C+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders fleeced the room on the phones and earned a C+.
by Cashydemon ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 4 steals
· 11 reaches
The KJ Jefferson pick is the one that will follow the Raiders into the fall. They took him 252 spots ahead of his grade, and the board is not shy about saying so.
They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. However the rest shakes out, Harvey at that price is a win they earned.
They will regret leaving edge rusher for another day if the season turns on it.
If Matthew Golden and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 6 they get a difference-maker at receiver at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A premium they did not need to pay, Benjamin Morrison a notch or two before his time. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They reached into another round for KJ Jefferson, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Oronde Gadsden II in the 92nd overall pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The roster fit checks out.
They read the board right and Charles Grant was the payoff at Round 4, Pick 6. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A quiet steal in pick 144: Cody Simon for less than the market said. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
RJ Harvey at pick No. 176 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Mac McWilliams at slot 178 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Jaylen Reed at Round 6, Pick 4 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the safety. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They went early on Jack Kiser in the Round 6 slot, and the value did not follow. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Kyle Williams at the 205th pick is the proof. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A big swing on Jalen White at the 217th overall pick, well ahead of any board in the building. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They paid up for Zeek Biggers at pick 218 when waiting would have done the job. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Mose Vavao in No. 219 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Tyler Loop in pick 224, miles early. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
They reached a country mile for Graham Mertz at No. 240, and the board is aghast. It fills a real need, too.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Julian Fleming. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.