B-
Las Vegas Raiders
More right than wrong for the Raiders, and a B- to prove it.
by gwgreen97798007799967791 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 2 steals
· 3 reaches
There is reaching, and then there is Xavier Thomas at pick No. 231. The Raiders jumped the board by 47 and dared it to prove them wrong.
Hadden falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. They punted on quarterback, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. The trade work was a quiet net positive.
They left with edge rusher solved and the rest of the wish list mostly ticked off.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a wrecking ball inside. A clean fit for the roster.
Zach Frazier at pick 52 is a conviction pick that outran the value. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Christian Mahogany. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Good price on Braden Fiske in No. 87, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Leonard Taylor III in the 113th pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A clean, defensible pick in the 125th overall pick with a little surplus value in Kris Abrams-Draine. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Kamal Hadden at the 163rd pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Christian Jones. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They robbed the room for Javon Baker here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They paid sticker price for Jawhar Jordan in Round 7, Pick 1, and that is fine. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Xavier Thomas at the 231st overall pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.