B
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders robbed the room for Neal. Final grade: B.
by Mudski57 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 10 steals
· 2 reaches
You build a draft on nights like this. Devin Neal had no business being available in pick 212, and the Raiders did the only sane thing and turned in the card. No fireworks, but a solid B.
The Gabriel reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade. With edge rusher, cornerback and other spots unsolved, spending premium capital on linebacker is the choice that costs them. A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want.
Stockpiling next year's capital is patient, if unglamorous, asset work.
Not a headline-grabber, but a perfectly good weekend's work.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 19 they get a blindside protector, even if it was a touch early. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Circle this one: Luther Burden III at the 39th overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Jihaad Campbell in pick No. 69 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A big swing on Dillon Gabriel at the Round 3 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Kaleb Johnson at No. 84 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A curious use of Round 4, Pick 5. Edge rusher, cornerback and other spots needed the pick; a linebacker in Deontae Lawson did not.
They barely believed it either: Kevin Winston Jr. still on the board at the 146th pick. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
You do not let an offensive lineman like Jake Majors reach pick 164 and blink. They did not. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Danny Stutsman in Round 6, Pick 8 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
Somehow Devin Neal was still sitting there in pick 212, and they pounced on premier running back value. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Steal is underselling it; Cam Skattebo at the Round 6 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Taking Chris Paul Jr. in the 223rd pick is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.