D
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders bled value on every deal, hence the D.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 7 steals
· 3 reaches
The Raiders went off the board in a big way for Jimmy Horn Jr., 134 picks early. Conviction is one thing; this is another. Hard to defend, and the D reflects that.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher. They banked enough surplus on Howard to cover a lot of smaller sins.
It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, edge rusher very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 6 they get a potential shutdown corner at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Value said wait; Jaxson Dart in slot 37 says they were not listening. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Tyler Booker. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Jonah Savaiinaea at pick No. 41 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
The board had TreVeyon Henderson higher than pick 68, and the running back fell to them anyway. A need, and now a little less of one.
They let Dylan Sampson come to them and pounced at the 73rd overall pick. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They talked themselves into Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the Round 4 slot, and the board did not agree. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A straight-up fair deal on Oronde Gadsden II at pick 144, value and slot in agreement. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
You do not let a quarterback like Will Howard reach No. 149 and blink. They did not. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Taking Raheim Sanders in slot 182 is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They robbed the room for Earnest Greene III here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Jordan Hancock at the 214th pick. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They reached into another round for Jimmy Horn Jr., and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Antwane Wells Jr. at the 224th overall pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.