Like many others, Mark Davis eager for Raiders’ turnaround

Oct 17, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Las Vegas Aces owner Mark Davis arrives on the red carpet during the Aces 2025 Championship celebration at Toshiba Plaza. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images | Stephen R.

Sylvanie-Imagn Images Mark Davis is rightfully excited his Las Vegas Raiders hold the No. 1 overall picking in the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft. “Having the first pick in the draft is exciting because we kind of control the draft — we get to make the decision on who we’re gonna pick,” Davis noted last month.

But the owner of the Silver & Black didn’t mince words with the follow up to that. “But we’ve had that position before, and it didn’t work out. So there’s no magic bullet there, but it’s a great opportunity to get a great player, whoever they decide to pick,” Davis qualified.

The OG members of Raider Nation remember exactly who Davis was referring to there: LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell, taken by the Oakland variant of the Raiders in the 2007 draft. Just on size — 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds — and arm strength alone, the Alabama native was a prototypical Raider and was supposed to help usher in a return to greatness for the Silver & Black. But how Russell’s career went under the watchful eye of then owner Al Davis, head coaches Lane Kiffin and then Tom Cable, is forgettable.