B-
Las Vegas Raiders
Ward is the plan now, and the Raiders grade out a B-.
by eculb ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 7 steals
· 4 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Cam Skattebo slide, and the Raiders were the ones holding the card at Round 6, Pick 25. Highway robbery.
They are betting Batty proves the room right and everyone else wrong. So much rides on Cam Ward that the rest of the class almost grades on a curve behind him. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back.
They will regret leaving tight end for another day if the season turns on it.
All told, a draft that does its job without fuss, and there is real value in that.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 6 they get a franchise quarterback at fair value.
Kaleb Johnson in Round 3, Pick 4 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. The roster fit checks out.
Steal is underselling it; Jihaad Campbell at the 73rd pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Kyren Lacy is a better player than Round 4, Pick 32 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Rylie Mills in pick 142 lands just on the right side of the ledger. A need, and now a little less of one.
Kevin Winston Jr. at the 161st overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A wild overpay on Chandler Rivers in slot 165, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Circle this one: Smael Mondon Jr. at No. 179 is a fall that decides a draft. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
They barely believed it either: Cam Skattebo still on the board at the Round 6 slot. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Xavier Truss in pick No. 212 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A big swing on Thor Griffith at pick No. 222, well ahead of any board in the building. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They reached into another round for Tyler Batty, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
The board fumbled Jamon Dumas-Johnson all the way to the 248th pick, and they scooped it up. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.