B+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders let Howard fall into their laps, and walked away with a B+.
by Cuda2183 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 7 steals
· 3 reaches
The Raiders spent the weekend waiting on one name, and it fell: Will Howard, the No. 108 name on the board, in Round 5, Pick 31. More right than wrong, and a B+ to match.
They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast. Reaching for Zuhn III left real value on the table behind him.
With edge rusher, cornerback and other spots unsolved, spending premium capital on linebacker is the choice that costs them. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up.
A tidy weekend of work that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
They barely believed it either: Walter Nolen still on the board at the 37th overall pick. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Dylan Sampson at pick 68 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Demetrius Knight Jr. at the Round 3 slot is the proof. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
A quiet steal in the 98th pick: Donovan Jackson for less than the market said. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending slot 107 on Jay Higgins with edge rusher, cornerback and other spots unsolved.
Kevin Winston Jr. is a better player than Round 4, Pick 14 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Smael Mondon Jr. in No. 144, plain and simple. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. at pick No. 156 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
You do not let a quarterback like Will Howard reach slot 170 and blink. They did not. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Lathan Ransom in the Round 5 slot should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They reached into another round for Trey Zuhn III, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Theo Wease Jr. at No. 224 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the wide receiver. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.