Four wide receivers the Raiders could pick in the 2025 draft

By Rhys Knott

Pete Carroll might be a defensive coach by nature (he played free safety in college), but even during the “Legion of Boom” era, his Seahawks teams had plenty of offense. He needs to pick some players who dazzle under the bright lights of Vegas. 

Brock Bowers is obviously a record-breaking superstar, and Jakobi Meyers is a low-key superstar. But those two need some help. Tre Tucker is a very exciting receiver, but he’s only catching 57.4% of his targets after two years in the league. He might have to settle on returning kicks and running the odd jet sweep for the time being. 

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Only the Patriots and Giants scored fewer passing touchdowns than the Raiders in 2024. Erroneously deciding Gardner Minshew is a starting quarterback didn’t help. But only having two receivers who started more than six games didn’t either. With 81 contracted players, they can’t really dive into a full rebuild, but Carroll has 10 draft picks to use. 

The Raiders need to figure out what to do at the quarterback position. Many people are convinced they will pick Shedeur Sanders with the sixth overall pick. But even if they decide to draft an offensive lineman in the first round (Carroll didn’t draft Russell Wilson until the third round, and Raiders co-owner Tom Brady famously fell to the 199th pick), there’s no shortage of receiving talent deep in the 2025 draft class. 

Isaiah Bond, Texas

Bond claimed he would beat another former Texas receiver, Xavier Worthy’s 40-time at the combine. But he didn’t, leading to much “hilarity” on social media. The 20-year-old (until the 15th of March) did clock 4.39 seconds, though, which is the same as Percy Harvin and Chris Olave’s. 

The Georgia native wasn’t a prolific red zone threat during his three years in the SEC, first with Alabama and then Texas. He only scored 11 touchdowns in his 41 starts. But he has the ability to stretch a defence vertically.  

He is more of a yards-after-the-catch receiver than Meyers, and Bond’s ability to catch screen passes and run the end around will compensate for their inconsistent run game. That’s definitely something that would interest Carroll, whoever his QB is. 

Arian Smith, Georgia

Smith projects as an undrafted free agent, but he looks like Tank Dell. Scouts aren’t buying into Smith largely because he spent five years in Georgia but didn’t blossom until his senior year. He did win two National Championships though and he put up 129 yards on three catches in the 2022 Peach Bowl! He also scored a touchdown in that game against C.J. Stroud’s Ohio State Buckeyes. 

Smith received some rave reviews at the Senior Bowl. It has been reported that some of the defensive backs who tried to cover him simply couldn’t deal with his speed. He clocked 4.36 for his 40-yard dash at the combine, and that’s the same time as Christian Watson and Jahmyr Gibbs!

If Smith had one issue in his senior year it was that he was too fast for Carson Beck to throw the ball to him in the deep. Even if Smith is just the Raiders’ big-play receiver next year, that will at least give Bowers some respite. 

Dont’e Thornton Jr., Tennessee

Thornton is a bigger, more raw version of Brian Thomas Jr., and some scouts thought Thomas Jr. was too raw to be picked in the first round. The Tennessee offense fell squarely into the “erratic” category last season. Nico Iamaleava can make highlight plays, but he can also take a sack out of nowhere (but he’s only 20). Thornton Jr. found himself on the end of a lot of those highlight plays. 

The 6-foot-5, 22-year-old only caught 26 passes in his 13 games as a senior, but he scored six touchdowns and averaged 25.4 yards per reception! After spending two years in Oregon before he arrived in Tennessee, he projects as an undrafted free agent. His 4.30 40-yard time at the combine certainly set tongues wagging, though. 

There’s no denying Thornton Jr. lacks experience, but you know who else was 6 feet 5 inches and ran a 4.3 40 (4.35 actually)? Calvin Johnson!  

Chimere Dike, Florida

Dike is this year’s Ladd McConkey. He looks much bigger than the Charger but is listed as the same height and just 10 pounds heavier. The former Wisconsin Badger ran a faster 40-time than McConkey, 4.34 compared to McConkey’s 4.39. 

At Florida, Dike ran a lot of pre-snap motions, allowing him to get a free release at the line of scrimmage. That seems like the sort of thing new Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly would lean into, and a 4.3 receiver with a running start is going to be in the defensive backfield before you know it. 

He is more than a straight-up burner though, Dike is very elusive stepping around defenders and changing direction without losing speed. He can make contested catches too. Dike only caught two touchdowns last year on a Gator team that battled their way to an 8-5 record, but he averaged a career-high 18.6 yards per reception. 

The Wisconsin native projects as a third-day pick or an undrafted free agent, but he is going to improve any team that signs him. 

RHYS KNOTT

NFL/FANTASY FOOTBALL ANALYST

Rhys has been watching the NFL for 30 something years and still hasn’t managed to pick a team to support. When he’s not fixatED on pass rushers you can find him blithering on about most sports on Twitter @wrhys_writes

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