Silver And Black Pride
Version 1.0 of a pre-combine, 3-round look at Las Vegas’ venture in the NFL Draft
First will come free agency when the new league year starts in March, but where general manager John Spytek, head coach Pete Carroll, and the other decision makers for the Las Vegas Raiders build the foundation for their football team is the draft in April.
The 2025 NFL Draft is the prime time event for the Silver & Black to infuse themselves with even more talent — some positions are in desperate need of it.
The 90th annual event emanates from Lambeau Field in Green Bay this year and the three-day event start in April 24 is going to be even further insight to what kind of football team Spytek and Carroll intend to field as they embark on their respective journeys as the new 1-2 combo under owner Mark Davis.
Thus, the initial version of my mock draft. This is only the first three rounds and I used various mock draft simulators to get a feel for the flow. Quite honestly, it’s a difficult with it being pre NFL Combine. But, for version 1.0, it’ll work.
Quick note here: Watching the picks go by until the Raiders’ sixth pick was nerve wracking considering I — like many — awaited to see if a quarterback prospect dropped.
Thus, the picks:
Make that three high-effort, high-octane players on the Raiders defensive front. Like edge rusher Maxx Crosby and defensive tackle Christian Wilkins, Graham is an active defenders who is relentless and has uncanny endurance and stamina.
The Philadelphia Eagles showed just how lethal a natural front four pressure can be and with that in mind, I went with a defender that can make the Raiders’ front four fearsome.
At 6-foot-3, 320 pounds, Graham explodes off the snap with quickness and you pair that with Wilkins and Crosby and you’ve got a trio of defensive lineman that the opposing offense must account for. Graham doesn’t have the strength to anchor and survive double teams — yet — but if he’s next to Wilkins and flanked by Crosby, an opposing offensive line would be foolish to double team this group.
If Rob Leonard, Wilkins, Crosby, and others can get Graham to develop a go-to rush move, this Wolverine will become even more rabid.
Miami’s Cam Ward was the first signal caller off the board, then Colorado’s Shedur Sanders. I thought about trading up, but the price was too steep (I wasn’t going to give up the No. 6 pick and No. 37 overall to jump up).
And with Michigan cornerback Will Johnson gone, too (the defender has the prototypical size, length, and takeaway skills that fit Carroll’s history of cornerbacks), I went with another Wolverine that was best player available (BPA).
Round 2
Carroll spent many a games on the sideline watching Beast Mode run rampant...
