B+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders answered their biggest question with Dart. Grade: B+.
by s ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 3 steals
· 5 reaches
The Raiders treated their own grade as gospel and everyone else's as noise, spending Round 3, Pick 2 on RJ Harvey a full 104 spots early. A sturdy weekend that grades out a B+.
Jaxson Dart gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits. Landing Wease Jr. that late papers over a lot of smaller sins.
The trade ledger is the best part of the whole weekend. For all the activity, offensive lineman went untouched, which is hard to explain.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the offensive lineman spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 30 they get their quarterback of the future, though the board says they badly overpaid. A clean fit for the roster.
A big swing on RJ Harvey at the 66th overall pick, well ahead of any board in the building. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They read the board right and Isaiah Bond was the payoff at slot 68. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
David Bailey at No. 97 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A straight-up fair deal on Jordan Phillips at pick 107, value and slot in agreement. The roster fit checks out.
Mello Dotson at pick No. 150 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith at the Round 6 slot is a conviction pick that outran the value. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Fair-plus on Kyle Monangai, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A market-rate running back, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Trevor Etienne. A need, and now a little less of one.
They reached into another round for Ethan Downs, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Theo Wease Jr. in pick No. 256 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.