The Las Vegas Raiders found their franchise QB in Fernando Mendoza at the 2026 NFL Draft. However, the team also drafted potential building blocks to support their rebuild. Six of the 10 draft picks that the Silver and Black made were on the defensive side of the football.
Nonetheless, the Raiders also made some compelling selections on the offensive side of the football with players like Mike Washington Jr. coming into the fold. Furthermore, Las Vegas might have made the steal of the draft in selecting Jermod McCoy, who is a first-round talent but fell to the fourth round due to injury concerns.
While it’s another major step in their rebuild, former NFL wideout T.J. Houshmandzadeh loved what the Raiders did at the 2026 NFL Draft.
“When you get Fernando Mendoza, I believe he’s going to be a good player,” Houshmandzadeh said on the April 26 edition of “Speak Easy.” “I don’t know if he’s going to be a generational player, but I believe he will be a good player. I just feel like when you get Treydan Stukes, low-key, that dude is really good. He’s a hell of a safety, and you gloss over him because of Caleb Downs.
“He’s a really good player. But the biggest thing: When you get a first-round guy in the fourth round, that’s a win. Jermod McCoy may end up being, if he stays healthy, one of the best defensive players in his class…
“If they stay healthy, Stukes and McCoy are going to be 10-year players, minimum, in the league. With Mendoza going with Kubiak, I truly believe he’s going to have a good-to-great career.”
Las Vegas Looks to Replicate Seahawks Formula
Moreover, Houshmandzadeh noted that he’s seeing Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak looking to replicate the running attack that he had with the Seattle Seahawks with the selection of Washington.
“They [also] drafted Mike Washington Jr., so now he and Ashton Jeanty are going to split time the same way they did in Seattle with [Zach] Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker,“ Houshmandzadeh added. “I didn’t think I would say the Raiders. I really, really like what the Raiders have done on the defensive side of the ball.”
Raiders Made Major Trade Decision at the Draft
Furthermore, on Day 3 of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Silver and Black also decided to send Tyree Wilson and a 2026 seventh-round pick to the New Orleans Saints for a 2026 fifth-rounder (No. 150), which Las Vegas used on Arizona safety Dalton Johnson.
Wilson was the seventh pick of the 2023 draft out of Texas Tech and started seven games for the Raiders in three seasons, and has 12 career sacks, including four last season. Nonetheless, given where he was drafted, Wilson has been a disappointment for Las Vegas.
As a result, the Raiders’ VP of Player Personnel, Brandon Hunt, explained why it was time for both parties to part ways.
“We were going to say it was just an opportunity for a fresh start, a fresh start for him and a fresh start for us,“ Hunt told reporters on April 25. “The phone was ringing throughout the entire draft, and when that call came in, we looked at where we were as a team and the decisions we had made in free agency and the draft.
Former NFL Player Doesn’t Hold Back on Raiders’ 2026 Draft Class