B
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders won the night they stopped Bryant from sliding. Grade: B.
by NunChuckz ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 5 steals
· 1 reaches
When a board-topper like Pat Bryant slides to pick No. 213, you do not overthink it, and the Raiders did not. More right than wrong, and a B to match.
The cost of the Milroe reach is exactly the players who went right after him. That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
They went 5 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 6th pick they get an every-down engine for the run game. A clean fit for the roster.
A clean, defensible pick in pick No. 37 with a little surplus value in Grey Zabel. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A real head-scratcher, Jalen Milroe in slot 68 is miles ahead of his ranking. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Steal is underselling it; Jayden Higgins at the 108th overall pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They robbed the room for Denzel Burke here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Jack Kiser in No. 180 is fair value, right on his grade. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Pat Bryant at pick 213 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Jay Higgins slid further than he should have, and Round 6, Pick 39 is lovely value for the linebacker. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Taking Caleb Ransaw in pick 222 is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. A minor need, but a need all the same.