A-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders let Slaughter fall into their laps, and walked away with a A-.
by Fins1981 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 21 picks
· 8 steals
· 3 reaches
Somewhere a general manager is explaining how Jake Slaughter got past him. The Raiders do not have to explain a thing at No. 92.
Reaching for Braun left real value on the table behind him. The phones were where this weekend was really won.
The edge rusher hole is the one line item this class does not answer. The Raiders clearly valued win-now help, adding bodies who have done it before.
Bottom line, they left the weekend a clearly better team, and they earned every bit of it.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 12th overall pick they get a workhorse for the backfield, and a steal at that. A clean fit for the roster.
Caleb Banks in slot 48 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They barely believed it either: Anthony Hill Jr. still on the board at Round 2, Pick 28. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Fair-plus on Keionte Scott, a quiet win that adds up over a draft. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Jake Slaughter at pick No. 92 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Nice patience on Devin Moore, who had no business lasting to the Round 4 slot. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A clean, defensible pick in the 112th pick with a little surplus value in Michael Trigg. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
They did well to land Ted Hurst in No. 117, just ahead of his grade. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Eli Raridon at the 134th overall pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A need, and now a little less of one.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Isaiah World at the Round 5 slot. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Domani Jackson at No. 175 nudges the ledger their way without any fuss. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Febechi Nwaiwu slipping to Round 6, Pick 4 is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A tidy bit of business in slot 197, where Taylen Green graded well above the range. It fills a real need, too.
Jeff Caldwell in pick No. 211 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Jimmy Rolder in the 219th pick. It is more luxury than necessity; they were already set here.
By-the-book stuff, Lander Barton at pick 220 squarely in line with his ranking. Depth on depth, at a spot that was hardly crying out.
Xavier Nwankpa at pick No. 226 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Eli Heidenreich in the Round 7 slot is exactly on the number, no argument either way. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They paid a round early for Owen Heinecke in No. 231, more than the board wanted. Need-wise, a curious use of the pick.
A big swing on Adam Randall at the 249th pick, well ahead of any board in the building. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Joshua Braun this early at pick 253. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.