D-
Las Vegas Raiders
The steal of the weekend belongs to the Raiders and Singleton: D-.
by Raider Zebb 91 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 5 steals
· 5 reaches
The Raiders clearly saw something nobody else did in Kyle McCord, taking him 99 picks ahead of his grade. The board is not convinced. Put together, it is a D-.
That is a running back worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. The trades bled value they could not afford to lose.
That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. Cornerback was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
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 Round 1, Pick 13 they get a plug-and-play piece up front, a steep price for the projection. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A tidy bit of business in slot 37, where Jalon Walker graded well above the range. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Nothing to complain about; Isaiah Bond went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Alfred Collins at pick 55 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A straight-up fair deal on Andrew Mukuba at the 70th overall pick, value and slot in agreement. A minor need, but a need all the same.
The board had cheaper options than Tez Johnson at slot 85, and it noticed. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Taking Darien Porter in pick 106 is close to grand larceny; a cornerback that good had no business lasting this long. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Kyle McCord in No. 131 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Smael Mondon Jr. at the 146th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
They went early on Dont'e Thornton Jr. in the Round 5 slot, and the value did not follow. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
You do not let a running back like Cam Skattebo reach Round 5, Pick 31 and blink. They did not. A need, and now a little less of one.
A running back of that caliber at pick No. 216 is the definition of value, full stop. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Gentry Williams at Round 7, Pick 40 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.