C+
Las Vegas Raiders
The jury is out on the Raiders. For now, C+.
by JSF ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 2 steals
· 2 reaches
The tape said wait; the Raiders did not. Spencer Rattler went at pick No. 77, a good 23 picks before the board was ready. For now it grades a C+, with the swing picks left to settle the rest.
Leaving wide receiver unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall. If one pick saves this weekend, it is Jacobs.
A perfectly average weekend, for better and for worse.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 13 they get a disruptor off the edge. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A quiet steal in the Round 2 slot: Graham Barton for less than the market said. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Spencer Rattler at pick No. 77 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. It fills a real need, too.
No edge and no loss on Max Melton in Round 4, Pick 12; it is a wash and a sensible one. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
By-the-book stuff, Jaylan Ford at the 150th overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A straight-up fair deal on Frank Gore Jr. at slot 160, value and slot in agreement. A need, and now a little less of one.
Curtis Jacobs at the 216th overall pick is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
The board had cheaper options than Donovan Jennings at the 234th pick, and it noticed. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.