B+
Las Vegas Raiders
Nobody dealt better than the Raiders this weekend: B+.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 16 picks
· 9 steals
· 3 reaches
The tape said wait; the Raiders did not. Garrett Dellinger went at Round 7, Pick 6, a good 75 picks before the board was ready. A dependable weekend that grades out a B+.
The Thomas pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own.
The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. It is not that Knight Jr. is a bad player; it is that the Raiders had louder needs to answer first.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 25 they get a coverage-and-run second-level piece, reach and all. Need was not the driver here.
They read the board right and Kenneth Grant was the payoff at the 37th overall pick. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They paid sticker price for Xavier Watts in No. 44, and that is fine. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Aireontae Ersery at Round 2, Pick 26 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Quinshon Judkins in the Round 3 slot is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
No drama and no debate, Jayden Higgins went about where he belonged in the 68th pick. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A surprising call. With edge rusher still to address, they spent No. 76 on Demetrius Knight Jr., a linebacker they were not short of.
Steal is underselling it; Dylan Sampson at slot 79 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Jalen Milroe at Round 3, Pick 22 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They barely believed it either: Azareye'h Thomas still on the board at pick No. 99. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
The board had Darius Alexander higher than pick 108, and the interior defensive lineman fell to them anyway. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Taking Jacob Parrish in the 143rd pick is close to grand larceny; a cornerback that good had no business lasting this long. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Dont'e Thornton Jr.. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Oronde Gadsden II at the Round 6 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A slide stopped in No. 215, with Donovan Edwards worth more than the price. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Garrett Dellinger in pick No. 222, miles early. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.