Raiders’ undrafted pipeline keeps paying off, with Drake Thomas a focal point

The Las Vegas Raiders have long treated the undrafted free agent market as more than an afterthought. A review of their UDFA history from 2020 through 2025 describes how the team has repeatedly brought in players who earned roster spots and, in some cases, built reputations that lasted far beyond training camp. The article’s centerpiece is Drake Thomas, singled out as a player who has continued to shine as the Raiders look for dependable, low-cost development across roster layers.

What makes the Raiders’ approach notable is not simply the presence of UDFAs, but the consistency. The report says Las Vegas carried a UDFA on its initial roster for nearly 10 straight seasons up to the 2025 season, indicating that the organization has treated undrafted development as part of the baseline roster-building process rather than a one-off strategy.

The tracker places the Raiders’ 2019 undrafted class in particular spotlight. It highlights Keisean Nixon as an All-Pro caliber returner and lists additional value that the group brought, including AJ Cole as a punter and Alec Ingold as a fullback. It also points to Andre James and Lester Cotton as examples of players who became starters on the offensive line, underscoring that the Raiders’ UDFA hits have not been limited to one role or one phase of the game.

The analysis goes further by attempting to quantify the impact. It cites Pro Football Reference’s Average Value, describing it as roughly comparable to the way MLB WAR is used in baseball, and claims the Raiders’ 2019 UDFA class produced more total value than Clelin Ferrell, Johnathan Abram, and Trayvon Mullen combined. The point is not that the draft classes were failures, but that the undrafted group delivered outsized production relative to other investments.

The broader theme is that undrafted players can follow a path similar to drafted rookies, sometimes moving faster because of clear developmental opportunities and a sharper focus on earning reps. The article frames this as a continuing truth across the NFL, while using Las Vegas as the example of how a team can repeatedly translate roster margins into on-field contributions.

There is a caveat with any UDFA tracker: success is rarely linear, and standout performers can obscure how many players also fall off after opportunity runs out. Still, a decade-long pattern of keeping at least one undrafted player on the opening mix suggests the Raiders’ staff has believed in the process enough to sustain it year after year.

Looking ahead, Drake Thomas’s continued presence, and any additional UDFA developments in the same mold, could offer a window into how the Raiders plan to keep their roster competitive while managing salary and roster churn. The key question for the coming months will be whether the organization can turn camp-level promise into repeatable performance once the regular-season roles are solidified, not just during the early stages of a season.

For fans and evaluators, the Raiders’ UDFA track record is also a reminder to watch beyond the draft scoreboard. If Las Vegas keeps discovering and developing players at the margins, it can reshape how quickly new contributors emerge, and it can influence how the team balances drafting, free agency, and internal development in future offseasons.