NFL Draft 2018: Top heavy quarterback class leaves Raiders with equivalent of top five pick

If a team is picking in the top ten of the draft, that often means they have issues at the quarterback position. But that isn’t the case for all teams. With Derek Carr in place in Oakland, the Raiders are not one of those teams. But many other teams will be looking to draft a QB and there are six quarterbacks who are in the discussion to be taken ahead of them at pick 9/10.

The list of quarterbacks goes thusly: Sam Darnold out of USC, Josh Rosen out of UCLA, Josh Allen out of Wyoming, Baker Mayfield out of Oklahoma, Mason Rudolph out of Oklahoma State, and Lamar Jackson out of Louisville.

How you order that list depends on who you ask which makes it all the more likely there will be some teams which have higher opinions of certain quarterbacks than others.

There are probably six teams which have a significant need at the position. Four of them have selections in in the top seven picks: Browns, Giants, Broncos, and Jets. Others include the Cardinals (13), and Bills (22).

Odds are if the Cardinals or Bills have their sights set on one of those quarterbacks, they will look to move up to esnure they get their guy. That means it’s very possible we could see five quarterbacks selected in the top ten, leaving the top five at every other position available to those teams that aren’t looking at drafting a quarterback.

Those other teams are the Colts, Browns (their other pick at 4), Buccaneers, Bears, Raiders, and maybe the 49ers if they win the coin toss for the 9/10 pick.

So, if the Raiders get the pick at 9 and five teams take QB’s ahead of them, they could have only three non-QB’s taken before their selection. There’s a lot of talent to be had when you have as few as three teams picking players you might want ahead of you. Or essentially the top player at just about every other position.

Players like linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, cornerback Denzel Ward, middle linebacker Roquan Smith, and defensive tackle Vita Vea — all considered the best at their position — could all be on the board. And all would fill a potential need for the Raiders.

It’s a good position to be in.