Raiders' recent rookie class ranked near the bottom. Despite a top pick, questions linger about team strategy and offensive potential under new leadership.
The Las Vegas Raiders officially have another new head coach. Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak won the Super Bowl on Sunday and was introduced as the Raiders coach shortly after.
The Raiders' one season with Pete Carroll was a disaster, to say the least, and there are plenty of changes coming to Las Vegas. One big disappointment was the recent rookie class.
Gennaro Filice of NFL.com ranked each team's rookie class. The Raiders earned a C grade but landed at No. 26 in this year's rankings, which is near the bottom.
The Raiders selected Boise State sensation and Heisman Trophy runner-up Ashton Jeanty at No. 6 overall. Look, Jeanty is a star in the making, but selecting an RB in the top-10 is unheard of now, especially for a team with plenty of other issues.
We will come back to that, but here is the Raiders' rookie class from 2025.
- Round 1 (No. 6): RB Ashton Jeanty | 17 games/starts
- Round 2 (No. 58): WR Jack Bech | 16 games/5 starts
- Round 3 (No. 68): CB Darien Porter | 17 games/10 starts
- Round 3 (No. 98): OG Caleb Rogers | 6 games/starts
- Round 3 (No. 99): OT Charles Grant | 9 games/1 start
- Round 4 (No. 108): WR Dont'e Thornton Jr. | 15 games/8 starts
- Round 4 (No. 135): DT Tonka Hemingway | 9 games/0 starts
- Round 6 (No. 180): DT JJ Pegues | 9 games/0 starts
- Round 6 (No. 213): WR Tommy Mellott | 0 games/starts
- Round 6 (No. 215): QB Cam Miller | 0 games/starts
- Round 7 (No. 222): LB Cody Lindenberg | 17 games/0 starts
Jeanty's season actually ended better than it began. He finished with 975 yards rushing with five touchdowns, and firing Chip Kelly as the OC halfway through the year appeared to make a difference.
ESPN's redraft even had Las Vegas selecting right tackle Armand Membou from Missouri instead of Jeanty.
Now, pair Jeanty with Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza at QB, and that is a scary offense, especially with offensive guru Klint Kubiak in town.
Bech, who played at TCU, finished with 20 receptions for 224 yards but no scores. Again, the disastrous performance of QB Geno Smith didn't help anybody on the offense.
Cody Lindenberg, the seventh-round pick, playing in every game is a promising sign.
Thornton, who played at Tennessee in college, had 10 catches for 135 yards, but he will also likely see an increase with Mendoza and Kubiak coming to Vegas, assuming Mendoza is the pick for the Raiders. Let's face it: If Mendoza isn't the pick, things might get ugly quickly in Sin City.
Outside of Jeanty starting every game, Darian Porter had the second-most with 10 starts.
There is a lot of promise with this class, believe it or not. Chip Kelly and Pete Carroll did them no favors.
Geno Smith turned the ball over way too much, and the offensive line in Las Vegas didn't help much for Jeanty, and he somehow still was very close to rushing for 1,000 yards.
The future will be brighter, hopefully, with some new faces in town and a new head coach once again.