RAMS: 1.26 Jaxson Dart QB / Ole Miss 3.90 Gunnar Helm TE / Texas 3.101 David Walker OLB / Central Arkansas 4.132 Cobee Bryant CB / Kansas 5.173 Jay Higgins LB / Iowa 6.190 Jimmy Horn Jr WR / Colorado 6.195 Jackson Woodard LB / UNLV 6.201 Aeneas Peebles DT / Virginia Tech 6.202 Corey Kiner RB / Cincinnati I put a lot of trust in our Quarterback and our coaching staff. Having no picks between 26-90 I knew investing in continuity by selecting our QB of the future would leave us thin on immediate contributors to a Superbowl run in 2025. Dart will have time to iron out some kinks in his game and learn from a potential hall-of-famer while he waits his turn. After that I added a potential TE1 in Helm. He'll probably never be top 3, but he has a well rounded game and understands positioning. He gives the offense a reliable outlet over the middle. Cobee Bryant has shown good instincts and ball skills at Kansas. Didn't test amazing athletically, but he moves smoothly, and we're hopeful he can be added competition for a starting role down the line. Over the next three selections I doubled down on smart physical LBs with Iowa's Higgins and UNLV's Woodard. We just need one to eat some meaningful snaps and not be a liability as depth. We also added a crafty slot weapon in Horn Jr. He shows good body control and an awareness over the middle of the field. He could be a great complement to Nacua and D.Adams. A little speed and craftiness never hurts a McVay offense. Went pure BPA with the last two. I think Peebles can provide immediate value as a 3rd & long rusher. And Kiner can fight for the 3rd RB spot. He fits a size profile that this offense seems comfortable with, and has a good power profile for a guy his size. Overall I planned for the future like a boss, and gave the defensive front-7 even more options. But the flipside of spending our only top 80 pick on being prepared for the future ultimately meant I ended up neglecting the DB group more than I had initially planned. Hopefully the added pass-rush (Walker/Peebles) can help mask possible shortcomings there. Or maybe Bryant exceeds expectations. Also would have liked to add a top 100 OL. But there's only so many picks to go around. This team got sniped a few times between rounds 4-5.
RAIDERS: 1.6 Will Johnson CB / Michigan 2.37 T.J. Sanders DT / South Carolina 3.68 Jack Bech WR / TCU 4.108 Bhayshul Tuten RB / Virginia Tech 5.143 Dylan Fairchild G / Georgia 6.180 Malachi Moore FS / Alabama 6.193 Trey Wedig OL / Wisconsin 7.213 Fadil Diggs DE / Syracuse 7.215 Carson Vinson OT / Alabama A&M 7.222 Efton Chism WR / Eastern Washington New GM, new Head Coach, new Quarterback. I wanted to play this one a bit like Jason Licht might (Spytek is from that tree), while honoring the reality that this team plays in a division with one of the league juggernauts. So each pick would do one of three things; build the O-line depth, make Mahomes' life difficult, or add weapons to our offense. Probably no coincidence then I spent my first 2 picks on players that can impact the pass game defensively. Will Johnson has the potential to be a shutdown corner, and the team has interviewed him. Plus Brady as consultant might have some connections inside the Michigan building. He would get the inside info on Johnson's day to day impact. He's solid in run D, and brings a swagger to this defense. T.J. Sanders might have been a reach where I took him. But if he effects Mahomes' comfort in the pocket with any regularity, it's well worth the investment. He brings an intensity to the pass-rush, and he's good at working edges rushing through gaps. He's here to bring pressure beside Wilkins while he develops his game further. I'm not completely sure where Bech fits. But he's got good size, and seems to understand the finer details of the position. The Senior bowl rose his stock about as much as anyone. I took Fairchild as competition for the LG spot. Their OL looks pretty good on paper everywhere else, at least as far as the starters are concerned. But LG and depth could be improved. Even after doing that at 143, when I saw Wedig was falling, I made the investment to sacrifice a 2026' 5th to go and get him. He's got versatility, and I actually think he can play tackle if forced. The versatility is valuable to any team. The value on Carson Vinson at 215 was still impossible to ignore. So I triple dipped. So the OL got some love in this draft, albeit all with value picks later on. Malachi might not be the most consistent tackler in the world, yet. But what did we bring him in to do?? You guessed it, deal with the Chiefs passing game. He's a true center-fielder with ball skills and an ability to read plays developing in front of him. The vision for this draft was solid. The execution comes with some risk. But we gave the DC pieces to work with around Crosby/Wilkins and some other young DBs. And the offense got some more options as well as some quality OL competition. To me, if 2 of our first 3 picks get close to their ceiling, we nailed this one.
COLTS: 1.14 Derrick Harmon DT / Oregon 2.45 Xavier Watts S / Notre Dame 3.69 Mason Taylor TE / LSU 4.117 Sai'vion Jones DE / LSU 6.189 Kain Medrano LB / UCLA 7.232 Jacory Croskey-Merritt RB / Arizona ++ Michael Onwenu G / Patriots - 2026 3rd Yes, the seat under Chris Ballard might be starting to feel warm. And yes, they want to get Richardson "back on track". But they signed Daniel Jones already to push him. As well as RB Khalil Herbert, who is probably better than any #2 back we had last year. Also as I explained soon after my first selection, I don't feel the Colts O-line is a major concern, despite losing Ryan Kelly and Will Fries. This team has a lot of depth at tackle and a Center waiting in the wings, the uber-athletic Tanor Bortolini whom they drafted in the 4th round last year. I think it was always their intention to have him be the heir apparent to Kelly. So I wouldn't allow myself to feel "forced" into spending our premium picks in any particular way. With a new top 5 QB in division, we assume, and an emerging Texans pass game, I felt it made sense to continue building a top 10 pass defense that is built through the trenches. After all, another way to win games when you aren't certain you have an elite QB is to play physical, keep the score low, and run the ball. So with two star DT's over 30 I felt it prudent to add a future stud behind them. Someone to play between the (hopefully) emerging Laiatu Latu and Kwity Paye. We'll get Ebukam back too. Then I added a future star pass defender in Watts. He's actually only played the position for a couple years, so there's still plenty of room for growth. I love his potential. I knew I wanted to add a high upside TE if possible. As the 3rd round approached I saw an opportunity to improve in two spots. New England called us about moving star G Michael Onwenu, and I leveraged that into simultaneously moving up to grab Mason Taylor, son and nephew of two hall-of-famers. He's got plenty of potential in his own right. Great hands, and crafty working over the middle and up the seams. Bright future imo. Adding Onwenu funny enough solves that "hole on the O-line". He consistently grades well as a run blocker, and he'll help us dictate the pace of games with the run. It cost us a future 3rd, plus our 5th. I wouldn't normally sell future picks. But with this F.O. fighting for their jobs, a mere 3rd felt like a fair gamble to help us add talent that improves our chances of living to draft another year. I continued to enhance the pass-rush when I added Sai'vion Jones in the 4th. He gives us a quality 4th Edge defender behind Latu, Paye, and Ebukam. I've wanted to improve on Tyquan lewis for years. He can also probably work inside if necessary to give us options. He weighed in at 280 lbs. Another great senior bowl performance. Late I added hyper athletic LB Kain Medrano. He should be a solid special teams contributor while improving his reads and physicality on defense. He has pretty good instincts against the pass, and I like his developmental upside as a Will for us. Lastly I brought in an East-West Shrine ace in Croskey-Merritt. He showed good movement skills, instincts, and might be a great 3rd RB for us. Seemed like the BPA by 232. In the end I really like how this draft went for us. The DL additions worked out really well. And I think the offensive additions might help our offense take a leap.
