B-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders left with their quarterback, and a B- to match.
by skaarman ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 4 steals
· 2 reaches
After circling the position for what felt like forever, the Raiders committed. Fernando Mendoza is the quarterback now, and the roster gets built to his timeline.
Ramsey falling to them is the kind of break a good board is built to catch. They are betting Payne proves the room right and everyone else wrong. They will regret leaving edge rusher for another day if the season turns on it.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
Fernando Mendoza at Round 1, Pick 1 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Omar Cooper Jr. at the Round 2 slot is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
A top-tier interior defensive lineman at a bargain, Lee Hunter in the 67th overall pick, plain and simple. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They will replay Kamari Ramsey at slot 102 for years; that is how good the value is. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Malik Muhammad in pick 117 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Nothing to complain about; Trey Zuhn III went a shade earlier than his grade, which is fine. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for VJ Payne. Stacking talent where they were already deep.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Kaleb Elarms-Orr in pick No. 185. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Kaelon Black this early at No. 208. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Dallen Bentley in the Round 7 slot. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.