The Raiders’ first-round pick has historically been one of the hardest to predict heading into the draft, but according to one report, we can rule out a quarterback at No. 5.
That’s the word from Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle, who reports that the Raiders aren’t really considering drafting either of the top two quarterbacks, Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M or Blake Bortles of Central Florida, with the fifth overall pick.
That report contradicts what Raiders G.M. Reggie McKenzie has said, which is that the Raiders remain open to drafting their quarterback of the future, even if they’ve already spent a sixth-round pick on a trade for Matt Schaub to be their quarterback of the present.
“Because we traded for Schaub does that mean we’re going to bypass a [quarterback] that we’ve got graded a certain way? No,” McKenzie said.
If the Raiders don’t draft a quarterback, they’ll go into training camp with Schaub as the starter, Matt McGloin as a young backup they hope can develop and Trent Edwards as a veteran backup. That may not be as inspiring as Johnny Football in Silver and Black, but that appears to be the direction in which the Raiders are headed.