The Las Vegas Raiders are set at the quarterback position for the 2025 season. The Silver and Black traded for veteran quarterback Geno Smith earlier in the offseason. Raiders head coach Pete Carroll and Smith will reunite in Las Vegas looking to turn things around in Las Vegas.,
The Raiders can still be looking for their future franchise quarterback but that will have to wait till the 2026 NFL Draft. The Raiders did not take any of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft. At least for the 2025 season, they have put all the chips in the middle of the table on Smith.
One thing we do know is that the quarterback class in 2026 will be much deeper and full of way more talent than the 2025 quarterback class.
Sports Illustrated's Daniel Flick recently ranked the top quarterbacks in the 2026 NFL Draft. Here are some that the Raiders can do after. In Flick's rankings, he does not have University of Texas quarterback Arch Manning making the top 10.
1. Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
The son of six-year NFL quarterback and New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, Garrett Nussmeier is a natural-born signal-caller. He’s a fluid passer with a quality arm, and he has tremendous feel for pressure and maneuvering the pocket at 6' 2" and 200 pounds.
Nussmeier is accurate to all parts of the field, though he needs to find more consistency with his vertical shots. He’s comfortable threading tight windows and throwing into small gaps in zone coverage. Nussmeier occasionally bails out of the pocket prematurely, and he’s a drifter who throws from an unsettled foundation too often. He needs to hasten his progressions and prove he can process full-field reads in 2025.
7. Nico Iamaleava, UCLA
The biggest question mark for Iamaleava: How will the NFL view his sudden spring exit from Tennessee? The answer may not come until teams spend time with him during the predraft process. But on the field, Iamaleava has plenty of tools. At 6' 6" and 215 pounds, he’s big, athletic and strong-armed; his passes have considerable zip to them, and he can attack the middle of the field as a result.
He uses his eyes more to look off safeties than go through his progressions, and he’ll need to show at UCLA he can handle a more nuanced offensive attack than his space-oriented, one-read system at Tennessee. Iamaleava’s downfield accuracy is inconsistent, as is his feel for pressure. He can break free from defenders in space due to his fluidity and twitch, and while he’s not a game-breaking runner, he’s certainly capable of winning with his legs.
Here is the list of Flick's top 10.
- Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
- Drew Allar, Penn State
- Cade Klubnik, Clemson
- Sam Leavitt, Arizona State
- Fernando Mendoza, Indiana
- LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
- Nico Iamaleava, UCLA
- Taylen Green, Arkansas
- Miller Moss, Louisville
- Sawyer Robertson, Baylor
