Silver Minings: Raiders land Sanders in Jeremiah’s 1st mock draft

Sanders and Cam Wards could slide a bit according to what Jeremiah is hearing

With the 2025 NFL Draft looming, the big question for the Las Vegas Raiders is if they’ll be able to draft one of this year’s top quarterbacks—Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders—with the sixth overall pick.

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah released his first mock draft of the offseason and provided some optimism for the Raiders in this regard, pairing Las Vegas with Sanders at No. 6. “Tom Brady, now a partner in the Raiders’ ownership, is someone who would appreciate Sanders’ toughness, accuracy and decision making,” Jeremiah explained.

Jeremiah also dropped a couple of interesting pieces of information that will impact the Silver and Black this April, including the fact that his mock drafts are based on what he’s hearing around the league and not his evaluations.

“After getting a chance to dig into the class, there are some truly exceptional talents at the top of the group, but it looks like the best value in this year’s draft will be in the range of Picks 20-60,” the former scout wrote. “I see depth at running back, tight end and on the defensive line, but, unlike last year, it’s not a draft chock full of quarterbacks and receivers. We are very early in the process, though. With more tape study, all-star games, the NFL Scouting Combine and free agency still to come, a lot will change between now and the draft.”

As such, Jeremiah had the Tennessee Titans taking Penn State edge rusher first overall and Colorado two-way star/Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter going second to the Cleveland Browns while the New York Giants nabbed Ward at No. 3. That’s interesting because Tennessee and Cleveland are also expected to be in the quarterback market.

A couple of other notable players who were still on the board for the Raiders were Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (taken eighth overall by the Carolina Panthers) and Michigan cornerback Will Johnson (15th to the Atlanta Falcons). However, Jeremiah had Las Vegas addressing the most important position on the field with Sanders.

Sanders is at the East-West Shrine Bowl this week but won’t participate in the event’s practices and game, according to ESPN’s Turron Davenport and Daniel Oyefusi. The quarterback met with the Titans, Browns and Giants on Friday, but The Athletic’s Tashan Reed reported the former Buffalo had not met with the Raiders. Reed also noted that the club does have “staffers on site”.

In Other Raiders’ Links:

• Free agents to watch: A few players to keep an eye on during the Conference Championship games who fit the Raiders’ offseason needs and will be on the open market this spring.
• What coaches could Pete Carroll target?: diving into a few offensive and defensive coordinator options in this week’s mailbag column.
• Why Carroll is right for Raiders: “One of the first things he did with his new players is show them a film touching on the highlights of Seahawks history, from Steve Largent to Jim Zorn to the team that played Pittsburgh in the Super Bowl,” the Los Angeles Times’ Sam Farmer wrote. “(He’ll have plenty of footage of old Raiders highlights.) When the movie ended and the lights came up, he essentially told his players, ‘Hey, that’s great. We’re going to celebrate that history. But it’s over.’ He took down the old pictures at the facility and started fresh.”
• Proposed trade for DK Metcalf: “Metcalf has been very vocal about the lack of targets he got this past season with Geno Smith as the quarterback on the Seattle Seahawks,” TWSN’s Marissa Myers wrote. “Metcalf only has one year left on his current deal, and will be looking to go to a situation where he can receive the extended looks.”