B-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders left with their quarterback, and a B- to match.
by pj_doucette ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
The Raiders spent the pick that matters most on Fernando Mendoza, and a roster that has been waiting on a passer can start to take shape. More right than wrong, and a B- to match.
Getting Lance where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class. For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain. The cost of the Pavia reach is exactly the players who went right after him.
On the needs board they went 6 of 8, with cornerback the one that mattered most.
Add it up and it is a good, unfussy class.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 1 they get a franchise quarterback. A clean fit for the roster.
The board had cheaper options than Max Iheanachor at the 36th pick, and it noticed. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Josiah Trotter slipping to the 67th overall pick is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
No drama and no debate, Jalon Kilgore went about where he belonged in Round 4, Pick 2. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Steal is underselling it; Bryce Lance at pick 117 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They did well to land Joe Royer in slot 134, just ahead of his grade. The roster fit checks out.
They paid sticker price for Febechi Nwaiwu in No. 175, and that is fine. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
By-the-book stuff, Seth McGowan at the Round 6 slot squarely in line with his ranking. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Value with a capital V on VJ Payne in pick 208, a genuine coup. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Diego Pavia this early at No. 219. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.