Raiders, Giants, Browns need to prepare themselves for aggressive QB drafts

The NFL season is moving quickly but the early first round draft order is taking clearer and clearer shape with every week. While the playoff picture is a bit crowded across the AFC and NFC, but the bottom of the standings are pretty crowded as well. For some of them, there are teams that are in desperate need for a new quarterback. Three of those teams are the Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants.

According to Tankathon, here are the teams that would be selecting with the first five picks:

Three of those five teams, arguably four, are in desperate need of a surefire, franchise quarterback when April rolls around. Primarily Cleveland, New York and Las Vegas.

Based on ESPN’s best available list, these are the top five quarterbacks projected to be picked in the first two days of the draft.

If this draft order holds, there’s not going to be enough elite rookie passers to go around. The Giants and Raiders, who missed out in 2024, will be jockeying to put themselves in position to nab one of the top two quarterbacks.

Now, ESPN hasn’t produced a mock draft since midseason and those projections are way off now that some passers have regressed others improved mightily.

Tankathon, however, has produced a mock of their own and the results suggest the QB needy teams will be slugging it out on the phones to move up.

Of course, Travis Hunter, the Heisman Trophy favorite will be taken first overall. It’s hard to see a scenario where that doesn’t happen.

Tennessee selecting a quarterback, however, would be a surprise. Sure, Will Levis has amounted to a bust so far but will Sanders’ father, Deion, allow a poorly run organization like the Titans select him?

Cleveland opting to replace Za’Darius Smith on the defensive front makes sense, even if starting quarterback Deshaun Watson is recovering from a torn Achilles and backup Jameis Winston is far from being his successor. But don’t be surprised if Cleveland also wants to try to take Sanders if given the chance.

Las Vegas will certainly take a passer and if Sanders is gone, then Ward is the next best option. But if Tennessee and Cleveland decide they want to alter the direction of their franchises immediately, the Raiders and Giants will be out of luck for the second consecutive year.

Texas’ Quinn Ewers is not worth reaching with a high first round selection, not even if Las Vegas or New York trade back a dozen spots or so. Tankathon’s mock has Cleveland selecting Alabama’s Milroe and New York taking Ewers at the top of round two, very much consolation prize selections given how much of a change the two teams need at the key position.

General managers may be forced into selling more than they think is fair in order to guarantee their team a top three spot if this order holds. The Raiders and Giants will be the two to watch as they’re the most desperate to improve under center in 2025.