B+
Las Vegas Raiders
The steal of the weekend belongs to the Raiders and Simon: B+.
by Cuda2183 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 6 steals
· 3 reaches
Somebody in the 182nd pick was going to get robbed, and it turned out to be the rest of the league. The Raiders sat still while Cody Simon, the No. 135 name on the board, slid all the way to them, then sprinted to the podium.
Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck. Higgins has a lot of ground to make up just to look fairly priced.
If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher. The Higgins pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with edge rusher, quarterback and other spots still on the board.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
Circle this one: Kenneth Grant at the Round 2 slot is a fall that decides a draft. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Zy Alexander slid further than he should have, and Round 3, Pick 3 is lovely value for the cornerback. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Dylan Sampson at the 68th pick is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the running back. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Tate Ratledge. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Donovan Jackson at slot 76 is a conviction pick that outran the value. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A tidy little value on Denzel Burke in No. 98, a step better than break-even. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Smael Mondon Jr. in pick No. 105 is fair value, right on his grade. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went linebacker with Jay Higgins while clear needs at edge rusher, quarterback and other spots sat open.
The board fumbled Lathan Ransom all the way to the Round 5 slot, and they scooped it up. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A reach for Dont'e Thornton Jr. in slot 165; a little patience would have been rewarded. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Nick Nash at the 181st overall pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A linebacker of that caliber at Round 6, Pick 4 is the definition of value, full stop. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
A slide stopped in the 224th pick, with Carson Vinson worth more than the price. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.