Will Rams come to regret this win over Raiders?

A win over the Raiders could leave Rams without a seat in QB musical chairs during NFL Draft

Sunday’s 20-15 win by the Los Angeles Rams over the Las Vegas Raiders could have significant NFL Draft implications. LA moved to 2-4 with the victory and will take on the no longer undefeated Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football. Vegas is now 2-5 and will take on the Kansas Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals before they get their bye week.

The Rams and Raiders will likely be in the mix for top ten selections ahead of next spring’s draft. Other candidates include the New England Patriots, Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans, and Carolina Panthers with one win apiece. The New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals, and New Orleans Saints are in the same boat as the Rams and Raiders at two wins.

The challenge with the draft is that most of these teams are in their unfortunate circumstances because of subpar quarterback play, but there is only a few prospects worth taking at the top of the order on an annual basis. The Giants were in these shoes last year as they looked to trade up for a signal caller in order to replace Daniel Jones, but the Chicago Bears were obviously content with Caleb Williams and the Washington Commanders and Patriots were perfectly happy to take Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye, respectively.

Sometimes the draft leaves you without a seat in the game of quarterback musical chairs, and that could easily be the case for the Rams after they beat the Raiders on Sunday.

It’s OK if the Patriots or Cardinals end up ahead of the Rams in the draft order—they probably aren’t going to take a quarterback in 2025. LA would have the option of sitting in place or possibly even trading up. But it’s dangerous to edge ahead of teams like the Raiders, Saints, Titans, Panthers, Giants, and Browns who will be in the market for a future face of their franchise. This win will sting long-term if the Rams cannot string together wins over the Vikings and Seattle Seahawks the next two weeks, especially if they beat the Patriots soon after.

In a lost season, preserving draft position should be the top priority. The Rams aren’t at that point quite yet, but they need to be honest and pull out the measuring stick against the Vikings and Seahawks.

We could easily look back on this Week 7 win over the Raiders and express regret that this was the difference in landing a quarterback and being left on the outside looking in. It’s particularly disheartening because neither team looked intent on winning the game, and ultimately the Raiders were just much worse and Gardner Minshew’s four turnovers sank them.

Who are this year’s top quarterbacks in the draft?

Shedeur Sanders, Colorado

Sanders may be the best processor available in this year’s draft. He wins from the pocket and has the arm talent to win at all levels. The Rams were not included in the list of six teams Sanders and his father, Deion, want to play on. Instead the Atlanta Falcons, Dallas Cowboys, Commanders, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, and Philadelphia Eagles made the cut.

Sanders has a little Baker Mayfield to his game, which in my eyes means that he is a limited athlete but gets away with it at the college level. He might not be the caliber of athlete than can routinely escape the pocket and make plays with his legs at the professional level, which could keep him from reaching elite status in the NFL.

Quinn Ewers, Texas

Once ranked as the top recruit of the 2021 high school class, Ewers has all the natural talent you could ask for in a quarterback. Every throw on the football field is available to him, though in some ways because of his time lost to injuries and transferring from Ohio State to Texas he still feels raw. He’ll be 22 in time for the 2025 NFL Draft.

The athletic talent is there, though it might take some time for Ewers to become the processor that Sanders is on day one. He has a gunslinger mentality that could be apt to replace Matthew Stafford and pair positively with Sean McVay.

Cam Ward, Miami

Entering the 2024 college season, Ward wasn’t considered a surefire first round pick in the eyes of most in the NFL draft sphere. But we’ve seen players like Joe Burrow and Jayden Daniels seemingly come out of nowhere and look like different prospects in their senior seasons to buck the preconceived notions on them. Ward has played very well for Miami this year and could be the next to have a meteoric rise for a team that needs a new signal caller.

Ward is currently Pro Football Focus (PFF)’s top ranked quarterback on the 2024 season with 20 big-time throws and nine turnover-worthy plays. Just on his heels is Sanders at number two with 18 BTT’s and just four TWP’s.