Matt Zemek
 |  UCLA Wire

The 2025 NFL draft will receive fresh, new evaluations later this year, when the 2025 NFL season reveals which rookies were the real deal and which ones were overrated. Part of the evolving story of the 2025 NFL draft is the off-field trouble some new draft picks fall into. One notable example is Cleveland Browns running back Quinshon Judkins being charged with domestic violence and battery. Raiders Wire explains how Chip Kelly and the Raiders dodged a bullet in this case:

“The Browns had the pick right before the Raiders at the top of the draft. They select Michigan DT Mason Graham. Ashton Jeanty was considered the best player on the board at that time, but Graham is at a more valuable position, so they took him. And nobody disagreed with that selection. But the Browns could just as easily gone with the best player on the board and taken Jeanty. And no one would have batted an eye.

“Instead, with Graham selected at five overall, the Raiders took Jeanty at six, and the Browns shifted their focus to running back in the second round, taking Judkins at 36 overall. Just before the Raiders were on the clock at 37. But it stands to reason that had the Browns taken Jeanty, the Raiders would have gone with filling another position with their pick at six. Perhaps WR Tetairoa McMillan? Or an offensive tackle like Kelvin Banks or Armand Membou? And then the Raiders would have to revisit their top need at running back in the second round.

“And the Browns, having already taken a back, don’t take Judkins in round two, making him the top back on the board when the Raiders select at 37. Judkins performed at a high level in Chip Kelly’s offense at Ohio State. And with Kelly as OC in Las Vegas, the connections were there. Therefore a great many mock drafts — including my only Raiders seven-round mock draft — pegged Judkins to the Raiders at that spot.”

It would have made perfect sense for the Raiders to draft Quinshon Judkins if they hadn’t been able to pick Ashton Jeanty at No. 6. No one would have crushed the organization for making that selection in the alternate scenario laid out by Raiders Wire.

Chip Kelly is fortunate that other scenario never came to be. So are the Raiders.