B+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders turned the phones into found money: B+.
by Cuda2183 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 7 steals
· 4 reaches
The Raiders put a flag in the ground for Dont'e Thornton Jr., 41 picks before anyone else would have, and the value took the hit.
They banked enough surplus on Rourke to cover a lot of smaller sins. They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up. The Raiders clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
A top-tier interior defensive lineman at a bargain, Kenneth Grant in slot 37, plain and simple. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Fair-plus on Dylan Sampson, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They liked Denzel Burke enough to skip the value, taking him in No. 73. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Andrew Mukuba in the Round 3 slot is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. A minor itch, scratched.
Donovan Jackson is a better player than the 98th overall pick suggests; smart patience, rewarded. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Jay Higgins at the 107th pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the 144th pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Taking Kurtis Rourke in No. 182 is close to grand larceny; a quarterback that good had no business lasting this long. It fills a real need, too.
The board fumbled Jaylen Reed all the way to Round 6, Pick 36, and they scooped it up. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They robbed the room for KeAndre Lambert-Smith here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Seth McLaughlin in pick No. 224 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They will replay Jack Kiser at pick 226 for years; that is how good the value is. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.