F
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders reached for Horn Jr. and never recovered. Grade: F.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 8 steals
· 2 reaches
There is reaching, and then there is Jimmy Horn Jr. at the 224th pick. The Raiders jumped the board by 128 and dared it to prove them wrong. The warnings were there, and the F is the bill.
They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. The Milroe steal is the beam this whole class leans on. It is a win-now wager, and the future is the stake.
Edge rusher is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
Bottom line, it will take a lot of luck to make this look better later.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 6 they get a quarterback's worst nightmare at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
By-the-book stuff, Kenneth Grant at pick 16 squarely in line with his ranking. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Nick Emmanwori at pick No. 33 is the proof. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Nice patience on Shavon Revel Jr., who had no business lasting to the 37th pick. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Isaiah Bond at the Round 3 slot is money in the bank, a wide receiver taken below his worth. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Dylan Sampson at No. 68 is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A straight-up fair deal on Tate Ratledge at pick No. 73, value and slot in agreement. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Taking Jayden Higgins in Round 4, Pick 6 is close to grand larceny; a wide receiver that good had no business lasting this long. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Steal is underselling it; Jalen Milroe at No. 144 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They barely believed it either: Oronde Gadsden II still on the board at the 165th pick. It fills a real need, too.
Circle this one: Raheim Sanders at the 182nd overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. in pick 214 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A big swing on Kitan Crawford at the Round 6 slot, well ahead of any board in the building. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
They talked themselves into Jimmy Horn Jr. at slot 224, and the board did not agree. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.