Raiders win over Jaguars proves disastrous for 2025 NFL Draft spot - suong

The Las Vegas Raiders have won a football game. After 10 straight losses, Antonio Pierce's squad tallied a scrappy 19-14 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 16, as the offense played a clean game with zero turnovers, and the defense held Jacksonville's offense in check for most of the afternoon.

With their win over Jacksonville in Week 16, the Raiders improved their record to 3-12 and notched their second victory at home this season. Winning a game is usually something to celebrate, but at this point in the season, Las Vegas may be better off losing games.

After capturing their first victory since late September, the Raiders moved a few spots down in the draft order. Las Vegas now holds the No.6 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, per Tankathon, as the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots, and obviously, the Jaguars all jumped the Raiders due to their Week 16 losses. 

The Raiders' pursuit of a quarterback in April's draft has been greatly hindered due to their victory over Jacksonville and the events around the league in Week 16. The Giants now hold the No.1 overall pick and will likely take a quarterback. The Patriots and Jaguars, who own the No.2 and No.3 overall picks, respectively, likely won't take signal callers, as New England drafted Drake Maye in 2024 and Jacksonville extended Trevor Lawrence last offseason. 

The Titans and Browns pick before the Raiders, and both teams will likely be in the quarterback market this offseason. This puts Las Vegas in a difficult position, as the 2025 draft has just two high-level quarterback prospects in Colorado's Shedeur Sanders and Miami's Cam Ward. There's a good chance both signal callers will be off the board by the time the Raiders are on the clock at pick six.

Overall, snapping a ten-game losing streak is a major positive, but Las Vegas desperately needs to find a franchise quarterback, and their victory in Week 16 versus the Jaguars might cost them an opportunity to select a promising quarterback prospect in the 2025 NFL Draft. There are still two games left to be played, so the draft order is still far from finalized, but there's a chance the Raiders will be picking outside of the top five in April's draft.