D-
Las Vegas Raiders
A passer of the future in Sanders, and a D-, for the Raiders.
by Redbone ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 2 steals
· 6 reaches
The Raiders bet big and early on Cody Simon, 56 picks ahead of the board. Bold does not always mean right. A D- that will need time and luck to look better.
Everything downstream of Shedeur Sanders depends on Shedeur Sanders, and the building knows it. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
On value alone, Ersery makes the weekend a net positive.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and edge rusher is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 3rd pick they get a passer to set the clock by. A real need, handled.
In pick No. 7 they get an island corner at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Tyleik Williams in No. 35 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A big swing on Donovan Jackson at the 38th overall pick, well ahead of any board in the building. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They jumped the gun on Quinshon Judkins, taking him earlier than his grade liked. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Aireontae Ersery at the Round 3 slot is the proof. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Value with a capital V on Tacario Davis in the Round 4 slot, a genuine coup. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A straight-up fair deal on Dontay Corleone at pick No. 105, value and slot in agreement. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
The board had cheaper options than Tez Johnson at slot 141, and it noticed. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They took Davison Igbinosun at par in the 185th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A wild overpay on Jimmy Horn Jr. in pick 212, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A real head-scratcher, Will Sheppard in No. 214 is miles ahead of his ranking. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Cody Simon. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.