C+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders robbed the room for Felton. Final grade: C+.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 17 picks
· 12 steals
· 2 reaches
This is the pick they will still be bragging about in July: Tai Felton, the No. 98 name on the board, stolen at Round 6, Pick 4.
The TeSlaa reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade. The Raiders indulged a want in Stutsman while a need in edge rusher, tight end and other spots stayed open. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher.
So much rides on Armand Membou that the real verdict is a season or two away.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 20 they get a building block for the line at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
The board had Emeka Egbuka higher than the 33rd overall pick, and the wide receiver fell to them anyway. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
By-the-book stuff, Jihaad Campbell at the 37th pick squarely in line with his ranking. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Value with a capital V on Xavier Watts in No. 51, a genuine coup. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Quinshon Judkins in the Round 3 slot is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Aireontae Ersery in slot 77 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They robbed the room for Azareye'h Thomas here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Taking Dylan Sampson in pick 94 is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. It fills a real need, too.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Jalen Milroe at the Round 4 slot. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Of all the spots to shop, they chose linebacker. Danny Stutsman in Round 4, Pick 6 leaves edge rusher, tight end and other spots for later.
The needs board was loud and they turned it down, spending slot 109 on Kevin Winston Jr. with edge rusher, tight end and other spots unsolved.
You do not let an offensive lineman like Anthony Belton reach No. 142 and blink. They did not. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A slide stopped in the 143rd overall pick, with Brashard Smith worth more than the price. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They jumped the gun on Bhayshul Tuten, taking him earlier than his grade liked. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They will replay Tai Felton at pick No. 180 for years; that is how good the value is. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Nice patience on Dont'e Thornton Jr., who had no business lasting to pick 191. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Isaac TeSlaa at the 208th pick is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.