Mailbag: Draft Jeanty and Skattebo?

Returning Raider Nation’s questions for the week

We’re less than two weeks away from the 2025 NFL Draft as the Las Vegas Raiders are busy bringing in prospects on Top 30 visits and fine-tuning their draft strategy. The draft is once again the focus of this week’s mailbag, so let’s get to it!

Q: What are your thoughts on drafting Ashton Jeanty and Cam Skattebo in the draft?

A: I’m on the record of not being a fan of the Raiders taking Jeanty in the top 10, which kind of derails this scenario. But if the Raiders do take him at No. 6, I’d like to see them prioritize other spots on the roster throughout the rest of the draft rather than taking another running back.

If I’m spending a premium pick on a running back, I’d want that guy to be my bell-cow rather than having him split carries. Also, Jeanty and Skattebo don’t complement each other that well since neither is known for their skills as a receiver out of the backfield. Getting a dynamic scatback to pair with either of those two would be a better fit, in my opinion.

To be clear, I don’t think it’s out of the question for Las Vegas to draft two running backs later this month, but I think that’s a lot less likely if they use a Top 10 pick on one.

Q: Rhett Lewis mocked Travis Hunter to the Raiders at number 2. Any chance this could actually happen? Because if the Raiders trade from 6, I think it would be more likely they trade down to accumulate picks. What is your sense?

A: I touched on this scenario last week too. I have a hard time seeing the Raiders trading up in this year’s draft unless it’s for a quarterback and even that feels unlikely. They have a lot of holes to fill on defense and while Hunter could solve the cornerback problem, moving up to get him would cost at least one more pick/player who could fill another hole.

I agree with you, trading back and acquiring more capital seems much more probable from John Spytek and Co.

Q: Removing Cam Ward, rank the next five quarterbacks you think the Raiders should take.

Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images

A: Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart, Tyler Shough, Will Howard and Jalen Milroe.

I’m not Sanders’ biggest fan, but he’s still the unquestioned QB2 for me in this class. I’ve come around a bit on Dart to put him in the third spot and think a situation where he sits behind Geno Smith for a couple of years would be great for Dart, though I still wouldn’t take him earlier than round two. The decision between Shough and Howard is a tough one, I just think Shough has a better arm to work with. Milroe’s traits are intriguing, but his performances at the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine are why he’s at the bottom of the list.

Q: The timing of the Jack Jones release is interesting. It would seem to make more sense to wait until after his replacement is secured in the draft. Do you think he may have requested a trade or release due to this?

A: The timing was definitely interesting and I could see Jones asking to be let go if he wasn’t seeing eye-to-eye with the new coaching staff and front office. His connection with Antonio Pierce was the primary reason the Raiders picked him up in the first place.

I also think what happened here was the organization wanted to get a better gauge of the cornerback class before moving on from Jones. Now that they’ve had the combine, pro days and a few visits, Spytek and Co. felt comfortable making the decision now. So, I’d expect Las Vegas to add at least one corner early in the draft.

A: I’m a big fan of Walter Nolen’s game, but I still have him comfortably behind Mason Graham as DT2 and think he’d be a reach at No. 6. Trading back is certainly an option and that could put the Raiders in Nolen’s range/value. However, I get the feeling if they trade back it would be to target a need like safety or corner rather than making a move to add someone who would be more of a luxury pick.

In my opinion, the most realistic way Nolen lands in Las Vegas is if he falls out of the first round. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that there are “maturity concerns” surrounding the Ole Miss product, so he could end up being one of those players who we see slide on night one. Then the question would be if Pete Carroll and Syptek would be willing to work with a guy who might have off-the-field or character issues.

A: Brock Bowers is the superior player/prospect but has a similar skill set as Tyler Warren. Warren is a unique athlete for the position and can be dangerous with the ball in his hands to fit the move tight end role. However, the Penn State product’s in-line blocking needs some work.

So, having him and Bowers together without Michael Mayer would give you two tight ends who fill the same role. I think it makes more sense to keep Mayer as the blocking tight end and red zone threat than trade him and get another tight end who is similar to Bowers.

A: Kolton Miller had a tough start to the season but settled in after about the first month. Per Pro Football Focus, he gave up one sack after Week 4 and a few of the sacks he allowed early on were more the quarterback’s fault than his. As far as I know, Miller is healthy going into this season. That said, I have mentioned that he’s entering a contract year and approaching 30, so drafting a future left tackle is on the table.

I think the offensive line could use some help at guard. I like how Jordan Meredith played in the second half of last season, but I wouldn’t put all my eggs in that basket if there’s a quality guard available in the middle rounds. Also, Parham is entering a contract year and Alex Cappa isn’t the long-term answer (Cappa might not even be the short term answer). In other words, addressing the interior of the line should at least be on the table.

A: If we’re just looking at top-end talent and how I viewed them as prospects (not factoring in NFL performance): ‘24, ‘21, ‘20, ‘19, ‘23, ‘25 and ‘22.

The quarterbacks helped give last year’s class a big boost but there were also several really good wide receivers and offensive tackles. I also thought last year’s edge rushers were underrated and Laiatu Latu falling to the 15th overall pick as the first edge and defensive player taken speaks to the talent in the class. While most of them flamed out, the 2021 class also had a bunch of good quarterbacks and guys like Ja’Marr Chase, Penei Sewell and Patrick Surtain II gave that group plenty of talent.

It’s no secret that the upcoming class doesn’t have the premium talent we’ve seen in the past, and there’s a significant gap between this year’s crew and 2023 which included C.J. Stroud, Will Anderson Jr. and Devon Witherspoon. But I’ll still take 2025 over 2022 where Travon Walker, Ikem Ekwonu and Evan Neal were Top 10 picks.

That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to [email protected] or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.