B
Las Vegas Raiders
Best value of the weekend goes to the Raiders for Gabriel: B.
by SD ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 4 steals
· 2 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how Dillon Gabriel got past him. The Raiders do not have to explain a thing at the 214th pick. Call it a sensible B, earned the boring way.
The Higgins pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 6 they get a go-to option on the outside. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Nothing to complain about; Omarion Hampton went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They paid sticker price for Maxwell Hairston in pick 68, and that is fine. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Jacob Parrish in pick No. 107 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Value said wait; Jay Higgins in the 144th pick says they were not listening. A minor itch, scratched.
They barely believed it either: Kurtis Rourke still on the board at No. 182. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
You do not let a quarterback like Dillon Gabriel reach the 214th overall pick and blink. They did not. A need, and now a little less of one.
They will replay Mitchell Evans at the Round 6 slot for years; that is how good the value is. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
KeAndre Lambert-Smith in the Round 7 slot should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.