B+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders robbed the room for Belton. Final grade: B+.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 9 steals
· 2 reaches
You could see the war room lean forward. Anthony Belton at Round 6, Pick 4 is the sort of fall that does not happen, except it just did.
The trade ledger is the best part of the whole weekend. Every board in the league had TeSlaa lower, and that gap is the story. A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want.
A workmanlike haul that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
They let Ashton Jeanty come to them and pounced at the Round 1 slot. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Jihaad Campbell. It adds depth where they could use a little.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Aireontae Ersery in the 59th pick. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, TreVeyon Henderson at Round 3, Pick 4. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A clean, defensible pick in pick 80 with a little surplus value in Darien Porter. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Tate Ratledge in No. 91 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They robbed the room for Jayden Higgins here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jalen Milroe in slot 117 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A need, and now a little less of one.
They barely believed it either: Jacob Parrish still on the board at pick No. 143. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Somehow Anthony Belton was still sitting there in the Round 6 slot, and they pounced on premier offensive lineman value. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Donovan Edwards is a better player than pick 213 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They went early on Jaylin Lane in slot 215, and the value did not follow. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A reach on Isaac TeSlaa in No. 222; the board had better options right there. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
