B
Las Vegas Raiders
Mendoza is the Raiders' new face under center. Grade: B.
by JohnRaider ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 9 steals
· 0 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Jermod McCoy slide, and the Raiders were the ones holding the card at the 208th pick. Highway robbery. Call it a sensible B, earned the boring way.
Fernando Mendoza gives the offense a face and a plan, and the grade leans heavily on whether he hits. A whole weekend of picks and running back is somehow still a want.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the running back spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a passer to set the clock by. A clean fit for the roster.
David Bailey at the 36th overall pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Spencer Fano in Round 3, Pick 3 is a gift, value that borders on unfair. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
They will replay Mansoor Delane at the Round 4 slot for years; that is how good the value is. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A top-tier linebacker at a bargain, Sonny Styles in pick No. 117, plain and simple. It adds depth where they could use a little.
You do not let a wide receiver like Jordyn Tyson reach the 134th overall pick and blink. They did not. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Circle this one: Lee Hunter at No. 175 is a fall that decides a draft. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Chase Bisontis in pick 185 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They barely believed it either: Jermod McCoy still on the board at slot 208. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Garrett Nussmeier at the 219th pick is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It fills a real need, too.