Ranking the Las Vegas Raiders' biggest Round 1 needs and the pecking order they should come in before the 2025 NFL Draft

With the 2025 NFL Draft only two-ish weeks away, it's important to know what you should be looking for out of your team, especially on the first day. There are different strategies that the Las Vegas Raiders, along with other teams, will be using.

And, you should know whether or not it's even possible for the Raiders to draft a certain player at a certain pick. For the first round of the draft, it's not likely that Las Vegas takes a tight end. It's not likely that they take a center. Certain positions are less likely to be targeted in the first round, even if the Raiders do take a best player available strategy.

If they take a BPA strategy, it will likely be any of the top 10 players in this draft, or the consensus of the top 10 players, and the best guy out of that group. Thankfully, none of those guys are players that the Raiders don't really need, besides maybe Penn State tight end Tyler Warren, depending on where you rank him.

But of the Raiders draft by need, there is a pecking order they should establish when it comes to their needs. So, let's rank their first-round needs.

Ranking Raiders' first-round needs for 2025 NFL Draft

We all know all of the needs that the Raiders have, and there are quite a few of them. But, what order would they be placed in the first round? Here they are, from the biggest need to the least biggest need:

1. Offensive Line (OT or OG)

This is by far the biggest need in the first round. But, you have to combine both position groups because it's not likely that the Raiders will take or even target a guard in the first round, that is, unless they take OT Will Campbell and move him inside. The Raiders allowed the fifth most sacks last season and had the worst run game in the league.

Their offense was one of the worst overall units in football because of those two things. Fix the line, fix the majority of the offense. However, where they are at, they would be better suited to trade back a bit if they went this direction. Positional value not being as strong throughout the draft pushes this need up to first for me.

2. Running Back

As we said earlier, the Raiders had a historically bad running game. They had the worst in the league by a very wide margin, and while the offensive line wasn't good, neither was the RB room. They decided to enter the season with Zamir White as the starter, and they ended the season with him not even getting many reps.

They have to target a RB in the draft, but with the positional value being the strongest in RD2 or RD3, the need comes in second for the Raiders. However, I think by this point of the pre-draft process, it feels like the Raiders are going Jeanty at No. 6.

3. Cornerback

The positional value in this draft class is very strong at the CB position. However, it's top-heavy in the first round with some really good dudes like Travis Hunter, Jahdae Barron, and Will Johnson. After letting Jack Jones go, a need that they already had just got immensely bigger. It's one of their biggest needs, but it's No. 3 here because taking Johnson or Barron at No. 6 would feel like a bit of a reach.

4. Linebacker

If you look at the Raiders' linebacker room right now, it's a bit depressing. The current starters are slated to be Elandon Roberts and Devin White, both whom are terrible in coverage. They need a guy who can cover, badly, and they likely won't get that late in the draft. It's one of their biggest needs, if not their biggest, but it's uncommon to take a linebacker at No. 6 in the draft, and you could even argue that it's uncommon to take one late in the first. That's why it's at No. 4 -- I could see them taking one on Day 2.