NFL draft analyst thinks Raiders, Chip Kelly will shock everyone

Posted by author February 21, 2025 NFL

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The NFL draft calculus seems obvious for Chip Kelly and the Raiders, but it’s not that clear-cut in the eyes of some draft analysts.

Matt Zemek
| UCLA Wire

Surely, the Las Vegas Raiders will pick a quarterback at No. 6 if one is available in the 2025 NFL draft. If either Shedeur Sanders or Cam Ward is on the board, most NFL experts think Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly will decide that a young franchise quarterback is their most important need. One NFL draft analyst, however, is not convinced. Jordan Plocher of Pro Football Focus thinks that Cam Ward will be there at No. 6, and the Raiders will pass on him.

Plocher thinks the Raiders will take Boise State running back Ashon Jeanty at No. 6, with Ward going one spot later at No. 7 to the New York Jets. That would be a wild turn of events, given that the Raiders have floundered for years based on deficient quarterback play. The Raiders won two late-season games to go from being a top-three draft-picking team to the No. 6 spot. Having a quarterback available at 6 would be a tremendous break for the Raiders. It’s really hard to see Las Vegas not selecting Cam Ward if he is somehow still available. The same would go for Shedeur Sanders.

One point to make about all of this: If some NFL draft experts are predicting the Raiders will not even draft a quarterback, it shows there’s no real consensus among NFL insiders about the Raiders’ true plans and intentions. If a draft analyst thinks the Raiders won’t take Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders, that same analyst must obviously think Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly will pursue a veteran quarterback in a trade or free agency. The lack of an industry-wide consensus shows that the NFL doesn’t really know what Chip Kelly is actually thinking, deep down inside.

Let the NFL draft mystery linger.