B-
Las Vegas Raiders
A franchise passer in Mendoza headlines a B- weekend for the Raiders.
by Hawkeye66 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 3 steals
· 3 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. More right than wrong, and a B- to match.
The cost of the Burke reach is exactly the players who went right after him. Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Anderson.
The edge rusher spot stays a question, and it was the one they most needed an answer at.
A tidy weekend of work that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a franchise quarterback at fair value. A real need, handled.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Dillon Thieneman at pick No. 36 is the proof. A minor itch, scratched.
Josiah Trotter in pick 67 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It adds depth where they could use a little.
Jalon Kilgore in No. 102 is fair value, right on his grade. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
They reached a country mile for DeMonte Capehart at the 117th overall pick, and the board is aghast. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Travis Burke in the 134th pick, miles early. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Caleb Douglas in slot 175. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
VJ Payne at Round 6, Pick 4 jumps the queue by a touch more than is comfortable. A luxury on a unit that was already in good shape.
They paid sticker price for Aaron Graves in the Round 6 slot, and that is fine. It fills a real need, too.
Circle this one: Aaron Anderson at pick No. 219 is a fall that decides a draft. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.