A year after John Spytek’s first draft as Raiders general manager, the early returns on Las Vegas’ 2025 class are starting to settle into place. The group came in with 11 picks and a handful of swings across the third, fourth and sixth rounds, and now there’s enough of a sample to sort out which names are trending up and which ones are already fighting an uphill battle.
At the top, Ashton Jeanty has given the Raiders exactly the kind of lift they needed. Las Vegas entered the 2025 season with one of the league’s worst rushing attacks, and while Jeanty didn’t solve everything by himself, the offense would have looked a lot worse with Zamir White as the alternative.
The No. 6 overall pick flashed big-play ability, none bigger than his 138-yard, three-touchdown outing against the Chicago Bears. He’s in line for another jump behind a better offensive line, and so far the former Boise State Bronco looks like a clear win.
The second round hasn’t gone nearly as cleanly. Instead of taking the top receiver on the board, the Raiders moved back multiple times.
They started at No. 37, where Luther Burden was still there, but dealt the pick to the Miami Dolphins, who took Jonah Savaiinaea. Jack Bech hasn’t rewarded the patience yet.
He didn’t have a strong rookie season, barely saw the field, and the early buzz from 2026 training camp hasn’t helped much either, with reports of him struggling to separate. He still has a chance to grow and can help on special teams, but right now he’s leaning toward the miss side of the ledger.
The third round has been a mixed bag. Darien Porter had a rough rookie year, but he was a third-round rookie starting out at corner, and that matters.
He’s also already getting starting reps in 2026 training camp, even though he still needs work in several areas. The Raiders also had safety in play, and Xavier Watts - taken 28 picks later - has already piled up five interceptions and 96 tackles for the Atlanta Falcons.
Caleb Rogers has at least given the Raiders something to work with. Pete Carroll didn’t play him much last season, but when Rogers did get chances, he showed enough to keep himself in the mix. Now the Texas Tech product is back competing for a starting job, which is a solid outcome for a late third-round pick.
Charles Grant is still a work in progress. The William & Mary product came from the FCS level, didn’t see the field in 2025, and is now battling for the starting right tackle job. So far in camp, though, there hasn’t been much noise around him.
The fourth round has produced both frustration and promise. Donte Thornton Jr. opened with a bang, making the game-winning catch in Week 1 against the New England Patriots, and his rare size-speed combination got people talking.
But the production didn’t last. His snap count dropped steadily after that, and the concerns have followed him into this year’s camp.
The drops and the separation issues are still there, and there’s real question about whether he’ll even make the 53-man roster.
Tonka Hemingway has gone the other direction. The South Carolina defensive tackle recorded four sacks as a rookie, has earned plenty of praise in camp, and even won a team award this offseason for hardest worker in the weight room.
Kwity Paye had plenty to say about him this week: “You see him every day … one of the first people in the building,” Paye said. “He’s been popping up everywhere on the field.”
If that momentum keeps building, Hemingway could turn this into one of the best picks in the class.
The sixth round hasn’t offered much. JJ Pegues brought intrigue because of his versatility at Ole Miss, where he played fullback and wildcat quarterback, but the first season didn’t deliver much and the buzz hasn’t been strong. He gets a small bump because the other two picks in that round didn’t make the roster at all.
Tommy Mellott’s path has been even tougher. “Touchdown Tommy” had a strong following in Montana, but the Raiders drafted him as a receiver after his college quarterback career, and the position change proved too steep.
His profile got more attention after The Raider Ramble’s interview with JT Reed, but Mellott still didn’t make the 53-man roster. Cam Miller followed a similar route and met the same end, spending the season on the practice squad before signing with the Miami Dolphins in January.
The final pick in the class, Cody Lindenberg, gave the Raiders something from the seventh round. He made the roster and contributed on special teams, which is no small thing for a late-round linebacker. His path to playing time looks tougher now that the Raiders signed two starting linebackers in free agency, but for the moment he’s at least stayed in the mix.
In Other News...
Raiders Suddenly Have A Right Tackle Problem They Can't Ignore
Training camp was always going to sort out the Raiders offensive line, but the early returns have only sharpened the focus on right tackle. DJ Glaze has been working there and the results have been uneven enough to draw attention, while the team continues to shuffle pieces elsewhere and look for the best way to stabilize the edge. Charles Grant is still backing up on the left side, and for now Las Vegas is leaning on a mix of young depth and undrafted competition rather than bringing in an established veteran.
Trey Zuhn III is one of the more interesting names in that mix, because he has already been moved into right tackle work with the second-unit offense after spending time at guard and center. That kind of reshuffling usually says as much about the coaching staffs urgency as it does about the players versatility. The Raiders do not need a camp battle that lingers much longer, though, because right tackle is quickly becoming one of the spots they can least afford to leave unsettled. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders First Padded Practice Exposed One Concern Fans Cant Ignore
The Raiders moved into their first padded training camp practice under new head coach Klint Kubiak, and that shift brought a more revealing look at where the roster stands. It was the kind of session that tends to separate early camp noise from something a little more real, with veterans and young players alike getting a clearer test in fuller contact. Maxx Crosby and Brock Bowers were both back on the field after injury, and their presence immediately raised the level of the group around them, while rookie Fernando Mendoza showed flashes and some uneven moments as he starts the long process of settling in.
DJ Glaze, though, remains one of the more pressing watch points for the Raiders as the line work gets tougher and the margin for error shrinks. In padded practice, that side of the offensive front can tell you a lot about how quickly a team is coming together, and Glazes performance did not make that conversation any easier to ignore. For a team trying to establish itself under a new coaching staff, those early camp reps matter because they hint at which problems are temporary and which ones may need a lot more solving. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Quarterback Battle Is Showing Why This Offense Needs Time
The Raiders quarterback room has become one of the most watched parts of training camp, and for good reason. With Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza joining returning quarterback Aidan OConnell, Las Vegas suddenly has multiple passers trying to get comfortable in a new offensive scheme under a new coaching staff, and the early days have looked like what usually happens in a true installation period: some clean stretches, some rough ones, and plenty of learning on the fly.
For the Raiders, the bigger takeaway may be less about who is ahead right now and more about how much work still needs to be done before this offense looks settled. The quarterbacks are competing, sure, but they are also working together to sharpen the system and help the group improve collectively, which suggests this camp is as much about building the foundation as it is about deciding a pecking order. [Read more 🡒]