B
Las Vegas Raiders
Quarterback settled, Mendoza in the fold, and a B for the Raiders.
by otterpop777 ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 5 steals
· 2 reaches
The search is over. The Raiders handed the keys to Fernando Mendoza, and the whole operation now runs on his development. More right than wrong, and a B to match.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Slaughter. They will regret leaving edge rusher for another day if the season turns on it. The Fitzgerald pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with edge rusher still on the board.
Reaching for Trost left real value on the table behind him.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 1 they get their quarterback of the future. A real need, handled.
D'Angelo Ponds at the 47th pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A tidy little value on Zachariah Branch in Round 3, Pick 3, a step better than break-even. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A clean, defensible pick in the Round 3 slot with a little surplus value in Zakee Wheatley. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
Jake Slaughter in slot 102 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
You do not let a running back like Jadarian Price reach pick No. 112 and blink. They did not. It fills a real need, too.
Steal is underselling it; Bryce Lance at pick 117 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A curious use of the 134th overall pick. Edge rusher needed the pick; a safety in Bishop Fitzgerald did not.
A big swing on Keagen Trost at the 152nd overall pick, well ahead of any board in the building. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A market-rate linebacker, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Kaleb Elarms-Orr. A minor need, but a need all the same.
They went early on Cole Payton in slot 185, and the value did not follow. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
No drama and no debate, Bobby Jamison-Travis went about where he belonged in the 208th pick. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Taking Dae'Quan Wright in pick No. 219 is close to grand larceny; a tight end that good had no business lasting this long. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.