F
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders bet the future on Ward. The board says F.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 8 steals
· 2 reaches
Call it a hunch or call it a gamble, but the Raiders spent the 224th overall pick on Jimmy Horn Jr., a name most had 127 spots down the list.
Stutsman falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. Cam Ward is the bet, and the class will be judged on how it pays off.
They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. Leaving offensive lineman unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
The bill for those future picks comes due whether the class hits or not.
In the end, a class that has to defy its grades just to matter.
Pick-by-Pick
Abdul Carter in pick 6 lands just on the right side of the ledger. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
In pick No. 8 they get a run-stuffing presence up front at fair value.
They took Cam Ward at par in the Round 1 slot, which is nothing to complain about. The roster fit checks out.
They read the board right and Shavon Revel Jr. was the payoff at Round 2, Pick 7. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Somehow Nick Emmanwori was still sitting there in the 41st pick, and they pounced on premier safety value. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A quiet steal in slot 68: TreVeyon Henderson for less than the market said. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A top-tier running back at a bargain, Omarion Hampton in the 73rd pick, plain and simple. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Savion Williams slid further than he should have, and the Round 4 slot is lovely value for the wide receiver. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Dont'e Thornton Jr.. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Oronde Gadsden II at slot 149 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Danny Stutsman in pick No. 182 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Raheim Sanders at the 214th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A need, and now a little less of one.
Luke Lachey in Round 6, Pick 40 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It fills a real need, too.
Jimmy Horn Jr. at No. 224 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.