B-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders found their guy under center in Mendoza: B-.
by RaiderRich ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 5 steals
· 2 reaches
They finally answered the question that shadows every other one. Fernando Mendoza is the Raiders' quarterback, full stop.
Orange at that cost is the sort of edge that compounds over a roster. If Taylor pans out, nobody remembers the price. If not, this is the pick they hear about. If this class has a fault line, it runs straight through edge rusher.
Cornerback is handled and the depth chart looks a good deal healthier for it.
Good work on the whole, with edge rusher the one box left unchecked.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 1st overall pick they get the face of the franchise. A real need, handled.
In the Round 1 slot they get a two-high chess piece at fair value. Need was not the driver here.
Jacob Rodriguez in slot 67 is a bargain the rest of the room will envy. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
Steal is underselling it; Domonique Orange at the 102nd pick is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A need, and now a little less of one.
A top-tier wide receiver at a bargain, Bryce Lance in pick 117, plain and simple. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
A conviction pick on Isaiah World at Round 4, Pick 34 that the board grades a round light. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
J'Mari Taylor in pick No. 175 is a reach so steep the board needed a second look to believe it. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Ephesians Prysock at No. 208. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A wide receiver of that caliber at the Round 7 slot is the definition of value, full stop. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.