D-
Las Vegas Raiders
Daniels is the Raiders' new face under center. Grade: D-.
by BeastOnTheGrid ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 2 steals
· 2 reaches
Somebody took the Raiders to the cleaners. The deals they made bled real value, and the whole class wears it.
Jayden Daniels gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits. They will need Prather to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it.
The edge rusher hole is the one line item this class does not answer. The Watson steal is the beam this whole class leans on.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and edge rusher is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get the arm they will build around at fair value.
No edge and no loss on Xavier Legette in pick No. 44; it is a wash and a sensible one. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
The board had Caelen Carson higher than the 77th pick, and the cornerback fell to them anyway. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
By-the-book stuff, Junior Colson at Round 4, Pick 12 squarely in line with his ranking. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Jordan Travis in No. 147 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A need, and now a little less of one.
They talked themselves into Kaden Prather at the 150th overall pick, and the board did not agree. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A tidy little value on Christian Jones in slot 187, a step better than break-even. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They paid sticker price for Jase McClellan in pick 190, and that is fine. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A market-rate cornerback, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Fentrell Cypress II. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
No drama and no debate, Maurice Smith went about where he belonged in Round 7, Pick 14. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Nathaniel Watson in pick No. 255 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
McKade Mettauer at pick 256 is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.