B+
Las Vegas Raiders
Larceny in pick No. 178 lands the Raiders a B+, Paul Jr. and all.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 12 steals
· 6 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Chris Paul Jr. slide, and the Raiders were the ones holding the card at pick No. 178. Highway robbery. No fireworks, but a solid B+.
Every board in the league had Taylor lower, and that gap is the story. They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast.
They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. The future picks help the war chest more than the win-now roster.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
Jaxson Dart in pick 37 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
No drama and no debate, Benjamin Morrison went about where he belonged in pick No. 38. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They will replay Tyleik Williams at the 57th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
TreVeyon Henderson is a better player than the Round 3 slot suggests; smart patience, rewarded. The roster fit checks out.
Nick Emmanwori at slot 69 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They took Darien Porter at par in the 73rd pick, which is nothing to complain about. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
The board had Dylan Sampson higher than No. 80, and the running back fell to them anyway. A need, and now a little less of one.
No edge and no loss on Donovan Jackson in Round 3, Pick 17; it is a wash and a sensible one. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Demetrius Knight Jr. in the 106th pick, plain and simple. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the 109th overall pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A big swing on Roc Taylor at pick 113, well ahead of any board in the building. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Will Howard well ahead of where he belonged. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
The board fumbled Quinshon Judkins all the way to pick No. 142, and they scooped it up. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Value with a capital V on Oronde Gadsden II in No. 151, a genuine coup. It fills a real need, too.
Barrett Carter at slot 152 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
They barely believed it either: Chris Paul Jr. still on the board at Round 6, Pick 3. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Steal is underselling it; Smael Mondon Jr. at No. 189 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Circle this one: Terrance Ferguson at the 191st overall pick is a fall that decides a draft. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They reached into another round for Brandon Adams, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They robbed the room for Cody Simon here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.
They talked themselves into Thor Griffith at Round 7, Pick 6, and the board did not agree. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.