B+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders worked the phones like thieves and earned a B+.
by Silver ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 3 steals
· 1 reaches
Whoever sat across the table from the Raiders should ask for a receipt. They cleaned the room out, prying loose far more value than they gave up, and it was the quiet MVP of their weekend. Call it a sensible B+, earned the boring way.
The edge rusher hole is the one line item this class does not answer. If Williams pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. Landing Simpson that late papers over a lot of smaller sins.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 19 they get a blindside protector. Exactly the need they had to hit.
No drama and no debate, Jeremiah Trotter Jr. went about where he belonged in the 55th pick. A minor need, but a need all the same.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Cooper Beebe. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A quiet steal in pick 112: Dominick Puni for less than the market said. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
The board had cheaper options than James Williams at the 118th overall pick, and it noticed. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A straight-up fair deal on Braelon Allen at No. 150, value and slot in agreement. A need, and now a little less of one.
Jaylin Simpson in Round 5, Pick 22 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Christian Jones at pick No. 190 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A slide stopped in slot 234, with Jaden Crumedy worth more than the price. Hard to map this one onto the depth chart at all.