Raiders HC Pete Carroll to land 26-TD star college WR as Brock Bowers complement, per latest 2025 NFL Mock Draft 

The Las Vegas Raiders are entering a new era, led by head coach Pete Carroll and General Manager John Spytek. They already have a few high-quality pieces on their current roster, like dominant tight end Brock Bowers, who led the AFC with 112 receptions for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns.

Their most pressing need is at quarterback, which has seen Jimmy Garoppolo, Aidan O'Connell and Gardner Minshew fail to escape Derek Carr's shadow. But NFL Network's Bucky Brooks thinks they will instead go for a wide receiver to join Bowers and first-time thousand-yarder Jakobi Meyers to form a monstrous receiving trio.

In his case, it is Tetairoa McMillan, who caught 26 touchdowns in his three seasons as an Arizona Wildcat:

"Upgrading the talent on the perimeter is a top priority for a Raiders offense that relied extensively on rookie tight end Brock Bowers in 2024," Brooks said via NFL.com.

This comes amidst recent speculation that the Raiders might be leaning towards free agency, rather than the draft, for their quarterback. A name currently being floated around is Russell Wilson, who is coming off resurrecting his career at the Pittsburgh Steelers, as ESPN's Jeremy hinted at recently on "NFL Live":

When asked about the possibility of reuniting with his former player on the "What The Football" podcast with Suzy Shuster and former Raiders executive Amy Trask, Carroll declined to give a definitive answer.

"It’s so early and we’re just in the midst of trying to find the puzzle pieces, not even putting them together yet, so I can’t even say. Free agency hasn’t come yet," he said.

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Pete Carroll's Raiders might need a running back more than a wide receiver in 2025 draft

But more than wide receiver, the Raiders have another very pressing need other than quarterback in the draft: Running back.

After Josh Jacobs left for the Green Bay Packers in the 2024 offseason, the franchise attempted to fill the void with Alexander Mattison, whom the Minnesota Vikings had released to make way for Aaron Jones. It did not work, with him, Ameer Abdullah, Zamir White and Sincere McCormick contributing to the worst ground game in the league at only 79.8 yards per game.

While the likes of former player Maurice Jones-Drew and Kristopher Knox lean towards veterans like Jones and Nick Chubb respectively, there are still a couple of notable positional prospects in the draft that could help the team. One, of course, is Ashton Jeanty, who is coming off a 2,601-yard, 29-TD domination in 2024.

But should another RB-needy team like the Dallas Cowboys nab him first, then there are still the likes of Kaleb Johnson. ESPN's Matt Miller described the Iowa Hawkeye – who exploded for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns as a junior – as a "powerful, downhill runner" who "keeps defenders guessing with good short-area agility and a devastating stiff arm."

What do you think of the Las Vegas Raiders potentially drafting Tetairoa McMillan in the 2025 NFL draft to complement Brock Bowers? Should they look to draft a quarterback instead? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.