NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero said the evaluations on Sanders in this year’s draft are all over the board.
“Shedeur Sanders, for a variety of reasons, is going to be a really fascinating overall evaluation. I’ve already talked to people within the league who don’t have anything close to a first-round grade on the guy,” Pelissero said last week.
“He certainly has fans. He certainly comes in with high profile, but this idea that he [will] walk in… and be the number one pick, that’s probably pushing it.”
Raiders owner Mark Davis has acknowledged that Brady will be involved in the team’s draft process, particularly as it involves the quarterbacks, and it will be interesting to see how much weight Brady will carry in the draft room.
Brady was the greatest to ever play the quarterback position, but can he evaluate and draft the position at a similar level?
The Raiders and their fan base definitely hope so.
