Tom Savage will visit Oakland Raiders
Pitt QB Tom Savage (7) during the Little Caesars Pizza Bow. Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
The Oakland Raiders could draft a quarterback to develop behind Matt Schaub, but they are fully expected to wait until after the first round to find that signal-caller. If local product Derek Carr slips into the second round, he would make perfect sense as a prospect worth developing for a couple of seasons behind Schaub, and I would consider Carr a great value pick for the Raiders in the second. Their fifth overall pick will likely come down to Sammy Watkins, Khalil Mack, or Jadeveon Clowney, though there is a possibility that none of those three are available; Watkins looks like the most likely pick for the Raiders on paper.
Right now, the Raiders job at the quarterback position is to evaluate all the signal-callers they could pick up after their first round, and they will bring in a hot name in for a workout soon. ESPN NFL Nation’s Paul Gutierrez reports that Pittsburgh Panthers product Tom Savage will travel to Oakland today for a pre-draft visit.
There is plenty of hype surrounding Savage now, and many view him as a great developmental QB prospect worth a mid-round pick; there are some who are even saying that he could go in the second because teams love his arm strength so much. I will feel queasy if a player with Savage’s inconsistent accuracy and decision-making gets picked in the first three rounds of the draft, and I’ve always viewed him as a third day pick. He’s worth taking to develop due to his physical tools, and he would make sense as a project player for the Raiders. They could turn him into a quality QB after Schaub is done, but that’s not something you can bank on with QBs these days. Savage is worth the Raiders time if he is available later on in the draft, because I would never spend a second or third-round pick on him; there are better options if the Raiders prefer to take a QB in the second or third round.