The Las Vegas Raiders’ hiring Pete Carroll as their head coach signals two key factors about the organization’s future.
The Raiders are tired of tanking year after year and heavily desire a strong and well-rooted culture. The first takes much more than just the addition of Carroll, which the Raiders’ front office clearly understands, as they’ve already traded for star quarterback Geno Smith.
Now, with free agency winding down, all attention will turn to Las Vegas’ plans for the 2025 NFL Draft.
Raiders Predicted To Trade Up for Generational Talent
One of the perfect ways to begin building a strong culture is through being bold, which is exactly what NFL.com’s latest mock draft predicts the Raiders will be.
Rhett Lewis predicts the Raiders will swap Round 1 picks with the Cleveland Browns (No. 2), paving the way for them to select Colorado Buffaloes two-way star Travis Hunter.
“I’ve never made a mock trade before this one, but we’ve never seen a player like Hunter, who registers as the draft’s top prospect at both receiver and cornerback. It just so happens that those two positions are two of the Raiders’ biggest needs, so they aggressively move up to secure a two-for-one with this pick,” Lewis wrote.
The Raiders’ offense slotted at No. 29 in PFSN’s Offense+ metric, while their defense came in at No. 21. Lewis hit spot on why Las Vegas would be willing to trade up for Hunter, which is that he takes care of two needs at once.
Chances are the 21-year-old generational talent won’t be able to play almost every snap as he did under Deion Sanders at Colorado, but instead, he can have a WR or CB package while playing full-time on the other side of the ball. Carroll is an incredibly experienced head coach, meaning he’s sure to maximize Hunter’s potential early on.
PFSN’s latest mock draft has Hunter going off the board at No. 3 to the New York Giants, which lines up with Lewis’ idea of the Raiders needing to jump into the top two to select him.
“In this circumstance, Brian Daboll and Joe Schoen would be kicking themselves for not doing more to trade up to get a starter-worthy quarterback,” PFSN’s Joe DeLeone wrote. “Instead, they’ll need to go with the flashiest name, that being Hunter. By drafting the Heisman winner, the Giants will get a lockdown corner opposite Deonte Banks and a secondary receiving option opposite Malik Nabers.”
If ending tanking and building a culture are two of the Raiders’ top priorities, then what better to do than select a two-way generational talent in a bold trade-up?