Despite what his gaudy statistics suggest (27 touchdown passes compared to just three interceptions in 2023), Sanders won't be a fit for every team. But his awareness, accuracy, touch and mobility makes him one of the more intriguing dual-threat quarterbacks in college football, projecting similarly as former PAC-12 foe Bo Nix.
With Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers and Brock Bowers on offense, the Raiders can set up a young passer really well. And Sanders is a smooth operator whose game centers on his great ball placement (69.3% completion rate last season, eighth in the FBS) and calm demeanor when protected in the pocket. He took 52 sacks in 2023 behind a struggling offensive line, so Sanders' internal clock must speed up before he gets to the next level; he tends to compound mistakes by holding on to the ball too long. But he has a ton of talent and can certainly be the answer for Las Vegas. I see a lot of similarities to Geno Smith in his game.
The Raiders were unable to trade up for Jayden Daniels, so GM Tom Telesco's top priority is still finding a franchise QB. Sanders is currently the betting favorite to go No. 1 in 2025, but there's still a lot of work to do before he guarantees himself a spot in the first round. There's no question Coach Prime's progeny has the talent though.
After competing for the all-time draft pick record in 2024, Michigan has two players in the top five of next year's projection. I'm excited about Johnson for a lot of the same reasons I was high on Quinyon Mitchell — he's a good-sized athlete with composure and ball skills.
The Raiders didn't select a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft despite having Gardner Minshew and Aidan O'Connell as their current starting options. Here, they go with Sanders, the current favorite (+100) at DraftKings Sportsbook to be the No. 1 overall pick. He is an advanced processor who earned the third-best clean-pocket passing grade (92.9) in college football this past season. The only two who were higher were the first two picks in 2024 — Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels.
Carson Beck got hot down the stretch for Georgia, and everything points to him being one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 NFL Draft. In his first full season as a starter, he completed more than 72 percent of his passes and averaged 9.5 yards per attempt. It'll be fascinating to see how he develops during the 2024 season.
Locked out of the running for the top quarterbacks in this year's draft class, Antonio Pierce and Tom Telesco will have to push through this season with Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O'Connell before evaluating their long-term options next spring. Ewers still lacks consistency as a decision-maker, but there's no questioning that his outstanding ability to zip passes into tight windows will help him stand apart from his peers in the pre-draft process.
This class isn't particularly deep at offensive tackle (not yet, anyway), but the guard group has some talent; Booker has elite play strength and often finishes plays with his opponent ending up on the ground. He shows a good ability to reach block, pull, and be effective flipping his hips in pass protection.
