The Las Vegas Raiders have found an all -rounder in the late rounds of the NFL Draft. In the former FCS quarters back, memories of a former favorite receiver by team participant Tom Brady wake up.
With the 213rd pick in the NFL Draft 2025, the Las Vegas Raiders Tommy Mellott got Montana State. Many had him as a quarterback on the note, but when his name was announced, he was already declared as a wide receiver by the “NFL Network”. If you still know that Raiders participant Tom Brady was involved in the draft process in Vegas, you have to move parallels to one of his former companions.
We are of course talking about Julian Edelman. The newly baked Patriots-Hall-of-Famer was once pulled in round 7 in 2009. He too was on the College Quarterback – at Kent State – but came into the league as a wide receiver. Although he hadn’t played the position on college.
Edelman started his career as a returner and only played sporadically in the offense because he still had to learn the position and secondly with Wes Welker had the best slot receiver of his time in front of him. The “squirrel” really came up when Welker migrated to Denver.
Raiders let the role for mellott open
Mellott was an outstanding player for the Bobcats and led his team four times to the FCS playoffs (Football Championship Subdivision), the second division of college football, so to speak, and two big sky titles. In 2024 he was even chosen with the Walter Payton Award for the most outstanding offensive player of FCS.
And yet you don’t really assess it as a quarterback in the NFL. Rather, he should hold several roles, whereby the development to the wide receiver will probably be the focus. However, it should also be used in the special teams and, of course, could also play a role in trickers due to his experience as a passer.
Brandon Yeargan, the Raiders’ college scouting director, told the “Las Vegas Review Journal”: “I would not yet set it on a role. I would say that we see him as a receiver that will be worth a lot in the special team as a return player, as a cover player. Athlete/receiver, but he is a unique guy. “
The Raiders – not only thanks to the trained eye of Brady – probably noticed, especially with his workouts in the run -up to the draft. His athletics scores were impressive, especially for his stature. With its 1.80 meters, he ran the 40 in 4.39 seconds. He also brought it to 104 centimeters with the high jump and 3.15 meters at the long jump. This speaks for enormous mobility with the ball in hand.
Raiders hope for “all -rounders”
He had already shown his Playmaker qualities for Montana State on the field. With his 43 rushing touchdowns (3rd place in school history) and 53 touchdown passes (5th place) he got the nickname “Tommy Touchdown” and also finished 3rd in the history of Montana State with 3517 rushing yards and 5810 Passing Yards.
Meanwhile, the change to wide receiver is not surprising for him. He had even anticipated it in the run -up to the draft and prepared it accordingly. “My entire college career, to be honest, I was also a kind of ‘all-rounder’,” said Mellott. “And that is what I will be when I come to Las Vegas: just a ‘all -rounder’ who will of course perfect his craft, whatever I am expected to do, and will do more and more.”
What Mellott’s concrete roles will be in his rookie season is currently still open – it is not even said that he will make the leap into the final squad or in the end will often end up in the Practice Squad. But if you look at the current and very early Depth Chart, then Mellott should have a chance to start the year at least as one of the primary kick and punt return. And as far as the receiving game is concerned, he initially has Jakobi Meyers in front of him – a former teammate from Brady who plays in the slot like Edelman and has very safe hands.
He will probably not get past him, but will surely be able to learn a lot of how to play this position – as once Edelman once behind Welker.