C
Las Vegas Raiders
Higgins should have been long gone. The Raiders pounced, and earned a C.
by Cuda21 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 10 steals
· 4 reaches
The rest of the league will want that one back. Jay Higgins tumbling to the Raiders in Round 6, Pick 16 is a gift they did not have to think twice about.
They will need Rourke to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it. The trade table is where this weekend went wrong. The edge rusher hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
It is not that Carter is a bad player; it is that the Raiders had louder needs to answer first.
If Shavon Revel Jr. and a couple of the gambles land, hindsight will be kinder than this grade.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 24 they get an island corner. The biggest hole, addressed.
Tate Ratledge in the 37th pick is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A market-rate interior defensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Deone Walker. A need, and now a little less of one.
Value said wait; Kurtis Rourke in pick 68 says they were not listening. It fills a real need, too.
They robbed the room for Kaleb Johnson here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Demetrius Knight Jr. at pick No. 86 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Andrew Mukuba in No. 95 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A minor itch, scratched.
A want over a need in the Round 3 slot: Barrett Carter adds a linebacker while edge rusher and tight end keeps waiting.
Howard Cross III in the Round 4 slot is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went linebacker with Smael Mondon Jr. while clear needs at edge rusher and tight end sat open.
A surprising call. With edge rusher and tight end still to address, they spent the 128th pick on Kevin Winston Jr., a safety they were not short of.
A big swing on Dont'e Thornton Jr. at pick 142, well ahead of any board in the building. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They barely believed it either: Cam Skattebo still on the board at pick No. 178. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Jay Higgins in slot 191, plain and simple. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
Seth McLaughlin is a better player than No. 212 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Nick Nash. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Taking Jared Wilson in pick No. 222 is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.