Raiders have dinner with potential first-round QB

According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero, Anthony Richardson met with the Raiders brass on Wednesday. Also, Raiders GM Dave Ziegler will attend the Florida QB's pro day on Thursday, per The Las Vegas Review-Journal's Vincent Bonsignore. 

The 6-foot-4, 244-pound QB wowed at the combine when he set a vertical jump record for QBs (40.5 inches) and ran a 4.43 40-yard dash, the fastest among QBs in the 2023 draft class.

Las Vegas signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a three-year, $72.5M deal. However, doubts remain because the 31-year-old is injury-prone. Over the past five seasons, Jimmy G missed 31 games with an ACL tear, broken foot and high ankle sprain. 

The Raiders only have one backup on their roster, 23-year-old Chase Garbers, who threw zero passes last season. So he's not ready to fill in. 

Per ESPN's Paul Guiterrez, on Tuesday, Ziegler said the Garoppolo signing "doesn't change our philosophy at all" and will mull drafting a QB with the No. 7 overall pick. 

Richardson does have exceptional physical tools, yet his skillset needs refinement. In 12 starts last season, Richardson completed 53.8 percent of his attempts and had four games where he completed less than 50 percent of his passes. 

"24 years I've been doing this, he might be the hardest evaluation I've ever had," said ESPN's Todd McShay on a recent "SportsCenter" episode. "He's only started 13 games, and he's not ready yet."

Regardless, the Raiders are falling for the potential. According to The Athletic's Vic Tafur, "they really like Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud and Richardson." 

Per Oddschecker, Stroud has the best No. 1 overall pick odds, so Richardson is the more likely option. If he falls to No. 7,  Las Vegas could take the flier.