D+
Las Vegas Raiders
Best value of the weekend goes to the Raiders for Mondon Jr.: D+.
by BeastOnTheGrid ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 4 steals
· 4 reaches
Every so often the board makes a mistake, and the Raiders were there to profit. Smael Mondon Jr., the No. 109 name on the board, should have been long gone before the Round 6 slot. The board pushed back all weekend, and the D+ is the result.
The Beck reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade. The dealing is the wound this class cannot quite close. The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
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 the 12th overall pick they get an every-down engine for the run game at a price that makes it sweeter.
They paid sticker price for Tate Ratledge in Round 2, Pick 2, and that is fine. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Tyler Booker in the 43rd pick is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A real head-scratcher, Carson Beck in the Round 3 slot is miles ahead of his ranking. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Jalon Walker in pick No. 69 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
They reached a country mile for Ajani Cornelius at pick 74, and the board is aghast. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Kurtis Rourke in No. 103, miles early. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A tidy bit of business in slot 138, where Tommi Hill graded well above the range. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Taking Smael Mondon Jr. in No. 178 is close to grand larceny; a linebacker that good had no business lasting this long. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
A reach on Ricky White III in slot 182; the board had better options right there. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.