The board is set, and the anxiety is setting in as the 2025 NFL Draft is just around the corner. For the Las Vegas Raiders, who hold nine picks in this year’s edition of the draft, the opportunity to start a much-needed infusion of young talent is in front of them.
While many pundits have bemoaned the lack of blue-chip prospects available this year, the good news for the Raiders is that their first pick lands on the right side of the talent cliff if they choose to “stick and pick”. And yet, who they target remains a mystery: do you take a guy like Ashton Jeanty, who might be the safest bet available to them, and yet who plays a non-premium position? Or do you draft an offensive or defensive lineman despite neither of those position groups being atop their wishlist? Or, do you tempt fate and trade down to accumulate more swings at the draft later on?
With these questions in mind, we hopped into a mock draft simulator to play the role of general manager and make the picks we think are best…
Round 1, pick 6
The first four picks went as many expected, with Cam Ward, Travis Hunter, Abdul Carter and Will Campbell all off the board. Knowing five is where the draft seems to start, we were curious to see what Jacksonville would do — and they grabbed Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty right out front under us (whether we would have grabbed him here will forever remain a mystery, I guess!).
The top guys on my board are Mason Graham, Armand Membou and Jalon Walker — plus we’ve got a trade offer to move down to No. 10 while adding pick No. 39 from the Bears.
The verdict: TRADE
The opportunity to add another high second-round pick makes risking the drop here worth it for us, so we swap with Chicago.
Round 1, pick 10
After Membou and Graham disappear at picks No. 7 and No. 8, we start to sweat a little, but Tetairoa McMillan and Will Johnson are taken next, which leaves us with Jalon Walker still on the board, and so we run the card in.
The pick: Jalon Walker, LB, Georgia
We’re trusting Patrick Graham to use the modern NFL’s dream linebacker in a way that plugs multiple holes at once. Walker will be a Day 1 starter at linebacker and will confuse the heck out of quarterbacks as to whether he’s dropping back in coverage or coming off the edge.
Round 2, pick 37
We hoped that one of the offensive tackles — Josh Conerly Jr. or Josh Simmons might drop a bit, but no dice. Omarion Hampton, the running back from North Carolina, is gone too, as are Nick Emmanwori (safety) and Kenneth Grant (DT). But there is good news (especially for new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly): our franchise running back is still on the board.
The pick: Treveyon Henderson, RB, Ohio State
Our running back group was far too weak to leave Day 2 without a difference maker, and we get the third-best guy in a historic class here. Henderson can play on all three downs and is the exact type of player (and person) the locker room needs.
Round 2, pick 39
With the additional second-rounder we grabbed by moving down in Round 1, we’re back on the clock quickly with some tough decisions. All of the receivers we would have liked grabbing here are gone, and while we like Carson Schwesinger (LB from UCLA), we don’t feel like our need there is great enough after snagging Walker. The decision here comes down to which cornerback we like best, as the entire second tier of guys remains with just Will Johnson and Jahdae Barron off the board.
The pick: Maxwell Hairston, CB, Kentucky
An elite athlete who ran a sub-4.3 40-yard dash, Hairston has the type of athleticism our defensive backfield is screaming out for. Tackling is a concern on most scouting reports, but if he can fix that then he’ll be an impact guy on Day 1.
Round 3, pick 68
Having ticked several critical boxes in the first three rounds, this pick could go any number of directions. Is there an interior offensive lineman we feel good about? A wide receiver? A defensive tackle? Heck, maybe a quarterback?
Tyler Shough goes one pick before us (which didn’t matter because we aren’t big fans of a guy who left a better school for a worse one twice in his career), so we decide now isn’t the time to reach for a quarterback. At wide receiver, we’ve got Jack Bech and Elic Ayomanor at the top of our board, while we also like center Jared Wilson from Georgia, and defensive tackle Alfred Collins from Texas.
The pick: Elic Ayomanor, WR, Stanford
This might not be a name many folks are familiar with (we understand not watching a ton of Stanford football), but at 6’2″ and with a big frame, Ayomanor should step into the starting lineup outside to give Geno Smith and the offense another big-time threat.
Round 4, pick 108
Our ideal quarterback pick was snagged just before us in Will Howard, and with running backs Cameron Skatttebo and Damien Martinez both still on the board, we’re wondering if we should have waited on running back. Do we like Quinn Ewers enough to grab him here? Can we hope Dillon Gabriel drops to the fifth round? Hold on a second, Chip Kelly is calling…
The pick: Jack Sawyer, DE, Ohio State
We know the testing and the athleticism won’t wow anyone (that’s why he’s still around), but we struggle to see him failing as a pro. This isn’t a swing for the fences, it’s an easy double to the gap with a high-floor guy at a premium position.
TRADE
We wanted to leave this draft with a quarterback, and with just one guy left on the board, we felt like we could develop, so we pulled the trigger.
The trade: Pick Nos. 143, 213, 215, 222 for Pick No. 130
Round 4, pick 130
The pick: Quinn Ewers, QB, Texas
It’s the fourth round, and so you’re not going to find a guy who’s perfect here, but there were moments early on this season when Ewers was a potential first-rounder. We like his toughness and think he may have been more banged up than he let on last season, so while his role will be a backup, there’s a chance of tapping into more.
Round 6, pick 180
Our last pick of the draft after shipping two late sixths and a seventh out in the trade for Ewers, and we are strictly looking for talent anywhere we can find it. Jake Majors (C from Texas) and Nick Nash (WR from San Jose State) are both appealing names, as is massive offensive tackle Hollin Pierce from Rutgers. But none of those guys are going to round out our class, as our running back room is so depleted we think there’s room for one more difference maker…
The pick: Jordan James, RB, Oregon
We couldn’t believe this guy was still here, and much like his teammate Bucky Irving (drafted by John Spytek) fell and found immediate success, we think James is a bonafide dude. Pairing him with Henderson gives us a dynamic duo in the backfield and shores up a position that came into the draft as a massive need.
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Each draft is unpredictable, and plans can change in an instant as a surprise pick is made or your phone rings with a trade offer. We came into the draft with some glaring needs, but feel like we solved some of them with great value at key positions.
In Walker, we leave the draft with one of the very few blue-chippers this class had to offer, while in Henderson, we snagged a guy who probably would have gone 10-15 picks earlier in any other running back class. After that, we think we added two immediate starters in Hairston and Ayomanor, plus key depth pieces with upside as potential starters in Sawyer, Ewers and James.
We came in with nine picks and left with seven players — and while we wish we could have added an offensive lineman or defensive tackle, the board never lined up the right way, and so we’ll turn back to free agency after cutdown day in hopes of finding some help.
