Not 24 hours ago, the draft landscape had a seismic shift with the Panthers making a trade with the Bears to take ownership of the number one overall pick.
The move had a lot of draft gurus scrambling to adjust. Among them is Dane Brugler of the Athletic who today put out an updated top ten.
In it, he has the Panthers using their top pick on Ohio State QB CJ Stroud. Then the Texans follow that up with the selection of Alabama QB Bryce Young.
The first non-QB goes to Arizona in the form of Alabama EDGE Will Anderson.
At fourth overall, Colts trade out with the Ravens to get Lamar Jackson. The Ravens then use the pick on Florida QB Anthony Richardson.
So, the top three QBs are all gone in the top four picks.
That leaves just Kentucky QB Will Levis there as the last remaining top prospect QB in this draft.
Brugler then has no other team trading up to get him, which means he is on the board for the Raiders when they select. Making him the obvious choice in this scenario.
Brugler said of the Raiders selection of Levis:
Levis has the most uncertainty in terms of where he will land on draft weekend. He could be drafted top three or fall out of the top 10, and I don’t think either scenario would be shocking.
There is no doubt that Josh McDaniels and the Raiders will be interested in Levis’ package of skills. Enough to draft him here? Time will tell.
It’s still a bit risky for the Raiders to sit and hope they get one of these quarterbacks. And even more risky if they’re not high on Levis.
As we posted yesterday, the only way the Raiders can assure they get one of these quarterbacks — let along one of the top three — would be to trade up to the third overall spot with the Cardinals.
Brugler adds that “all signs point” to the Falcons not attempting to leap frog the Raiders to get a QB and rather sticking with Desmond Ridder at QB next season.
Can the Raiders take a risk based on those “signs” is the question. Or at least one of the questions. Along with if they are cool with settling for whichever QB is left over for them or if they even like Levis enough to take him.
