B-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders bet the future on Mendoza. The board says B-.
by Grumzy ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 5 steals
· 2 reaches
Start where it matters. The Raiders took Fernando Mendoza to run the offense for the next decade, and every other decision this weekend bends around that one.
They are betting Black proves the room right and everyone else wrong. They punted on edge rusher, and it is the miss that keeps the grade honest.
Harris at that cost is the sort of edge that compounds over a roster.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 1 they get the arm they will build around. A clean fit for the roster.
Denzel Boston in slot 36 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board fumbled Lee Hunter all the way to pick No. 67, and they scooped it up. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Jalon Kilgore at No. 102 is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Nice patience on Bud Clark, who had no business lasting to Round 4, Pick 17. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Julian Neal at the Round 4 slot is the proof. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A top-tier interior defensive lineman at a bargain, Zxavian Harris in the 175th pick, plain and simple. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
This one needs a full-page explanation: Kaelon Black in the 185th overall pick, miles early. A need, and now a little less of one.
A premium they did not need to pay, Riley Nowakowski a notch or two before his time. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
They will replay VJ Payne at slot 219 for years; that is how good the value is. They doubled down on a strength rather than a need.