Safe to say, the short run of Tom Telesco as general manager of the Las Vegas Raiders did not produce many fond memories.
His major signing last offseason in defensive tackle Christian Wilkins endured a difficult first year in Las Vegas, with his season derailed by injuries. Other moves, such as bringing in quarterback Gardner Minshew and extending center Andre James, have already backfired to the point neither is on the roster in 2025. Finishing 4-13 on the season, the Raiders decided they had seen enough already and showed Telesco the door.
While his successor in John Spytek has some mess to clean up, Telesco did leave him with one promising aspect: his lone draft class was one to remember.
The Raiders’ 2024 draft class finishes top-five in metrics by Pro Football Focus.
According to PFF’s Bradley Locker, the Raiders’ rookies finished fourth overall in the outlet’s Wins Above Replacement metric. The only three teams to perform better were the Los Angeles Rams, Washington Commanders and New York Giants.
Unsurprisingly, the praise starts with tight end Brock Bowers, who put together a record-smashing rookie season.
“While [Commanders quarterback Jayden] Daniels received the bulk of the plaudits for his unreal first season, Brock Bowers deserves just as much credit,” Locker wrote. “His 85.1 PFF overall grade slotted third among qualified tight ends and is the third-best mark for a rookie since 2016.”
Bowers deserves much of the credit for the rookie class shining, but he was far from the only draft pick to make their impact felt in Las Vegas.
“Along the offensive line, Jackson Powers-Johnson (70.4 PFF run-blocking grade) and D.J. Glaze (66.1 PFF overall grade) established themselves as potential pillars,” Locker continued. “Other newcomers Tommy Eichenberg, Amari Gainer and Trey Taylor bolstered the team’s special teams grade with 68.0-plus PFF special teams marks.”
Along with the players mentioned by Locker, cornerback Decamerion Richardson also notched seven starts in his rookie season, confirming defensive coordinator Patrick Graham’s trust in his development.
With the young players performing above expectation, Spytek’s job becomes much easier.
Spytek already knows he has three players to build around next offseason in Bowers, Powers-Johnson and Glaze. The others have shown positive signs of development so far, with the hopes that they can continue to earn their way towards more playing time. While Spytek has made the necessary moves to build the Raiders up depth-wise, the 2024 class has done their part to keep themselves in the plans of a new regime.
Telesco put together an excellent draft class in 2024, and Spytek now has the unenviable task of setting up the encore.
