B+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B+.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 18 picks
· 11 steals
· 3 reaches
The Raiders went off the board in a big way for Nick Martin, 47 picks early. Conviction is one thing; this is another. The bottom line is a respectable B+.
Cornelius falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. The trade ledger is the best part of the whole weekend.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up. It is not that Stutsman is a bad player; it is that the Raiders had louder needs to answer first.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 15th pick they get a centerpiece for the ground game at a price that makes it sweeter.
In the 21st overall pick they get a matchup problem out wide at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
In pick 30 they get a sticky cover corner. Exactly the need they had to hit.
A tidy bit of business in the Round 2 slot, where Walter Nolen graded well above the range. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Aireontae Ersery at slot 37 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Jihaad Campbell at Round 2, Pick 14 is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the linebacker. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A wild overpay on Darien Porter in Round 2, Pick 26, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Nice patience on TreVeyon Henderson, who had no business lasting to slot 68. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They robbed the room for Jayden Higgins here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A curious use of the 107th pick. Edge rusher needed the pick; a linebacker in Danny Stutsman did not.
Value with a capital V on Jalen Milroe in pick No. 108, a genuine coup. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Brashard Smith in the 131st overall pick is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Anthony Belton at the Round 5 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Oronde Gadsden II at No. 182 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It fills a real need, too.
Steal is underselling it; Dont'e Thornton Jr. at the 204th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Taking Ajani Cornelius in pick 208 is close to grand larceny; an offensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jordan Hancock at pick No. 214 is money in the bank, a safety taken below his worth. A minor itch, scratched.
They talked themselves into Nick Martin at No. 218, and the board did not agree. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.