F
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders let Winston Jr. fall and pounced. Final grade: F.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 9 steals
· 2 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Kevin Winston Jr. slide, and the Raiders were the ones holding the card at pick 165. Highway robbery.
The trades bled value they could not afford to lose. They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest. They will need Ersery to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it.
The bill for those future picks comes due whether the class hits or not.
There is no spinning it; the board won this weekend going away.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a building block for the line. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Value with a capital V on Kenneth Grant in the 33rd overall pick, a genuine coup. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
The board had cheaper options than Aireontae Ersery at slot 37, and it noticed. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Malaki Starks at the 45th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They read the board right and TreVeyon Henderson was the payoff at No. 67. It fills a real need, too.
A tidy little value on Dylan Sampson in pick No. 68, a step better than break-even. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Taking Isaiah Bond in Round 3, Pick 9 is close to grand larceny; a wide receiver that good had no business lasting this long. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They did well to land Savion Williams in pick 103, just ahead of his grade. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
A conviction pick on Brashard Smith at the 107th pick that the board grades a round light. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Jalen Milroe in pick No. 144 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Somehow Kevin Winston Jr. was still sitting there in pick 165, and they pounced on premier safety value. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
You do not let a tight end like Oronde Gadsden II reach the 182nd overall pick and blink. They did not. A need, and now a little less of one.
Steal is underselling it; Dont'e Thornton Jr. at slot 214 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They will replay Luke Lachey at the Round 6 slot for years; that is how good the value is. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.