The Las Vegas Raiders’ win on Sunday may have ruined their chances at the top pick in the NFL Draft next spring.
The Raiders beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 19-14 on Sunday, which gave them their third victory of the year and snapped a 10-game losing skid. In turn, the Raiders dropped from the projected No. 2 pick in the draft to No. 6. Heading into Week 17 of the regular season, the New York Giants have sole possession of the top pick in the draft.
Though that win left plenty of Raiders fans upset, head coach Antonio Pierce insists he doesn’t care about the team’s draft pick when games are on the line.
“We don’t do this to lose,” Pierce said Monday, via ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez. “We don’t do this for anybody’s fantasy football team. We don’t do this for anybody’s draft projections. None of that s**t matters to us. The only thing that matters is winning, and that’s all we want to do.”
While it undoubtedly takes more than a good first draft pick to turn a franchise around, the No. 1 pick could do a lot on that front for the Raiders. Yahoo Sports’ Charles McDonald and Nate Tice had Miami quarterback Cam Ward and Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders as two of their top three picks in the upcoming draft, and Heisman winner Travis Hunter between them.
Either quarterback would be great options for the Raiders, who have bounced between Aidan O’Connell, Gardner Minshew and Desmond Ridder at the position amid their struggles and various injuries.
The last time the Raiders had the No. 1 overall pick was in 2007, when they took quarterback JaMarcus Russell. He was just the third quarterback the team has selected in the first round of the draft since 1970.
After the Giants, the New England Patriots, Jaguars, Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans are slated to pick before the Raiders in the draft if the season were to end now. The Raiders will close out their season with games against the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers. Even if they lose out, it would take help from the Giants and others for the Raiders to climb back up to No. 1.
While a top pick may mean that he loses his job, O’Connell is simply keeping his head down.
“I don’t read anything, so I don’t really hear it,” he said on Sunday. “Ignorance is definitely bliss, and that’s how I’m rolling.”
