The Las Vegas Raiders are preparing for the 2025 NFL Draft, looking for the best fits as the Pete Carroll-John Spytek era begins.
Many teams draft players based on their athletic traits, as it is easier to turn a raw athlete into a technically skilled player rather than someone who does not have the athleticism to play at the highest level.
It is not a foolproof method, as it can sometimes be difficult to smooth out the rough edges of a raw player. More often than not, though, taking the player with elite athletic traits is the way to go.
Kent Lee Platte, who goes by @MathBomb on X, has tracked players’ athletic scores through his Relative Athletic Score, or RAS, system.
The scale ranges from 0 to 10.00. The higher the number, the more athletic a player is.
Recently, Platte released a list of every team’s five most and least athletic draft picks since 2010. We previously brought you the Raiders’ most athletic players, which you can read here.
But who are the least athletic players to wear the Silver and Black?
According to Platte’s system, the five least athletic Raiders are offensive tackle David Sharpe (2.79), defensive end Jihad Ward (2.26), defensive tackle Justin Ellis (1.27), offensive tackle Menelik Watson, and defensive tackle Neil Farrell Jr.
Unfortunately, as evidenced by these scores, the Raiders have struggled to draft trenches in years past. Some players, like Ward and Ellis, had solid careers in Oakland. On the other hand, Sharpe, Watson, and Farrell did not spend much time with the Raiders.
Athleticism in the trenches is important. If an offensive lineman cannot move well, defensive linemen will beat them consistently. The same can be said for the other side of the ball. The Raiders will get no pressure on the quarterback if they do not have athletic defensive linemen.
There will be plenty of athletic linemen on both sides of the ball in this draft class. The NFL Scouting Combine will allow Spytek and Carroll to meet these athletes and see their physical gifts up close.
Spytek and Carroll will put together their first draft class in a few months. They may want to consult RAS to see which players have the best chance of success.
You can look at the full grades here.
