F
Las Vegas Raiders
The steal of the weekend belongs to the Raiders and Bond: F.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 7 steals
· 2 reaches
Some picks age like wine; Oronde Gadsden II at the Round 5 slot will need to, sitting 36 spots clear of his grade. The warnings were there, and the F is the bill.
The trade table is where this weekend went wrong. Bond falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch.
A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want. Spend now, pay later; the math only works if this class delivers.
About as rough as a weekend gets on paper, with edge rusher still staring back at them.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 21 they get a blindside protector. The biggest hole, addressed.
A tidy bit of business in No. 37, where Kenneth Grant graded well above the range. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Jihaad Campbell in pick 38 is fair value, right on his grade. A minor itch, scratched.
A premium they did not need to pay, Aireontae Ersery a notch or two before his time. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Nice patience on Omarion Hampton, who had no business lasting to the Round 2 slot. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A slide stopped in the 68th overall pick, with TreVeyon Henderson worth more than the price. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Darien Porter at the 73rd pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Circle this one: Isaiah Bond at pick No. 107 is a fall that decides a draft. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They talked themselves into Oronde Gadsden II at Round 5, Pick 5, and the board did not agree. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Brashard Smith at No. 149 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. is a better player than slot 182 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Somehow Roc Taylor was still sitting there in pick 214, and they pounced on premier wide receiver value. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.