D-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders answered their biggest question with Mendoza. Grade: D-.
by j ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 0 steals
· 5 reaches
The Raiders spent real capital to be 40 picks early on Domani Jackson, and the board is going to hold them to it. It grades a D-, and the process earned it.
The trade table is where this weekend went wrong. Everything downstream of Fernando Mendoza depends on Fernando Mendoza, and the building knows it.
For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain. Almost all the early capital went to that side of the ball.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even, and edge rusher is still a hole.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 1 they get a long-term answer under center at fair value.
In the Round 1 slot they get a difference-maker at receiver at fair value. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In the 24th pick they get a moveable chess piece at tight end. A real need, handled.
They reached a country mile for Domani Jackson at the 134th overall pick, and the board is aghast. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A real head-scratcher, Le'Veon Moss in pick No. 175 is miles ahead of his ranking. The roster fit checks out.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Kaden Wetjen in Round 6, Pick 4, miles early. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
TJ Hall at pick 208 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
The board had cheaper options than Xavier Nwankpa at the 219th pick, and it noticed. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.