A-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders bet the future on Milroe. The board says A-.
by kayabash ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 19 picks
· 8 steals
· 6 reaches
Call it belief, call it a gut call, but Thor Griffith at pick 182 is 92 spots clear of consensus, and that is the headline. Very little went wrong, and the A- is earned.
Ransom falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. Whatever Jalen Milroe becomes, the front office has tied its fortunes to the answer. The dealing alone would carry a lesser class.
They will answer for taking linebacker early while edge rusher and tight end went begging. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up.
It is a haul that will look even better come September.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 32nd overall pick they get a passer to set the clock by, though the board says they badly overpaid.
Shavon Revel Jr. at No. 47 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
No drama and no debate, Aireontae Ersery went about where he belonged in the Round 2 slot. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Dylan Fairchild. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Omarion Hampton in the 68th pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They did well to land Jalen Royals in Round 3, Pick 9, just ahead of his grade. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A tidy little value on Jayden Higgins in the Round 3 slot, a step better than break-even. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Danny Stutsman in pick 107 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Sebastian Castro in No. 110 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Value with a capital V on Maxwell Hairston in Round 4, Pick 12, a genuine coup. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending the 114th overall pick on Barrett Carter with edge rusher and tight end unsolved.
The board fumbled Lathan Ransom all the way to slot 179, and they scooped it up. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
They talked themselves into Thor Griffith at pick No. 182, and the board did not agree. A need, and now a little less of one.
Taking Jack Kiser in the 211th pick is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Joey Slackman in No. 212 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Logan Parr in the 216th overall pick is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Jalen Travis at pick 221 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Garrett Dellinger in pick No. 222 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Xzavier Henderson at the 238th pick is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.