The Las Vegas Raiders need their quarterback of the future; that much is obvious to anyone who has even watched a single quarter of a game during the 2025 NFL season. The fan base is fed up with veteran replacements and Band Aids, as they simply want a young gunslinger in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Thankfully, they have an ace in the hole when it comes to quarterback evaluation in minority owner Tom Brady, undisputedly the greatest football player of all time and a seven-time Super Bowl champion. His opinion should loom large this offseason and come April.
While he has previously expressed his admiration for Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr, he won't be draft-eligible until 2027. The Raiders' need for an upgrade under center is much too dire to wait another year, so they need one this offseason. Brady just gave Raider Nation a benchmark to look for.
Tom Brady seems to believe most QBs should be 6'2" or taller to have success
On Thursday, Brady appeared on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, and Cowherd picked Brady's brain about how important height is for a quarterback. He gave examples of the game's current best players at the position and linked their success to being taller than 6-foot-2, and Brady agreed.
"It's a great point. If you just look at the history of quarterbacks in the NFL, how many below 6-foot-2 and under have had sustained success or are up there in passing yardage?" Brady asked.
Brady then qualified his statement by going through the exact mechanisms of why that is in a way that only Brady can. He boiled it down to having more vision throughout the field and being able to target players up the seam or across the middle, which can then lead to more yards after catch.
Smaller quarterbacks tend to throw to the sidelines more because they can't see over their offensive linemen, nor get their arm angle and release point above them and the defensive line. Brady said it's possible to have success, but he still stood by the fact that taller quarterbacks give you better odds.
"I'm not saying you can't be successful if you're under 6-foot-2, it's just the chance of being successful is less," Brady said.
Of course, Brady then gave his spiel about hard work and determination, and how every NFL quarterback needs to have an insatiable desire to be great. But the fact remains that when playing the odds, Brady would seemingly rather have a taller quarterback. And who wouldn't?
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So, what does that mean for the Raiders in the 2026 NFL Draft? Well, it keeps a handful of fan favorites on the list, but it probably crosses out a handful of other promising prospects. Let's take a look at some of the most popular names in the class. In bold are players at 6-foot-2 or below.
Fernando Mendoza (Indiana) -- 6'5"
Dante Moore (Oregon) -- 6'3"
Ty Simpson (Alabama) -- 6'2"
Diego Pavia (Vanderbilt) -- 6'0"
LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina) -- 6'3"
Carson Beck (Miami) -- 6'4"
John Mateer (Oklahoma) -- 6'1"
Brendan Sorsby (Cincinnati) -- 6'3"
Drew Allar (Penn State) -- 6'5"
Taylen Green (Arkansas) -- 6'6"
Sawyer Robertson (Baylor) -- 6'4"
Josh Hoover (TCU) -- 6'2"
Thankfully, fan favorites like Mendoza and Moore meet Brady's criteria. But another quarterback frequently linked to the Raiders, Simpson, might be right on the fringe. The reason we highlighted players listed at 6-foot-2 is that official combine measurements might say they're slightly below.
Essentially, if Las Vegas opts for a quarterback with one of their top picks, they should have no quarrels, at least when it comes to height, about taking a player like Mendoza or Moore. They might hesitate, however, to select someone like Simpson.
When it comes to the middle rounds, despite Pavia's wanting to play for the Raiders, it is unlikely that the team would select him, at least with the plan for him to be their starter, anyway. They drafted Cam Miller in Round 6 last year, and he stands at just 6-foot-1. But he was never going to be the starter.
Another interesting mid-round prospect was Mateer, and many think that Hoover could be a diamond in the rough. But based on what Brady said, the Raiders may be more inclined to take a flyer on a taller player like Sorsby, Allar, Green or Robertson.
Players like Drew Brees and Russell Wilson have been evidence to the contrary of Brady's point, as he acknowledged. But there is a reason that most of the best quarterbacks are above 6-foot-4. Take it from the greatest to ever do it, and lock it away when evaluating quarterbacks this spring.