When last we looked at the updated order for the 2025 NFL Draft, the Raiders were in prime position, poised to have the No. 1 overall pick. They were tied for the league’s worst record at 2-12 with tie breakers over the Giants. However, with a win over the similarly lowly Jaguars this past Sunday, Las Vegas plummeted in the most recent draft order and now slots in at No. 6. 
Many view the biggest need for Las Vegas to be a quarterback. Three different passers have started games for the Raiders this season, and none of Gardner Minshew (2-7), Aidan O’Connell (1-4), or Desmond Ridder (0-1) have a winning record. Likewise, none seem to have much in the way of promise, as all three seem to have been written off as considerable quarterbacks of the future. Therefore, the plan would likely be to draft one, a prospect that’s become much more difficult with their recent victory.
[RELATED: Updated 2025 NFL Draft Order]
At No. 1 overall, the Raiders had their pick of the litter with the ability to choose whatever quarterback they desire. At No. 6, the choice is taken pretty far out of their hands, especially considering that only two passers, Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, are currently receiving first-round grades. It will definitely take some maneuvering to land one of those two quarterbacks from their current slot, but according to Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, it’s not impossible.
Firstly, they stand to likely move up a spot. Two of the teams ahead of them, the Jaguars and Titans, play each other in the final two weeks of the season, guaranteeing that one of them will earn a victory. For reasons to be explored shortly, Las Vegas fans should be rooting for Tennessee to pull off the divisional victory.
This year’s draft doesn’t appear to be shaping up much like last year’s. If the current order holds, two of the top three teams likely won’t be looking for quarterbacks, unlike last year, which saw the Bears, Commanders, and Patriots select Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels, and Drake Maye successively in the first three picks. While the Giants, current holders of the No. 1 overall pick, certainly have a need for a quarterback after releasing veteran Daniel Jones, the holders of pick Nos. 2 and 3 do not.
The No. 2 spot is currently held by the Patriots. Despite their disappointing record, the rookie Maye has shown promise at different points in the season, especially since he had to earn the starting job over veteran passer Jacoby Brissett and didn’t start until Week 6. He’ll have to figure out how to protect the ball a bit better — he’s thrown 10 picks in 10 starts — but New England likely has not given up on his potential, yet.
The No. 3 pick is owned by the Jaguars, who just recently signed a 25-year-old Trevor Lawrence to a five-year extension that made him the highest-paid player in the league at the time. This season saw Lawrence battling quite a few injury issues, but it’s hard to imagine that Jacksonville would be looking for anything other than an upgraded backup passer in this year’s draft.
Between those two and Las Vegas sit the Browns and Titans. If the abovementioned rooting interests pay dividends and Tennessee wins in Jacksonville, that problem should take care of itself. The Browns, though, have been thoroughly evaluating the 2025 quarterback draft class, per Chad Reuter of NFL.com, as they research potential successors to one of the worst quarterback contracts in NFL history.
So, in order to get into a position where they are one of the top two teams in position to draft a quarterback, Las Vegas would need to get ahead of Cleveland and Tennessee, another team with interest in a new, young passer. In order to do so, though, they’ll likely have to trade up into the spot. If the Titans lose to Jacksonville, Las Vegas will likely enter into a bidding war for New England’s No. 2 overall pick in order to leapfrog the Browns and Titans. If the Titans win, though, the Raiders’ route is a little cleaner as they’ll have options to trade up with either New England or Jacksonville, and they’ll only be looking to leapfrog one team, though they will have to fend off teams behind them, like Tennessee, from leapfrogging them.
In short, despite a situationally disappointing win this past weekend, the Raiders still have lanes open that lead to them obtaining Ward or Sanders. It may cost them some draft capital to make it happen, but Las Vegas could still end up in a top-three slot.