D+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders cashed the board's mistake on Majors: D+.
by rpallares26 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 9 steals
· 2 reaches
The rest of the league will want that one back. Jake Majors tumbling to the Raiders in No. 159 is a gift they did not have to think twice about. A weekend that fought the value and lost, hence the D+.
They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain.
The cost of the Howard reach is exactly the players who went right after him. With edge rusher, cornerback and other spots unsolved, spending premium capital on linebacker is the choice that costs them.
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
Fair-plus on Tate Ratledge, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Emeka Egbuka at No. 39 is money in the bank, a wide receiver taken below his worth. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Steal is underselling it; Jalon Walker at Round 2, Pick 9 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Nothing to complain about; Deone Walker went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
The board fumbled Kaleb Johnson all the way to the 73rd pick, and they scooped it up. It fills a real need, too.
A curious use of the 97th overall pick. Edge rusher, cornerback and other spots needed the pick; a linebacker in Demetrius Knight Jr. did not.
A real head-scratcher, Will Howard in slot 106 is miles ahead of his ranking. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Somehow Barrett Carter was still sitting there in pick No. 142, and they pounced on premier linebacker value. Pure best-available; the position was not exactly begging.
They will replay Cam Skattebo at the 147th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They robbed the room for Jake Majors here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Jay Higgins at pick 178 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
Maxen Hook at the Round 6 slot is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Jared Wilson in slot 216 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
You do not let a safety like Jordan Hancock reach No. 222 and blink. They did not. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.