With the Jimmy Garoppolo signing being a miss and rookie Aidan O’Connell looking decent but far from a franchise quarterback, the Las Vegas Raiders should still be in the market at that position this offseason. The NFL Draft boasts a number of intriguing and talented quarterbacks with Caleb Williams and Drake Maye at the top of the list, but also players such as Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr., and Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels.
It is the latter whose stock is seeming to rise as of late and the LSU man recently announced that he will be entering the draft and skipping the Tigers’ bowl game. He is certainly someone the Raiders could have their eye on, and Daniels apparently loves the city of Las Vegas as well.
Daniels recently appeared on the Pardon My Take podcast and the hosts asked him which was his favorite “random” city out of five listed. And of these cities that coincidentally were the homes of NFL teams in need of a quarterback, Daniels named Las Vegas as his favorite:
Heisman winner Jayden Daniels ranks these totally random US cities pic.twitter.com/bSK50bxRPU
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) December 13, 2023
Daniels was an absolute monster for LSU this season as he completed 72.2% of his passes for 3,812 yards and 40 touchdowns with just four interceptions. But that is only part of his appeal as he also ran for 1,134 yards and another 10 touchdowns, hence why he hoisted the Heisman Trophy at year’s end.
The fact that he enjoys the city of Las Vegas is certainly an appeal and the Raiders will surely do their homework on the talented signal caller. Quite simply the Raiders need a franchise quarterback, and perhaps Daniels is that player. The rest of the offense has all the pieces, they simply need the right man under center to bring everything together.
Daniels has certainly seen his stock rise immensely throughout this season, and he seems to have all the tools to thrive at the NFL level. Barring a trade, the Raiders won’t get the chance to take one of the top two quarterbacks in the draft, but maybe they don’t need to move up to find their guy.
Of course, this decision will also depend on the coaching staff and who is in charge. Antonio Pierce has certainly made his case to become the Raiders’ permanent head coach, but whoever it is will have some decisions to make. One thing that seems for sure is that Daniels would embrace the challenge should he come to the silver and black.
