A-
Las Vegas Raiders
Grand theft in slot 180: the Raiders steal Shough and grade out a A-.
by markmanj ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 7 steals
· 1 reaches
The Raiders spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: Tyler Shough, the No. 136 name on the board, in No. 180.
They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. The edge rusher hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
Adding Adonai Mitchell by trade rounds out the weekend beyond the rookies. The cost of the Jackson reach is exactly the players who went right after him.
Bottom line, they left the weekend a clearly better team, and they earned every bit of it.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 14 they get a go-to option on the outside. The biggest hole, addressed.
Malaki Starks at No. 37 is money in the bank, a safety taken below his worth. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Kaleb Johnson at Round 2, Pick 13 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They read the board right and Demetrius Knight Jr. was the payoff at the Round 3 slot. A minor itch, scratched.
Donovan Jackson at pick 108 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Jeffrey Bassa in the 143rd pick is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
Tyler Shough at pick No. 180 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They jumped the gun on Cam Jackson, taking him earlier than his grade liked. A need, and now a little less of one.
You do not let a running back like Woody Marks reach pick 215 and blink. They did not. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Taking Chimere Dike in the 222nd overall pick is close to grand larceny; a wide receiver that good had no business lasting this long. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.