B-
Las Vegas Raiders
Nothing loud, just a tidy B- for the Raiders.
by ggx90 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 4 steals
· 5 reaches
You can fall in love with a player. You are not supposed to marry him in the wrong round. The Raiders did exactly that with Kyle McCord in pick No. 106. It does the job without flash, and the B- reflects it.
Getting Mondon Jr. where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class. For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain. Job largely done: wide receiver settled and 4 of 8 of the wish list covered.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 8 they get a building block for the line. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Dylan Fairchild at the Round 2 slot jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A running back of that caliber at the 69th pick is the definition of value, full stop. The roster fit checks out.
Value said wait; Jack Bech in pick No. 70 says they were not listening. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Kyle McCord. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Value with a capital V on Robert Spears-Jennings in No. 146, a genuine coup. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Smael Mondon Jr. at the 183rd pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A real head-scratcher, Elijhah Badger in the Round 6 slot is miles ahead of his ranking. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Ollie Gordon II in pick No. 216 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Garrett Dellinger at the 223rd overall pick is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.