B
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders bet the future on Ward. The board says B.
by Trippn homie ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 8 steals
· 0 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Dillon Gabriel, the 213th pick, roughly 85 picks past where he belonged.
Cam Ward gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits. The edge rusher hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 6th overall pick they get a long-term answer under center. A real need, handled.
The board fumbled Matthew Golden all the way to pick No. 37, and they scooped it up. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A quiet steal in pick No. 68: TreVeyon Henderson for less than the market said. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Charles Grant at the 108th pick. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Mello Dotson in pick 143 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They will replay Kobe King at the Round 6 slot for years; that is how good the value is. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Steal is underselling it; Dillon Gabriel at the 213th overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
You do not let a cornerback like Quincy Riley reach slot 215 and blink. They did not. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Taking Karene Reid in Round 7, Pick 6 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.