D-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders left with their quarterback, and a D- to match.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 6 steals
· 1 reaches
You could see the war room lean forward. Dillon Gabriel at Round 7, Pick 6 is the sort of fall that does not happen, except it just did. The board pushed back all weekend, and the D- is the result.
Every board in the league had Thornton Jr. lower, and that gap is the story. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back.
Shedeur Sanders gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up.
The verdict is not kind, and fairly so; this class has a hill to climb.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 6 they get their quarterback of the future at fair value. A clean fit for the roster.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Kenneth Grant at pick No. 33 is the proof. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They paid sticker price for Tyler Booker in Round 2, Pick 5, and that is fine. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, TreVeyon Henderson at No. 67. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Dylan Sampson at slot 68 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the running back. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
No edge and no loss on Jayden Higgins in pick 73; it is a wash and a sensible one. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Good price on Kevin Winston Jr. in the Round 4 slot, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Dont'e Thornton Jr. in the 144th overall pick is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A quiet steal in pick No. 182: Bhayshul Tuten for less than the market said. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Roc Taylor at the 214th pick is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Cody Simon in No. 218, plain and simple. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They will replay Dillon Gabriel at the 224th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.