Taking Another Look at the Raiders' Draft Class

The Las Vegas Raiders' draft class looked good during the offseason. However, the jury is still out.

Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek on radio row during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Las Vegas Raiders had what many believed at the time was a productive draft class over the offseason. The Raiders addressed many of their most pressing needs in John Spytek's first draft as the team's general manager.

No set of draft picks are guaranteed to work out, which is the beauty of the NFL Draft. Still, at the very least, it was clear the Raiders' front office was familar with the team's roster needs and wanted to address them. Still, their draft class has been disappointing through nine games.

Raiders' Best

Josh Edwards of CBS Sports analyzed the best draft pick every team made in the most recent draft. He listed an obvious choice in Ashton Jeanty, and another player.

"Las Vegas had one of my least favorite draft classes in the moment, and that remains true midway through the season. Jeanty has not had the impact that had been expected, and the team's offensive line has been largely to blame. Cornerback Darien Porter is an intriguing developmental cornerback, but the rest of the class has been underwhelming," Edwards said.

Nov 2, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll reacts in the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Heading into Week 5, Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll addressed the topic of the Raiders' draft class head on.

"I don't even have an evaluation for that. I don't have any expectation for the draft class. There's a couple guys -- when you have a kid like Ashton [Jeanty] that's picked up high like that, and we were slotting him into a starting spot really from the beginning, that's different than the rest of the guys, but we just want to keep growing with these guys and make the right decisions along the way,” Carroll said. 

Las Vegas Raiders Pete Carroll | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

“We don't do it because you think we should start guys because they've been drafted. That's not how we think. But I love playing young guys, and I love developing them, and we're in the process. You see that we're rotating the defensive tackles a little bit and trying to figure that out and make some good sense of that. On the offensive line in particular, we'd like to hold off as much as we can till these guys really can prove that they're ready, but you don't always have that opportunity. 

"So, Charles [Grant], he's working like crazy with a real concern for it, 'Now, I may have to play right now.' So, we're going to try to get that prepared, and if he does have to go in there and we need him, he'll go, but there's no expectations other than the real obvious ones. You fill a spot with a guy, they got to show it, and we got to bring it to life."

Las Vegas Raiders Pete Carroll | Darrell Craig Harris, On SI

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