It has been rumored the Raiders think a lot of Shedeur Sanders and he would most likely be their top quarterback target in the draft.
Sanders has been one of the most celebrated and scrutinized quarterbacks to ever enter the draft, and that dynamic isn’t going to change between now and the end of April.
It’s still relatively early in the evaluation process, but the last week hasn’t been the best for Sanders in terms of his draft stock.
First, he turned in a dud performance against BYU in the Alamo Bowl and more recently he has been getting beaten up in the news cycle by NFL media types.
In short, it sounds like the Raiders might have picked a bad year to be looking for a quarterback in the draft and the most intriguing quarterback on their board isn’t “anything close” to a first-round prospect, according to some evaluators around the league.
On Friday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero talked about the wide range of opinions on Sanders, and he didn’t paint a particularly optimistic picture for anyone needing a quarterback in this year’s draft.
“Just in my casual conversations with people within the league, there is certainly not a consensus that there’s going to be one, two, three quarterbacks that are all going up there in the top five [picks],” Pelissero said on The Rich Eisen Show.
“In fact, some of the most commonly talked about names could end up being projected lower than anybody realizes,” Pelissero continued. “The names that people bring up the most would be Cam Ward out of Miami as a prospect… In another year, is he a top prospect? Maybe not, but this is this particular draft class.”
But the comments Pelissero made about Sanders might have been even more disappointing.
Based on what Pelissero is hearing, it sounds like Sanders is not the coveted quarterback that many have made him out to be in the last few months.
“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.
“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.”
The other element to Sanders’ staff stock is the unique situation he brings with his family. There will be teams that have reservations about Shedeur simply because of his last name.
“As I’ve said before, I’ve said it on Raider television, if you’re drafting Shedeur Sanders, you’re not just drafting the quarterback,” ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez said in November.
“You’re also drafting the old man. You’re marrying yourself to Deion as well, for better or worse. I’m not going to go one way or the other here, but that’s just something that has to be considered”
The Raiders currently have the no. 8 pick in the draft, but they haven’t been mathematically eliminated from a top-3 pick.
With a win on Sunday, the lowest the Raiders can fall is the 10th pick in the draft.
Here is the current NFL draft order, courtesy of Tankathon….
The Raiders host the Chargers on Sunday and the first big decision of the offseason will involve their head coach.
Antonio Pierce has a 4-12 record in his first full season as coach of the Raiders, and there is a good chance he will be replaced after the season.
Several names have been tossed around as potential replacements for Pierce, but Mike Vrabel appears to be the front runner for the job.
