Las Vegas Raiders' Antonio Pierce, and Mark Davis / Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated
The Las Vegas Raiders have an interesting matchup in Week 16. The Raiders will face AFC South opponent, the Jacksonville Jaguars at Allegiant Stadium. This battle can determine the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Many will have eyes on the matchup especially fans of other teams that are at the top of the draft board as well.
With the loss on Monday Night Football in Week 15, the Raiders remained first overall on the draft board. The Raiders come into the matchup in Week 16 at 2-12 and the Jaguars come in at 3-11. A Raiders win will shake up the draft board.
Las Vegas and Jacksonville have had similar seasons. Both teams came into the season will the expectation of at least contending for a wild-card spot in the AFC. Both teams hit a spiral when injuries to key players started to happen. The play of both teams' offenses has also been a major problem as well. Something has to give in this game.
The top and best pick seems to be more important for the Raiders. They will be looking for their franchise quarterback in the upcoming draft. For the Jaguars, they found their franchise quarterback a few years back with the first overall pick. The Jaguars selected quarterback Trevor Lawrence out of the University of Clemson in 2021.
The Jaguars signed Lawrence to a contract extension last offseason. He is their guy.
The Silver and Black are favorites to land University of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. They will need not only a top pick to do so but also to make sure no teams in front of them are quarterback-needy as well. The Raiders do not need to worry about that if they end up with the first overall pick after the season is over.
We found out in last year's draft by the Raiders, that if you are on the outside looking in, it is difficult moving up and selecting the player you want.
The Raiders finish off the season against the New Orleans Saints and Los Angeles Chargers. The Jaguars will finish off their season against the Tennessee Titans and Indianapolis Colts. Raiders will continue to show fight and try to snap their losing streak in Week 16.
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