B-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders found their guy under center in Mendoza: B-.
by jzaNe1949 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 3 steals
· 1 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Jake Slaughter, the Round 4 slot, roughly 59 picks past where he belonged. A dependable weekend that grades out a B-.
Fernando Mendoza is the bet, and the class will be judged on how it pays off. They will need Barber to outplay his draft slot in a hurry to justify it.
The edge rusher hole is the one line item this class does not answer.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 1 they get the arm they will build around. A clean fit for the roster.
Chris Johnson in No. 36 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Austin Barber this early at No. 67. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Sam Roush in the Round 4 slot. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Jake Slaughter at Round 4, Pick 17 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Harold Perkins Jr.. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
They robbed the room for CJ Daniels here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
By-the-book stuff, Seth McGowan at slot 185 squarely in line with his ranking. A need, and now a little less of one.
Jalen Stroman in the 208th pick is fair value, right on his grade. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
Landon Robinson in the 219th overall pick is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It fills a real need, too.