Raiders 2023 rookie class gets solid praise in latest grades

The 2023 NFL Draft started out with a questionable selection for the Las Vegas Raiders, as they passed over Jalen Carter to select Texas Tech edge rusher Tyree Wilson. The thought was to pair Wilson with Maxx Crosby to give them a dominant tandem coming off the edge, but in the end, Carter had a terrific rookie season at defensive tackle for Philadelphia, and Wilson struggled early on.

Wilson got it going late in the season after being kicked inside, and the hope is that the Raiders hit just the tip of the iceberg in terms of his production moving forward. In the second round, Las Vegas moved up for Michael Mayer, and after a slow start as well, looks to be a legitimate TE1 option.

While early picks like Byron Young and Jakorian Bennett struggled, Tre Tucker proved to be a legitimate playmaker on deep balls, but the real needle-mover was quarterback Aidan O'Connell. A fourth-round pick, O'Connell proved he could win games at the NFL level, and at his lowest, should be at least the team's backup quarterback moving forward.

Over at NFL.com, Chad Reuters laid out grades for the Raiders 2023 draft class, and he has some high praise for the unit.

Raiders 2023 draft class given a B

While the Raiders did not get the ultimate grade of an A, they were tied with the Kansas City Chiefs for the highest grade in the division. In his final draft class as general manager, Dave Ziegler brought in some talent that could be cornerstone players for the franchise for the foreseeable future.

We will see what Year 2 brings for this group, but with a new offensive coordinator in town, as well as general manager, the roles for some of the offensive players could change a bit. Still, you have to like the majority of talent that Ziegler brought in via the 2023 NFL Draft, and some of these guys will hopefully be wearing the Silver and Black for a very long time.