B
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders bet the future on Ward. The board says B.
by Alton ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 7 steals
· 1 reaches
You could see the war room lean forward. Deontae Lawson at the Round 6 slot is the sort of fall that does not happen, except it just did.
Everything downstream of Cam Ward depends on Cam Ward, and the building knows it. Every board in the league had Crenshaw-Dickson lower, and that gap is the story.
The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 3 they get a franchise quarterback at fair value. A clean fit for the roster.
Omarion Hampton in Round 2, Pick 2 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
They barely believed it either: Isaiah Bond still on the board at pick No. 65. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They robbed the room for Jahdae Barron here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Smael Mondon Jr. at No. 104 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A minor itch, scratched.
Luke Kandra in Round 5, Pick 2 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Deontae Lawson in the 177th overall pick, plain and simple. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson at the Round 6 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A straight-up fair deal on J.Michael Sturdivant at pick 216, value and slot in agreement. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
You do not let an offensive lineman like Jonah Monheim reach the 219th pick and blink. They did not. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.