B+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders let Irving fall and pounced. Final grade: B+.
by Jades357 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 9 steals
· 0 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Bucky Irving slide, and the Raiders were the ones holding the card at pick 150. Highway robbery.
The phones were where this weekend was really won. It is not that Solomon is a bad player; it is that the Raiders had louder needs to answer first.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up. The imported veterans give this class a floor the draft picks could not on their own.
A competent weekend that does not make headlines and does not need to.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 32 they get a lockdown presence outside at a price that makes it sweeter. The biggest hole, addressed.
Somehow Jordan Morgan was still sitting there in Round 2, Pick 12, and they pounced on premier offensive lineman value. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They will replay Bo Nix at the 50th pick for years; that is how good the value is. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Calen Bullock at slot 64 is the proof. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
A straight-up fair deal on Christian Haynes at the 77th overall pick, value and slot in agreement. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Jamari Thrash slid further than he should have, and No. 103 is lovely value for the wide receiver. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A surprising call. With edge rusher and tight end still to address, they spent the Round 4 slot on Javon Solomon, an OLB-EDGE they were not short of.
The board fumbled Max Melton all the way to pick No. 135, and they scooped it up. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A tidy little value on Cedric Gray in pick 139, a step better than break-even. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Bucky Irving in the 150th overall pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. The roster fit checks out.
They paid sticker price for Andrew Raym in No. 190, and that is fine. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They barely believed it either: Javon Baker still on the board at slot 217. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Gabe Hall in Round 7, Pick 14 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It patches a soft spot without any drama.