B-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders won the night they stopped Smith from sliding. Grade: B-.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 9 steals
· 0 reaches
The Raiders did not reach, did not trade up, did not blink. They just waited, and Brashard Smith fell into the Round 6 slot.
The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at. They squeezed a little extra out of every move they made.
All told, a draft that does its job without fuss, and there is real value in that.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 6 they get a disruptive interior force. A real need, handled.
In the Round 1 slot they get a building block for the line at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
In the 22nd overall pick they get a home-run threat at receiver. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Jalon Walker is a better player than slot 37 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A tidy bit of business in the 68th pick, where TreVeyon Henderson graded well above the range. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Tate Ratledge slipping to Round 3, Pick 22 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
The board fumbled Devin Neal all the way to pick No. 107, and they scooped it up. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Somehow Jalen Milroe was still sitting there in No. 144, and they pounced on premier quarterback value. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Steal is underselling it; Brashard Smith at Round 6, Pick 4 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Bhayshul Tuten at pick No. 183 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Circle this one: Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the Round 6 slot is a fall that decides a draft. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
You do not let a wide receiver like Roc Taylor reach pick 218 and blink. They did not. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
