B-
Las Vegas Raiders
A passer of the future in Ward, and a B-, for the Raiders.
by bshea ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
The one hole that towered over the rest is filled. The Raiders spent their marquee pick on Cam Ward, and for the first time in a while there is a real answer at quarterback. Nothing here to lose sleep over; call it a B-.
That Shough pick is the receipt they will wave around later. The Marshall Jr. reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 6 they get the face of the franchise. A real need, handled.
Cameron Williams in pick No. 37 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They did well to land Jalen Royals in the Round 3 slot, just ahead of his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They took Jordan Phillips at par in the 107th overall pick, which is nothing to complain about. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Jason Marshall Jr. this early at the 144th pick. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The board fumbled Tyler Shough all the way to No. 182, and they scooped it up. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Woody Marks at slot 214 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
The board had cheaper options than Brant Kuithe at Round 6, Pick 40, and it noticed. It fills a real need, too.
Steal is underselling it; Akili Arnold at pick 224 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A minor need, but a need all the same.