After months of speculating and wondering what the Raiders will do at the No. 7 pick, the 2023 NFL Draft is finally here. Now, we just have to wait and watch it unfold over the next day.
But the biggest question mark surrounding the team is one that we’ve had since January; will the Raiders try to trade up in the draft from No. 7? We know that they tried to make a move to No. 1 for Bryce Young, but are they interested in any of the other quarterbacks in this class?
In a recent article by Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus, he wrote about every team’s biggest question mark heading into the 2023 NFL Draft. For the Raiders, that was whether or not they would move out of the No. 7 pick. Here is what Monson had to say about that possibility:
Jimmy Garoppolo is a capable stopgap at quarterback, but his injury history is so extensive it’s hard to convince yourself that he will be available all season long even if you expect his play to be good enough.
The Raiders are likely interested in quarterbacks if the right one is available when their pick rolls around, but are they more interested than that? Could the Raiders be the trade partner for Houston or Arizona for the second quarterback off the board?
With Bryce Young likely going No. 1 to the Panthers, it seems unlikely that the Raiders will trade up. But if C.J. Stroud were to fall to them at No. 7, that is where things would get interesting.
Even if he doesn’t, don’t rule out the possibility of the Raiders trading down in Round 1 to add more picks. We know that Dave Ziegler likes to move up and down the board and that might be an appealing move in a pretty deep draft class.
The Raiders are one of the true wildcards in Round 1 of the 2023 NFL Draft. It should be a ton of fun to see how it all plays out on Thursday night.
