The Las Vegas Raiders are still searching for their franchise quarterback, and they may find their answer in this year’s NFL Draft.
That solution could be LSU’s Jayden Daniels.
Daniels, who won the Heisman Trophy this past season, is very familiar with Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce and has known him since high school.
As a result, the young signal-caller would be thrilled if he ends up in Las Vegas this spring.
“On draft day, if I hear my phone ring and it’s [Pierce], I don’t know what I would do,” Daniels told Josina Anderson of CBS Sports.
While Daniels said earlier on Friday that he will be grateful no matter where he is drafted and simply wants to go to the best situation, it’s clear that he would prefer to play for Pierce and the Raiders.
The question is, will Daniels last that long?
Las Vegas doesn’t pick until 13th, and there are plenty of quarterback-needy teams in front of the club in the draft order.
Of course, the Raiders can always trade up, and Pierce has hinted that the organization could very well do that in April. If they want Daniels, they may very well have to.
Daniels is widely regarded as the third-best quarterback prospect in this year’s draft class behind Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, who are projected to go Nos. 1 and 2 to the Chicago Bears and Washington Commanders.
After that, there is a lot of room for Daniels to fall somewhere between picks 3 and 12, so unless Las Vegas can move up, Daniels will probably end up playing his football elsewhere.
The 23-year-old is coming off of a brilliant 2023 campaign in which he threw for 3,812 yards, 40 touchdowns and four interceptions while completing 72.2 percent of his passes. He also racked up 1,134 yards and 10 scores while averaging a robust 8.4 yards per carry, proving that he is a dual threat.
We’ll see if the Raiders get a chance to take Daniels in about eight weeks.
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