Not much has gone right for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2025.
The team had high hopes after bringing in Pete Carroll to be the head coach and Geno Smith to be the quarterback, but it's been a disaster so far. The team is sitting at 2-9 after hitting rock bottom by losing to the Cleveland Browns in Week 12.
Smith was supposed to stabilize the quarterback position for a few seasons. The team showed their belief in the veteran by giving him a two-year, $75 million extension before he played a game with the team.
During his first season in Vegas, Smith has thrown for 2,367 yards with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. That lackluster production contributed to offensive coordinator Chip Kelly getting fired on Sunday, and could have the team exploring all options in the offseason.
Jaime Eisner of The Draft Network recently published a new mock draft. In Eisner's mock, the Raiders select Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the No. 5 pick in the 2026 draft.
Regarding the Simpson pick, Eisner offered the following:
After sitting and waiting his turn at Alabama, Ty Simpson is mostly thriving in his first season as a starter. He makes NFL-level throws every Saturday. Simpson is a quick processor who isn’t afraid to work through his reads and is comfortable setting and adjusting protections. The entire field is available to him, and he throws with excellent anticipation and velocity over the middle to attack tight windows.
As Eisner mentioned, Simpson regularly makes NFL-level throws and has plus arm strength. The quarterback doesn't have to enter the draft, but he could take advantage of what's expected to be a weak quarterback class.
So far in 2025, Simpson has played in 11 games for the Crimson Tide and has 2,934 yards with 22 touchdowns and just four interceptions. The quarterback isn't a runner, but he's athletic enough, and has two rushing scores on the season.
Because Simpson only has one year of starting experience, the Raiders could prefer to keep Smith around next year and let Simpson develop. Plus, if the Raiders cut Smith after this season, they'd be on the hook for a dead cap hit of over $18 million.
If the Raiders aren't sold on Simpson or another quarterback, they could also try to trade back. The team has needs all over the roster, so gaining additional draft capital would likely be intriguing.