The Las Vegas Raiders are beginning a new era in Week 10, as they will officially be turning the starting quarterback job over to the No. 1 pick from the 2026 NFL Draft, Fernando Mendoza. After trading Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings, that paved the way for Mendoza to finally find his way onto the field after spending the first half of the season watching from behind the scenes.
Mendoza will have his work cut out for him in his first start, as he will be taking on the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. The good news for Mendoza is that he will have his full complement of playmakers at his disposal, but ahead of this game, the Raiders decided to give him another option on offense, as they elevated second-year tight end Carter Runyon from the practice squad to the active roster.
Raiders Elevate Carter Runyon to Active Roster for Week 10
Runyon didn’t hear his name get called in the 2025 NFL Draft, but he still managed to find his way to the Raiders, which is where he has spent the first season-and-a-half of his career. As a rookie, Runyon ended up getting signed to the team’s active roster at the end of September, and he would go on to appear in 13 games, although he only caught one pass for three yards during his time on the field.
Ahead of the 2026 campaign, Runyon landed on injured reserve after he suffered a foot injury during training camp. Earlier this month, Runyon was waived from the injured reserve and quickly re-signed to the practice squad, indicating that he is healthy and ready to play, while also allowing Las Vegas to preserve one of its injured reserve activation slots.
For the most part, the Raiders are healthy at the tight end position heading into this game, as the team’s top three options at this spot (Brock Bowers, Michael Mayer, and Ian Thomas) all don’t have injury designations as of Saturday night. Still, the team wanted some extra depth at the tight end position, as it elevated Runyon to the active roster ahead of this game.
“We have elevated TE Carter Runyon from the practice squad,” the Raiders announced in a post on X.
Raiders Face Tall Task in Week 10 vs. the Seahawks
As the fourth layer of depth at this position, Runyon likely won’t get much action for the Raiders in this game, as he will likely be used as an extra blocker on offense or as a special teams player. Bowers and Mayer have been banged up at times throughout the season, though, so maybe Las Vegas knows something that is leading it to err on the side of caution at the tight end spot.
The Seahawks boast one of the most dangerous defensive units in the league, so Mendoza is going to need all of the help that he can get in this one. At this point, the Raiders are primarily focused on doing whatever they can to properly develop Mendoza under center, so all eyes will be on him and the offense to see how they fare against this top-tier team.
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