Raiders 7-round Mock Draft: QB arrives, massive Day 2 trade and more

By now we are very familiar with the pros and cons of the top five quarterbacks in the class and there seems to be two divided opinions on the second-tier guys like Bo Nix, JJ McCarthy, and Michael Penix. Some draft analysts have all of them going in the top 15 while others have Nix and Penix available in the second round because of their age and/or injury history.

In this mock draft, Penix was off the board but Nix was still available and we grab him at pick 44 to compete for the starting job. The benefit of him not being a first rounder means there is less pressure on him to play right away but also doesn’t give the Raiders a chance to exercise a fifth-year option if he excels. Either way that is a problem for another day.

The pros on Nix are his size at 6-2 and 214lbs, his mobility which is more than good enough to extend plays, and arm talent to make all the throws. The questions arise on the fact that he is an older prospect and if the improvement from Auburn to Oregon was due to him or just being in a better situation.

His numbers at Oregon were eye-popping as he threw for 8,100 yards and 74 touchdowns to just 3 interceptions in two seasons. In comparison, in three years at Auburn, he threw for 7,200 yards, 39 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions.

The upside is that he has never been a big interception guy and his accuracy has improved year over year even during his time at Auburn. Maybe he’s just a late bloomer that got a chance to develop in college versus having to do it at the pro level and will come to Las Vegas as a more polished player than the usual rookie QB. If that is the case then he would be a steal at 44 and the Raiders could find yet another franchise QB in the second round after having selected Derek Carr in this round in 2014.