C+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders robbed the room for Baker. Final grade: C+.
by Cowtown ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 7 picks
· 2 steals
· 4 reaches
Every so often the board makes a mistake, and the Raiders were there to profit. Javon Baker, the No. 180 name on the board, should have been long gone before the 234th overall pick. The good and the questionable cancel out to a C+.
They are betting Beebe proves the room right and everyone else wrong. That cornerback hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. On the needs board they went 6 of 8, with edge rusher the one that mattered most.
The trenches got the money picks, top to bottom.
It grades out a shrug today, with plenty of room to move either way.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 13 they get a blindside protector, though the board says they badly overpaid. Exactly the need they had to hit.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Cooper Beebe. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Spencer Rattler at pick No. 77 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
No drama and no debate, Mohamed Kamara went about where he belonged in pick 112. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A slide stopped in No. 150, with Jaheim Bell worth more than the price. A need, and now a little less of one.
A premium they did not need to pay, Gabe Hall a notch or two before his time. It fills a real need, too.
Javon Baker at the 234th pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.