B
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 3 steals
· 3 reaches
There was a run on nobody at that position, and the Raiders started one anyway for Jimmy Horn Jr., 109 picks ahead of schedule. Call it a sensible B, earned the boring way.
Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck. However the rest shakes out, Smith at that price is a win they earned.
For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 21 they get a load in the middle at fair value. A clean fit for the roster.
The board had cheaper options than Aireontae Ersery at the 37th pick, and it noticed. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
TreVeyon Henderson slid further than he should have, and pick 68 is lovely value for the running back. The roster fit checks out.
No edge and no loss on Darien Porter in Round 3, Pick 9; it is a wash and a sensible one. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Oronde Gadsden II at slot 107 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A need, and now a little less of one.
Brashard Smith in the Round 5 slot is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. in the Round 6 slot is exactly on the number, no argument either way. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They let Jordan Hancock come to them and pounced at pick No. 214. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A straight-up fair deal on Trevor Etienne at slot 218, value and slot in agreement. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Jimmy Horn Jr. in Round 7, Pick 6 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.