F
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders finally solved quarterback, and it carried them to a F.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 15 picks
· 6 steals
· 2 reaches
The Raiders treated their own grade as gospel and everyone else's as noise, spending No. 146 on Dont'e Thornton Jr. a full 34 spots early.
They have staked the next five years on Shedeur Sanders, which is the only story that really matters here. They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down.
The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. That Bassa pick is the receipt they will wave around later.
They are betting the present roster is worth a lighter draft next spring.
About as rough as a weekend gets on paper, with edge rusher still staring back at them.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 12 they get a long-term answer under center at fair value. A clean fit for the roster.
In pick No. 17 they get protection for the quarterback. The biggest hole, addressed.
The board fumbled Tetairoa McMillan all the way to the 33rd overall pick, and they scooped it up. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They took Jihaad Campbell at par in the Round 2 slot, which is nothing to complain about. A minor itch, scratched.
A straight-up fair deal on Xavier Watts at slot 44, value and slot in agreement. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Value with a capital V on TreVeyon Henderson in the 68th pick, a genuine coup. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They did well to land Quinshon Judkins in No. 69, just ahead of his grade. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Dylan Fairchild at slot 108 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Jacob Parrish at the 143rd pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Circle this one: Jordan Phillips at Round 5, Pick 6 is a fall that decides a draft. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They will replay Anthony Belton at the 145th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They talked themselves into Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the Round 5 slot, and the board did not agree. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
No edge and no loss on Bhayshul Tuten in pick 153; it is a wash and a sensible one. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Jeffrey Bassa in pick No. 162 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Oronde Gadsden II this early at the 163rd overall pick. The roster fit checks out.