Raiders foiled draft plans of two NFL rivals with their picks

For example, no expert or fan guessed that Shedeur Sanders was going to fall down draft boards as much as he did, landing with the 144th overall pick to the Cleveland Browns. Outside of prospects quickly rising and falling down the rankings, every team has their own big board of players who fit what they are looking for from the draft. When one of their targets is off the board before their pick, however, that forces teams to construct alternate gameplans in order to avoid potentially costly mistakes.

As more information on draft plans comes out, the Raiders have been revealed to foil the plans of two teams in terms of players they selected.

The Raiders reportedly stole three prospects from their rivals in the draft.

The first team that had to shift their strategy around was the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams reportedly loved TCU wide receiver Jack Bech and were looking to trade up for him, only for the Raiders to snag him with the 58th overall pick.

“Other teams loved [Bech]. There was, I’m told by an executive, there was two that I know of, and I think three teams trying to trade up to get him. I’m told that the Rams loved him, but the Raiders were able to snag him,” Sports Illustrated’s Hondo Carpenter said.

The Rams had the opportunity to take Bech earlier in the draft with the 46th overall pick, but they decided to use it on Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson instead. If it is true that the Rams sought to trade up for Bech, it would be the second straight year the Raiders threw a monkey wrench into the works. Last year, the Rams coveted tight end Brock Bowers and looked to trade up, but found no suitors and had to watch as the Raiders selected him 13th overall.

After adding cornerback Darien Porter in the third round, the Raiders used a pair of third-round selections they acquired in previous trades down to grab offensive linemen Caleb Rogers and Charles Grant. Inadvertently, however, they might have sniped both prospects from the San Francisco 49ers, who held the pick right after both selections.

“The first pick they [the Raiders] take Caleb Rogers and the next pick they take Charles Grant,” said The Athletic’s Matt Barrows. “The 49ers spent a lot of time with both of those guys. They actually brought in Caleb Rogers for a visit. I think the 49ers thought one of those guys was going to be there and that old Pete Carroll did a number on them… I do think they did intend to take a tackle on Day 2 and the guy got swiped.”

The 49ers decided to keep their pick and selected Western Kentucky cornerback Upton Stout.

The 2025 NFL Draft was an exercise in unpredictability, and the Raiders managed to plunge a couple of their rivals into a bit of chaos.