B-
Las Vegas Raiders
Quarterback settled, Mendoza in the fold, and a B- for the Raiders.
by Grumzy ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 2 steals
· 6 reaches
The one hole that towered over the rest is filled. The Raiders spent their marquee pick on Fernando Mendoza, and for the first time in a while there is a real answer at quarterback.
The Black pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over. Stukes falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 1 they get a long-term answer under center. A real need, handled.
A tidy little value on Chris Brazzell II in pick 36, a step better than break-even. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Jacob Rodriguez is a better player than the Round 3 slot suggests; smart patience, rewarded. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They barely believed it either: Treydan Stukes still on the board at slot 102. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Gracen Halton at pick No. 117 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
A reach on Chris McClellan in No. 134; the board had better options right there. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Value said wait; VJ Payne in the 175th pick says they were not listening. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Kaelon Black this early at the 185th overall pick. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Riley Nowakowski at No. 208 is a clear overpay, with better names still on the board. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Robert Spears-Jennings at the Round 7 slot is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. A want more than a need, though you can never have too many.