B-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders answered their biggest question with Ward. Grade: B-.
by [email protected] ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 7 steals
· 2 reaches
They will call it conviction in the building and a reach everywhere else: Jimmy Horn Jr., 128 picks early at Round 7, Pick 6. Good, not great, and the B- says as much.
The Smith pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch. The whole projection now runs through Cam Ward; hit there and everything else looks smarter.
That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall. They left with wide receiver solved and the rest of the wish list mostly ticked off.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 6 they get a long-term answer under center. A real need, handled.
Kenneth Grant in Round 2, Pick 5 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Steal is underselling it; Omarion Hampton at the 68th pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
TreVeyon Henderson in the Round 3 slot is a gift, value that borders on unfair. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Savion Williams is a better player than the 107th overall pick suggests; smart patience, rewarded. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A real head-scratcher, Dont'e Thornton Jr. in No. 144 is miles ahead of his ranking. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A top-tier tight end at a bargain, Oronde Gadsden II in Round 6, Pick 4, plain and simple. It fills a real need, too.
They robbed the room for Brashard Smith here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They barely believed it either: Raheim Sanders still on the board at slot 218. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jimmy Horn Jr. well ahead of where he belonged. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.