The Las Vegas Raiders are entering the 2025 NFL draft with a big need in their wide receiver room. Really, they have a need at every position group on the offensive side of the ball, but the one in their wide receiver room is pretty glaring.
You can win a Super Bowl without having a clear-cut wide receiver one, or a clear-cut top 10 wide receiver in the league. And I know Raider Nation won't want to hear this but, the Kansas City Chiefs won back-to-back Super Bowls that way. One was with Kadarius Toney, and a washed JuJu Smith-Schuster as their best guys at the position. the next one was with Rashee Rice as a rookie, and Mecole Hardman. So, Jakobi Meyers may not be a top guy in the league, but he's certainly good enough to get the job done.
But, the Raiders don't have the luxury of having a Patrick Mahomes. That being said, they still need to put as many weapons around Geno Smith as possible to help him as much as possible. With the first wave of free agency gone now, they may be looking to do that through the 2025 NFL Draft.
This class doesn't have a ton of star power at the position, but it's a deep class. You can get some guys on day three that can really help your team on offense, or even special teams. And, they should look at targeting one on day three, even if they get one on day one or day two.
One guy who fits the mold perfectly is Arkansas Razorbacks wide receiver Andrew Armstrong, whose game reminds me a lot of Meyers. Having two Jakobi Meyers wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.
Raiders should target Arkansas WR Andrew Armstrong in 2025 NFL Draft
For some odd reason, everyone is overlooking Armstrong in this draft, like he wasn't one of the best WRs in the SEC last season. But, like he said, it's something he's used to and it only makes him go harder. Even with being overlooked, and everyone having him as a Day three pick, he's still gotten to talk to some NFL teams during his pre-draft process.
"I've talked with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Raiders, the Chicago Bears, the Seattle Seahawks, and some other teams," Armstrong said after his Pro Day in Fayetteville, Arkansas. "They [teams he met with] just said I have a good knack for the ball, I can go up there and catch the ball, great routes, know how to read zones and man -- bad feedback, dropping my hips to get in and out of breaks. That's what I have focused on this offseason."
He has the perfect mindset that the Raiders are looking for in that room, too.
"Whatever they need me to play," Armstrong said. "I feel like, me as a football player, I know so much about man or zones that, when I get out on the field, me personally, I feel like it's me vs. me. Of course, it's me vs. him [defender], but only I can stop me. If he does anything that locks me up, I feel like it's my fault. I feel like I did something wrong, which allowed him to do that. So I feel like if I keep the me vs. me thing, and go out there and do what I do, I'm going to shock a lot of people."
Armstrong led the SEC, the toughest conference, in receptions with 78 and yards with over 1,100 receiving yards. However, he did only have one touchdown on the year, as the Hogs really struggled in the red zone. He had five touchdowns in 2023.
So, Armstrong isn't a bad player at all, and mind you, the Razorbacks had one of the five toughest schedules in the country, too. He's a tall wide receiver, about the same size as Meyers, but two inches taller and the same weight. Armstrong also mentioned he has put on 20 pounds of muscle since he got to Fayetteville in 2023.
Having a guy that can run routes like that, with the catch radius he has, would be great for the Raiders.
