A-
Las Vegas Raiders
Carter should have been long gone. The Raiders pounced, and earned a A-.
by Mook ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 9 steals
· 2 reaches
This is the pick they will still be bragging about in July: Barrett Carter, the No. 83 name on the board, stolen at pick No. 152. A near-flawless weekend of work, and a A- to cap it.
The phones were where this weekend was really won. They are betting Stackhouse proves the room right and everyone else wrong. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher.
Spending an early pick on safety with edge rusher and tight end open is the decision the grade keeps circling back to.
Bottom line, they left the weekend a clearly better team, and they earned every bit of it.
Pick-by-Pick
The board fumbled Malaki Starks all the way to the 39th pick, and they scooped it up. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Walter Nolen at the Round 2 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
The board had cheaper options than Jaxson Dart at No. 46, and it noticed. The roster fit checks out.
Steal is underselling it; Jihaad Campbell at pick No. 68 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A minor need, but a need all the same.
Fair-plus on Jack Bech, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A want over a need in the 107th overall pick: Sebastian Castro adds a safety while edge rusher and tight end keeps waiting.
Tate Ratledge in slot 110 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A market-rate offensive lineman, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Ajani Cornelius. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They robbed the room for Cam Skattebo here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A wide receiver of that caliber at slot 150 is the definition of value, full stop. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Barrett Carter at the 152nd pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
They talked themselves into Nazir Stackhouse at the Round 5 slot, and the board did not agree. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jabbar Muhammad at No. 170 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A straight-up fair deal on Tyler Cooper at pick No. 172, value and slot in agreement. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.