C-
Las Vegas Raiders
Smith should have been long gone. The Raiders pounced, and earned a C-.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 5 steals
· 3 reaches
This is the pick they will still be bragging about in July: Brashard Smith, the No. 111 name on the board, stolen at Round 5, Pick 5. It nets out a thoroughly average C-.
They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain.
If Jihaad Campbell and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
Jihaad Campbell at No. 33 is a conviction pick that outran the value. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
The board had Emeka Egbuka higher than the 34th pick, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Kenneth Grant at the 35th overall pick is money in the bank, a interior defensive lineman taken below his worth. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
The board had cheaper options than Xavier Watts at the Round 2 slot, and it noticed. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
They paid a round early for Aireontae Ersery in Round 2, Pick 5, more than the board wanted. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They let TreVeyon Henderson come to them and pounced at pick 67. The roster fit checks out.
Darien Porter in slot 68 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Jaylin Noel at pick No. 108 is the proof. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Brashard Smith in the 143rd pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It fills a real need, too.