D
Las Vegas Raiders
Best value of the weekend goes to the Raiders for Rourke: D.
by Cuda2183 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 8 steals
· 4 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how Kurtis Rourke got past him. The Raiders do not have to explain a thing at No. 223. Put together, it is a D.
If Jones pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. They lost the exchange badly enough to drag the whole class down. It is not that Mukuba is a bad player; it is that the Raiders had louder needs to answer first.
The tight end hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, tight end very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Shavon Revel Jr. at the Round 2 slot. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Somehow Nick Emmanwori was still sitting there in Round 2, Pick 6, and they pounced on premier safety value. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A slide stopped in the 68th overall pick, with TreVeyon Henderson worth more than the price. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Will Howard in No. 73 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They jumped the gun on Donovan Jackson, taking him earlier than his grade liked. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending pick 81 on Andrew Mukuba with tight end unsolved.
A quiet steal in pick No. 82: Quinshon Judkins for less than the market said. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Darien Porter in slot 94. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A wild overpay on Sai'vion Jones in No. 107, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They reached into another round for Rylie Mills, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Smael Mondon Jr. at Round 4, Pick 36 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Jay Higgins at slot 144 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
By-the-book stuff, Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the 182nd overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Kurtis Rourke in pick No. 223 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.