Las Vegas Raiders must avoid staying in QB purgatory

When it comes to the 2024 Las Vegas Raiders, one could argue that there are two quarterbacks on the roster who could start for the team next season. One player, a second-year signal-caller from Purdue, played well last season for the Raiders, earning the starting job down the stretch.

The other, a veteran who played last season with the Indianapolis Colts, making the Pro Bowl and nearly leading them to the playoffs. For many teams, that would be a good problem to have, two guys who have won at the NFL level, and seem poised to battle it out for the starting job this summer.

However, many feel that if you have two quarterbacks on the team, you do not have your No. 1 guy, and they could be right. Quarterback Purgatory is a real thing in the NFL, and each offseason, we see teams try to revamp the position group in a big way to get out of it, whether that means trading up on Day 1 of the NFL Draft, or making a big splash in free agency.

For the Raiders, they may have to do something drastic to get out of this predicament this April.

Trading up on Day 1 could get the Raiders out of QB Purgatory

Last year, the Houston Texans flipped the script on the position group in a big way, drafting Ohio State star CJ Stroud. Since then, they have gone from a laughingstock in the NFL, to a potential Super Bowl contender in the AFC, showing how much a franchise quarterback can change your franchise in a hurry.

In the AFC alone, many of the elite teams have elite players at the position, including Houston, Buffalo, Kansas City, and Baltimore. The Raiders, holding the No. 13 overall pick, are in position where they could pull off a blockbuster deal to move up on Day 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, and for a team that has been in QB Purgatory since really the injury to Derek Carr back in 2016, the time is now to do so.

There are as many as four quarterbacks who the experts feel could be gone by pick No. 5 this April, so Telesco will have his work cut out for him if he hopes to move up at least eight spots. There are teams willing to listen, but if Telesco cannot get it done, and picks a quarterback on Day 2, we could be looking at another season without star power at the quarterback spot.