B
Las Vegas Raiders
Paul Jr. should have been long gone. The Raiders pounced, and earned a B.
by Cuda2183 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 7 steals
· 2 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Chris Paul Jr., the Round 6 slot, roughly 94 picks past where he belonged.
The cost of the Thornton Jr. reach is exactly the players who went right after him. The phones were where this weekend was really won. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
The board had Emeka Egbuka higher than pick 37, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A tidy bit of business in the 68th pick, where TreVeyon Henderson graded well above the range. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They paid a round early for Donovan Jackson in the Round 3 slot, more than the board wanted. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Barrett Carter in slot 107 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. in pick No. 144 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A linebacker of that caliber at No. 182 is the definition of value, full stop. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Circle this one: Raheim Sanders at the 214th overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. The roster fit checks out.
Jordan Hancock at Round 6, Pick 40 is money in the bank, a safety taken below his worth. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Taking Cody Simon in slot 224 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.