The Las Vegas Raiders controlled their own destiny when it came to landing the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Had they not won back-to-back games against the Jacksonville Jaguars and New Orleans Saints, they'd have the top pick in the draft.
Instead, they've fallen pretty far down the draft board. Fortunately for their draft order, the Raiders lost to the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 18 and are maintaining a decent pick. We'll go through the entire top 10 draft order.
Where do Raiders fall on the 2025 NFL Draft Board?
1. Tennessee Titans (3-14)
2. Cleveland Browns (3-14)
3. New York Giants (3-14)
4. New England Patriots (4-13)
5. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-13)
6. Las Vegas Raiders (4-13)
7. New York Jets (5-12)
8. Carolina Panthers (5-12)
9. New Orleans Saints (5-12)
10. Chicago Bears (5-12)
Had the Raiders won on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers, they would've fallen to No. 9 in the draft order. It's not a huge drop but the team is in a much better position to draft a blue chip prospect. This means that there's a guarantee that Las Vegas can at least land Travis Hunter, Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Will Johnson, Mason Graham or Will Campbell.
Any of those six players can be a serious impact player on the NFL level. However, we all know that the Raiders need a quarterback. The bad news for them is that the three teams picking at the top of the draft all have needs at quarterback.
This might be a year where the Raiders have to draft the best player available once again. Had the Patriots been able to hold onto the No. 1 pick, they could've been a possible trade partner for the Raiders. Now it's going to be much harder to move up. The only hope the team has is if Ward or Sanders slides to them.