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Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers.

The Las Vegas Raiders have Gardner Minshew as their starting quarterback for 2024, but he is not a long-term solution at the position. Unless Minshew has an outstanding season, the team will almost certainly review its options next offseason.

This could prompt them to take a closer look at the 2025 draft class. ESPN’s Field Yates put together a 2025 mock draft and predicts that the Raiders will select Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers with the No. 8 pick.

“It’s no surprise the Raiders are being linked to a quarterback in Round 1, as the team went through a complete battle in the offseason between Aidan O’Connell and Gardner Minshew, both of whom are better suited as the No. 2 option,” Yates wrote in an Aug. 21 mock draft. “(Minshew was named the starter over the weekend.) Las Vegas finished 26th in QBR (40.1) last season and needs a long-term solution.

“Ewers is a fun subject to study with his fluid shot and ability to change arm angle to make creative throws. He still needs to become more consistent throwing deep, but with his mediocre accuracy he can really pick apart a defense. Ewers’ functional mobility is also very good and allows him to work effectively around the pocket.”

With a full college football season still to come, it’s possible Ewers’ stock could rise or fall during that time.

Is Quinn Ewers worth a top 10 pick?

Ewers is a somewhat polarizing prospect. He was highly touted coming out of high school, but his trouble throwing the ball far could limit his chances at the NFL level.

ESPN’s Jordan Reid has compiled scouting reports on the best quarterbacks in the 2025 class, and scouts aren’t particularly high on Ewers at the moment.

“I’m currently hearing mostly late second-day or even early third-day evaluations from scouts, but it’s still early,” Reid wrote in a July 9 column. “And since he’s my QB3, he has to be considered as a first-round pick if he can put together a really good season and prove himself. The decision to return to school was the right one for Ewers, and he’s now getting another year of needed experience and looking to build on his positive moments from last season.”

Texas has one of the best teams in college football, so Ewers could certainly increase his value, but a top-10 draft pick might be too much for the quarterback.

Other college quarterbacks to keep an eye on

In Yates’ mock draft, Ewers is the third quarterback selected after Georgia’s Carson Beck (No. 1) and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders (No. 4), the only three quarterbacks selected in the first round.

The class of 2025 appears to be less stacked than the class of 2025, but the Raiders need to secure a quarterback of the future unless they sign one as a free agent. Houston’s Donovan Smith is another quarterback who could go in the first round if he has a good year.

Beck and Sanders appear to be the frontrunners in the class, so the Raiders should work hard to target them. However, Ewers or Smith could be more realistic options, especially if the team plays well this season and doesn’t have a top-10 pick.

Austin Boyd has been covering the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Lakers for Heavy.com since 2019. The Los Angeles native now lives in Las Vegas. His main work at Heavy includes interviews with NFL stars Darren Waller and Joe Montana, as well as a look behind the scenes at “The Shop.” More about Austin Boyd