B
Las Vegas Raiders
Grand theft in No. 212: the Raiders steal Sanders and grade out a B.
by MIKE ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 9 steals
· 0 reaches
When a board-topper like T.J. Sanders slides to the 212th overall pick, you do not overthink it, and the Raiders did not. It nets out to a B, which feels about right.
The edge rusher hole is the one line item this class does not answer. Job largely done: cornerback settled and 6 of 8 of the wish list covered.
The weekend tilted hard toward the defense.
All told, a draft that does its job without fuss, and there is real value in that.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 6 they get an island corner. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Cam Ward at pick 37 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Taking Ashton Jeanty in pick No. 68 is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Somehow Walter Nolen was still sitting there in Round 3, Pick 9, and they pounced on premier interior defensive lineman value. It fills a real need, too.
You do not let a cornerback like Jahdae Barron reach the Round 4 slot and blink. They did not. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A wide receiver of that caliber at the 142nd overall pick is the definition of value, full stop. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They barely believed it either: Wyatt Milum still on the board at the 179th pick. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Circle this one: T.J. Sanders at No. 212 is a fall that decides a draft. A need, and now a little less of one.
They will replay Xavier Restrepo at slot 216 for years; that is how good the value is. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Jihaad Campbell in pick 222 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.