B-
Las Vegas Raiders
A franchise passer in Mendoza headlines a B- weekend for the Raiders.
by Grumzy ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 10 picks
· 3 steals
· 1 reaches
The search is over. The Raiders handed the keys to Fernando Mendoza, and the whole operation now runs on his development.
Reaching for Black left real value on the table behind him. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up.
That is a quarterback worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly. They will answer for taking safety early while edge rusher went begging.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
In No. 1 they get the face of the franchise. A clean fit for the roster.
Good price on Denzel Boston in the 36th overall pick, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
A straight-up fair deal on Domonique Orange at Round 3, Pick 3, value and slot in agreement. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
A market-rate safety, with the board and the slot shaking hands on Bud Clark. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Of all the spots to shop, they chose safety. Genesis Smith in pick No. 117 leaves edge rusher for later.
Quietly one of the better values of the day, Will Lee III at slot 134. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
They talked themselves into Kaelon Black at pick 175, and the board did not agree. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Anez Cooper at the 185th pick is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the offensive lineman. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They let Taylen Green come to them and pounced at the 208th pick. The roster fit checks out.
Riley Nowakowski at the Round 7 slot is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. It fills a real need, too.