B-
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders finally solved quarterback, and it carried them to a B-.
by Grumzy ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 3 steals
· 5 reaches
The one hole that towered over the rest is filled. The Raiders spent their marquee pick on Fernando Mendoza, and for the first time in a while there is a real answer at quarterback. The bottom line is a respectable B-.
Getting Branch where they did is the sort of value that quietly makes a class. The Nowakowski pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over.
They will answer for taking safety early while edge rusher and offensive lineman went begging. That edge rusher hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 1 they get the face of the franchise at fair value.
A straight-up fair deal on Dillon Thieneman at pick 36, value and slot in agreement. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
A surprising call. With edge rusher and offensive lineman still to address, they spent the 67th pick on Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, a safety they were not short of.
Zachariah Branch in the Round 4 slot should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Value with a capital V on Jalon Kilgore in No. 117, a genuine coup. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A premium they did not need to pay, Chris McClellan a notch or two before his time. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Riley Nowakowski in pick No. 175 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. The roster fit checks out.
A reach for VJ Payne in Round 6, Pick 4; a little patience would have been rewarded. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.
Kaelon Black in pick No. 208 is the kind of reach that only looks good if he outplays it. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Eli Heidenreich at Round 7, Pick 3 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.