B-
Las Vegas Raiders
Nothing loud, just a tidy B- for the Raiders.
by ggx22 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 5 steals
· 4 reaches
The Raiders looked at the value chart, folded it up, and took Kyle McCord at No. 106 regardless, 114 picks early.
On value alone, Higgins makes the weekend a net positive. They will regret leaving edge rusher for another day if the season turns on it.
The roster is better shaped than it was, with wide receiver chief among the fixes.
Not a headline-grabber, but a perfectly good weekend's work.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 8 they get protection for the quarterback. Exactly the need they had to hit.
They went early on Dylan Fairchild in No. 39, and the value did not follow. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Taking Dylan Sampson in the 69th overall pick is close to grand larceny; a running back that good had no business lasting this long. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jack Bech in the 70th pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They reached into another round for Kyle McCord, and the board is nowhere close to agreeing. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They robbed the room for Nicholas Singleton here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. A need, and now a little less of one.
Chris Paul Jr. in the 183rd pick is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Robert Spears-Jennings in No. 212 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Jay Higgins at pick No. 216 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
Value said wait; Tim Smith in Round 7, Pick 7 says they were not listening. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.