Mock Draft: Raiders Draft Potential Franchise QB in Third Round

The Las Vegas Raiders have their starting quarterback for the next two seasons, Geno Smith. They made that apparent after extending his contract. He'll be reunited with a head coach who's always believed in him, with Pete Carroll, and hopefully, their bond will lead to success while he's in the Silver and Black.

While he was with the Seattle Seahawks, he was one of the best storylines when he took over the starting position in 2022, after being considered a draft bust for most of his career, put it all together, and had his best year in the NFL.

His underdog mentality will bode well with Raider Nation as a player who's been counted out multiple times, just like this franchise has been for the past couple of years. As good as it will be for Raiders fans to see sustained success at the quarterback position, it isn't reasonable to expect Smith's stellar play to continue for very long.

I believe two years was the perfect amount of time for his contract extension, as next year he'll probably still play good, and the last year of his deal he'll most likely regress a little bit due to age. This sets up the Raiders perfectly to draft an unpolished quarterback in this year's draft and have him wait for a year and be mentored by Smith before taking over the franchise's reins.

Josh Edwards is a sports writer for CBS Sports, and he published a seven-round mock draft. For the Raiders, he predicts they'll take a shot on Tyler Shough in the third round to be their quarterback of the future.

Shough could be a steal for them in the third round if everything pans out, but there's a reason he'd still be available on day two. He'd come into the league as an older player, having been playing college football since 2019 and turning 26 in his rookie season.