C+
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders did enough to get by: C+.
by LaRams ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 14 picks
· 4 steals
· 6 reaches
You can hear the double-takes from here. The Raiders took Patrick Payton at the 185th overall pick, roughly 62 spots before his name belonged. Call it a C+ and check back in two years.
Hurst falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. The dealing tilted against them, just enough to notice. Edge rusher was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job.
The weekend tilted hard toward the defense.
Not a disaster, not a triumph, just a middling class.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a sideline-to-sideline linebacker, though the board says they badly overpaid.
In pick No. 16 they get a lockdown presence outside at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
Garrett Nussmeier at slot 36 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A quiet steal in No. 67: Germie Bernard for less than the market said. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Ted Hurst at the 116th overall pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
They liked Dametrious Crownover enough to skip the value, taking him in Round 4, Pick 26. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
They paid sticker price for Kaleb Proctor in pick 134, and that is fine. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They jumped the gun on Taylen Green, taking him earlier than his grade liked. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Patrick Payton in slot 185 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
No drama and no debate, Kaelon Black went about where he belonged in the Round 6 slot. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A top-tier cornerback at a bargain, Ephesians Prysock in Round 6, Pick 28, plain and simple. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They did well to land Chase Roberts in the 216th pick, just ahead of his grade. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Tyler Onyedim in pick No. 219 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Miles Kitselman is a better player than No. 237 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.