B+
Las Vegas Raiders
Best value of the weekend goes to the Raiders for Phillips: B+.
by Mike ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 5 steals
· 2 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Jordan Phillips, the Round 5 slot, roughly 35 picks past where he belonged. No fireworks, but a solid B+.
Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck. They will regret leaving edge rusher for another day if the season turns on it. The Raiders clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before.
They are betting Barham proves the room right and everyone else wrong.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 12 they get a sticky cover corner at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Somehow Nick Emmanwori was still sitting there in slot 37, and they pounced on premier safety value. A minor itch, scratched.
Value with a capital V on Demetrius Knight Jr. in the Round 3 slot, a genuine coup. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
They barely believed it either: Devin Neal still on the board at No. 107. The roster fit checks out.
They went early on Kyle McCord in the 116th pick, and the value did not follow. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They will replay Jordan Phillips at pick No. 144 for years; that is how good the value is. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A straight-up fair deal on Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the 182nd overall pick, value and slot in agreement. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Carson Vinson at pick 214 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A slide stopped in pick 218, with Jordan Hancock worth more than the price. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Jaishawn Barham at the 224th overall pick jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Nice player, but the depth chart did not need him here.