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Raiders Mailbag: Final questions in the calm before the frenzy of the 2025 NFL Draft

Apr 23, 2025 at 04:32 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

Cory Radford said:

"I'm a Mizzou and Raiders fan. Membou has been the most dominating offensive lineman in the toughest college football conference for two years in a row. He's a great player and I hope the Raiders get him."

There's been some rising predictions regarding the Raiders selecting an offensive lineman with their first-round pick Thursday. If they do go that route, Armand Membou seems to be a promising prospect.

He's coming off a stellar season at Missouri in which he did not allow a single sack the entire year. His 90.6 offensive grade from Pro Football Focus was the fourth highest of any FBS offensive tackle in the nation. His athleticism also gives him one of the highest ceilings of any offensive lineman in this year's draft, as he ranked in the top three of all offensive linemen in the 40-yard-dash (4.91), vertical jump (41 inches) and bench press (31 reps) at the NFL Combine. NFL Network host Rhett Lewis also recently mocked Membou to the Raiders at No. 6.

"GM John Spytek recently spoke to me and Bucky Brooks on the Raiders NFL Draft Podcast and his passion for building the foundation of a franchise up front on both sides of the line of scrimmage was clear," Lewis wrote. "Now, Spytek isn't overly unique in that thought process, but he's lived it with great success in Tampa and selecting Armand Membou gives the Raiders a great building block for immediate and long-term impact up front."

Jordan S. from Buffalo, New York, said:

"It would be great if Luther Burden III was the pick."

Coincidentally, another exceptional Missouri Tigers player gets mentioned in this week's Mailbag.

Wide receiver remains a position of need for the Raiders, and Luther Burden III has the athleticism and experience to warrant being an early Day 2 pick. He was the highest-touted recruit Missouri has landed in school history and didn't disappoint in his time there with 192 receptions for 2,263 yards and 21 touchdowns in his three collegiate seasons.

While he does have the ability to play outside, the large majority of his snaps came in the slot. With Jakobi Meyers and Tre Tucker out wide, Burden would provide flexibility in the intermediate passing game. And even with how successful he was in college, several analysts have spoken out in belief that Burden could rise to new heights in a system catered more to his game.

"Missouri exploited Burden's yards-after-catch talent with a barrage of short throws, but NFL teams are much more likely to diversify his usage, activating his complete skill set and big-play potential," NFL.com's Lance Zierlein wrote. "The production against top teams was uneven at times but so was Missouri's quarterback play. Burden checks several priority boxes that typically foreshadow an impressive NFL career."

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Las Vegas Raiders linebackers coach John Glenn at Day Three of 2025 Veteran Minicamp at Intermountain Health Performance Center.