B
Las Vegas Raiders
Good, not great, for the Raiders: B.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 4 steals
· 1 reaches
Some picks age like wine; Jimmy Horn Jr. at the 218th pick will need to, sitting 134 spots clear of his grade. The bottom line is a respectable B.
The Howard pick is the one they will point to when this weekend is judged. The cornerback spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. On the needs board they went 7 of 8, with edge rusher the one that mattered most.
The trenches got the money picks, top to bottom.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
They did well to land Abdul Carter in pick 6, just ahead of his grade. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They robbed the room for Walter Nolen here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. A need, and now a little less of one.
Value with a capital V on TreVeyon Henderson in the 68th pick, a genuine coup. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Dylan Sampson at pick No. 73 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A clean, defensible pick in slot 107 with a little surplus value in Kevin Winston Jr.. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Oronde Gadsden II in the 144th overall pick is fair value, right on his grade. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Will Howard in No. 182 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Trey Zuhn III at pick No. 214 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Jimmy Horn Jr. at pick 218 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.