B-
Las Vegas Raiders
Mendoza is the Raiders' new face under center. Grade: B-.
by Kenny proctor ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 2 steals
· 5 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. Call it a sensible B-, earned the boring way.
Landing Bell that late papers over a lot of smaller sins. If Shelton pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
Almost all the early capital went to that side of the ball.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In Round 1, Pick 1 they get their quarterback of the future. A real need, handled.
Chris Johnson in No. 36 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Drew Shelton in pick No. 67, miles early. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Taurean York in the 102nd overall pick is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They robbed the room for Skyler Bell here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Trey Zuhn III in slot 134 lands just on the right side of the ledger. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Tanner Koziol in the Round 5 slot is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. It fills a real need, too.
A reach on J'Mari Taylor in the 185th pick; the board had better options right there. A need, and now a little less of one.
Bobby Jamison-Travis at slot 208 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A premium they did not need to pay, Jeremiah Wright a notch or two before his time. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.