A-
Las Vegas Raiders
Grand theft in Round 4, Pick 6: the Raiders steal Golday and grade out a A-.
by Fins1981 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 22 picks
· 6 steals
· 2 reaches
The best pick of the weekend was also the simplest. The Raiders watched Jake Golday slide 48 picks past his grade and did not hesitate.
Every board in the league had Aguilar lower, and that gap is the story. They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast.
The Raiders clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before. Job largely done: edge rusher settled and 8 of 8 of the wish list covered.
Add it up and few war rooms did better this weekend, Lee Hunter and all.
Pick-by-Pick
Lee Hunter at No. 71 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It fills a real need, too.
Eli Stowers at the Round 3 slot is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
You do not let an edge rusher like Jake Golday reach pick 106 and blink. They did not. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Ted Hurst at the 115th pick is a sound buy, the sort that quietly helps a class. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Zakee Wheatley in slot 117 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Eli Raridon in Round 4, Pick 34 is exactly on the number, no argument either way. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Zxavian Harris at pick No. 154 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Demond Claiborne at the 165th overall pick is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Domani Jackson in the 174th pick is fair value, right on his grade. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They took Kaleb Elarms-Orr at par in slot 175, which is nothing to complain about. A minor itch, scratched.
A clean, defensible pick in pick 185 with a little surplus value in Matt Gulbin. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
No edge and no loss on Jimmy Rolder in the 208th overall pick; it is a wash and a sensible one. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
They paid sticker price for Andre Fuller in the Round 7 slot, and that is fine. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Nothing to complain about; Xavier Nwankpa went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Trey Zuhn III at No. 238 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
A market-rate wide receiver, with the board and the slot shaking hands on De'Zhaun Stribling. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
By-the-book stuff, Nolan Rucci at pick No. 249 squarely in line with his ranking. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A real head-scratcher, Joey Aguilar in slot 250 is miles ahead of his ranking. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Robert Spears-Jennings at the 251st pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.
A straight-up fair deal on Logan Taylor at Round 7, Pick 36, value and slot in agreement. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Anez Cooper in No. 253, miles early. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, John Michael Gyllenborg at pick 256. The roster fit checks out.