The Las Vegas Raiders made a big commitment to Chip Kelly by giving him the biggest contract for a coordinator in the NFL. However, he's not going to go far if they can't give him a quarterback he can work with.
The Raiders might have a hard time adding one of the top prospects early in the draft and could look to later rounds to address the need. Ohio State quarterback Will Howard just had the best season of his college career with Kelly calling plays.
His upside is limited as he's already 24 but he has already proven he can run Kelly's offense at a high level.
Tashan Reed and Vic Tafur of The Athletic put together a Raiders mock draft and projected the team to select Howard with the No. 71 pick in the third round.
"We know, we know. It’s way too obvious to pair Howard with Kelly, his offensive coordinator at Ohio State and the new play caller in Las Vegas, but the 6-4, 235-pound Howard has enough upside to warrant the pick," Reed and Tafur wrote. "He completed 73.1 percent of his passes for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions last season while running for 226 yards and seven touchdowns. Howard has good footwork with sufficient arm strength and accuracy. He can do all the cool RPO stuff and throws well on the run, and his toughness and national-title-level leadership make him worth a top-75 pick."
Howard may not be a long-term franchise quarterback but he could be an upgrade over what the Raiders currently have. A third-round pick isn't too big of a risk, especially on a quarterback.
