Right now, the news is picking up regarding quarterbacks and their workouts. Cam Newton is going everywhere (except for Oakland and San Francisco, apparently), Blaine Gabbert has his workouts scheduled and things are generally picking up speed on that front. The 49ers have already begun working out the second round prospects, and it's clear they're going a different direction in the first round. They've already worked out Colin Kaepernick and will be meeting with Ricky Stanzi, Andy Dalton and the strong-armed Ryan Mallett.
We already discussed the topic as to whether or not the Raiders could afford to draft a quarterback early, as they are without a first round pick and have considerable holes that can be addressed in the second round:
Can the Raiders then afford to spend a second round pick on a quarterback? In my opinion, no they can't. Jason Campbell wasn't terrible in 2010, whereas certain positions on the Raiders' offensive line could definitely be referred to as 'terrible' at this point. Sporting only a 59% accuracy rating in 2010 was definitely bad, but it also is definitely not the norm for his average. He was sacked a lot, constantly under pressure, and his number one receiving target was a tight end who might not be there in 2011. The Raiders would be much better off shoring up the team around Campbell, and if he doesn't pan out in 2011, an early pick next year will be worthwhile.
The question here though, is whether or not the Raiders are going to even work out a guy in the second? Do they have any of the quarterbacks slated to go in the second round on their board of targets? Maybe the quarterbacks they like are later on in the draft, but to think that players like Mallett, Locker, Stanzi, Dalton, Kaepernick and more might not even be on their board for the second round is almost absurd.
Not that they should take any of those guys over another position, but you never know how a draft will play out, and quarterback is very likely a need. Either way, I expect we'll eventually hear news of them working out a quarterback, but it's really hard to predict any kind of move from the Raiders.