B
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders let Singleton fall and pounced. Final grade: B.
by RRR ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 6 steals
· 7 reaches
The best pick of the weekend was also the simplest. The Raiders watched Nicholas Singleton slide 134 picks past his grade and did not hesitate.
Mellott has a lot of ground to make up just to look fairly priced. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up. Adding Caelen Carson by trade rounds out the weekend beyond the rookies.
Small wins on the phones, but wins all the same.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 12th pick they get a ballhawk on the outside. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Steal is underselling it; Malaki Starks at slot 41 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They reached a country mile for Kurtis Rourke at pick No. 68, and the board is aghast. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A real head-scratcher, Kyle McCord in the 73rd overall pick is miles ahead of his ranking. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Tez Johnson at Round 4, Pick 6 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Deontae Lawson in the Round 5 slot, plain and simple. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
They robbed the room for Devin Neal here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The roster fit checks out.
Circle this one: Chris Paul Jr. at pick 179 is a fall that decides a draft. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Will Sheppard. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Garrett Dellinger at No. 216 is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They reached into another round for Micah Morris, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Somehow Nicholas Singleton was still sitting there in the 233rd overall pick, and they pounced on premier running back value. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Caden Prieskorn at slot 244 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
A wild overpay on Tommy Mellott in Round 7, Pick 31, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A need, and now a little less of one.