Why Raiders Should Take a Chance on Sleeper Draft Safety

The Las Vegas Raiders are finalizing their evaluations and building their boards as the 2025 NFL Draft is just a little over a week away. The Raiders are led by General Manager John Spytek, who did an impressive job building the Tampa Bay Buccaneers through the draft. Raider Nation hopes he can do the same for their franchise.

Las Vegas added safeties this offseason to replace Tre’von Moehrig and Marcus Epps in Jeremy Chinn and Lonnie Johnson Jr. However, they could still look at safeties in this draft class. This is not an incredibly deep safety class, but there are plenty of underrated players the Raiders could find late in the draft.



Among them is Marshall star J.J. Roberts.

When we called Roberts a sleeper in the title, we truly mean he is a sleeper. Roberts was not invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, East-West Shrine Bowl, or Senior Bowl, despite having an excellent season with the Thundering Herd. The transfer from Wake Forest totaled 167 tackles, six for loss, two forced fumbles, 15 passes defended, a sack, and two interceptions in two seasons at Marshall.

He was Pro Football Focus’ top-graded safety at 91.2. When watching Roberts’ tape, it becomes head-scratching why he did not receive an invite to the Combine or either of the major prospect bowl games.

He does so many things well on the football field that it his hard not to envision him as a productive depth safety at the very least. Roberts loves to deliver big hits when fitting the run. He can get downhill quickly with 4.

41 speed and get physical with ball carriers. He is solid in coverage, too, easily able to break on passes and get in the way of them. He did not record an interception in 2024 but came close on many attempts.

Roberts will likely be available on Day 3 of the draft, and if he is, the Raiders should consider adding him to the team. He could fill in nicely as the team’s fourth safety and eventually earn more snaps as the season progresses. Spytek has made a living finding players who eventually become quality starters.

Roberts could be another. Make sure you remember to follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @HondoCarpenter and IG @HondoSr and never miss another breaking news story again. Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE .

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