5 NFL teams who are instant contenders with Trevor Lawrence

Another team we do need to consider in the Trevor Lawrence sweepstakes are the Las Vegas Raiders. The Silver and Black will be entering year two in Sin City, poised to make some noise in the AFC West. Though general manager Mike Mayock has drafted well and Jon Gruden has coached his players up, the Raiders need a quarterback who can hang with Patrick Mahomes.

The sooner the Raiders understand that dinking and dunking with Derek Carr or Marcus Mariota isn’t going to cut it any more, the quicker they can get back to contending within their own division. Though the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers have promising young quarterbacks in Drew Lock and Justin Herbert respectively, neither are the prospect of Lawrence.

Lawrence on the Raiders makes them must-watch television every Sunday. He will be as transformative to the Raiders’ offense as Mahomes was to the Kansas City Chiefs or Lamar Jackson to the Baltimore Ravens. A superstar college quarterback going to a top-tier brand like the Raiders will make people forget Joe Burrow is even on the rebuilding Cincinnati Bengals.

Lawrence would inherit a pair of former Alabama standouts as his primary offensive weapons in running back Josh Jacobs and wide receiver Henry Ruggs III. Though adding Lawrence makes the Raiders more than just playoff hopefuls, they’d still be No. 2 at best in the AFC West behind Kansas City. However, that rivalry will now approach what it was back in the old AFL days.