2026 Draft - Raiders & all teams (April 23-25)

[RaiderFan1]

Obvious Mendoza #1 no consideration of trading that pick.
But who you got picks 2 - 4 thats going to help Mendoza.

#2 Raiders should be able to select WR Chris Bell or WR KC Concepcion with our early 2nd.

#3 I forget who it was, but someone here mentioned that the best pure dominant RT coming out of college could be got in the 3rd. And stated hes played his whole career at RT, and not being moved around the line.

Sounds like solid gets

Id hope the rest of the draft is building the trenches, with maybe 1 DB in there

Who else you like ?

[mstrbass2000]

Have done a few mocks & this is the one i like most

1st - Fernando Mendoza QB
2nd - Lee Hunter NT
3rd - Drew Shelton OT
4th - Bishop Fitzgerald FS
4th - Beau Stephens OG
4th - Tyreak Sapp DL
5th - Red Murdock LB
6th - Jeff Caldwell WR
6th - Kaelon Black RB
7th - Collin Wright CB

OT & NT are interchangeable in the 2nd & 3rd depending who is there, if Hunter is there then he is a must take. The pro comp of Akiem Hicks really hits the mark for me being that he could be that good mix of run D & pass ruah you need

Fitzgerald is a ball hawk & versatile aswell would fill a huge need a could start straight away

Beau Stephens & Drew Shelton are great fits for what Kubiak runs, Shelton like Grant could be a future LT having both battle it out at RT before one eventually move across could be great for the development of both

Caldwell is very similar to Thornton but in the 6th would be a good pick up, has the size & speed plus the potential to be that guy just needs the refinement & development

Black i threw in because of our alleged interest & feel he could be a good no.2 to Jeanty

like it and would absolutely love the hunter pick in teh 2nd (big need)

[haji81872]

ESPN mock today has us taking MacDonald in the second. That would be a dream come true. I am not sure he would actually make it to us, but the mock itself made a lot of sense to create that exact scenario.

[Attyla]

ESPN mock today has us taking MacDonald in the second. That would be a dream come true. I am not sure he would actually make it to us, but the mock itself made a lot of sense to create that exact scenario.

low 20s to end of the round kind of guy. I can't see him dropping out of the first but stranger things have happened

[Opoponax50]

Yes, it is. Thornton hasn't shown dick. Bech, Nailor and Tucker are your starters. You feel comfortable with that? How about behind them? And again, you signed Nailor based on upside. It still has to hit here.

I've been the biggest advocate against an alpha WR1 in this offense but depth is absolutely a need.

It wouldn't break my heart to see us draft a potentially great WR. I just don't see it as a burning need like the trenches... and CB.. and LB... and both free and strong safeties. Again, maybe we have a serviceable WR corps, maybe we don't. I just want to see our potential franchise QB kept upright and not having opposing offenses see 3rd and 12 as a great opportunity to pick up 25 yards.

[Attyla]

The real problem with these deep dive mock drafts is obviously that fact that there are 32 teams out there that do various levels of scouting. You just cannot get enough tape time with every player in the draft to know who is a great option in the deeper rounds. Time becomes the enemy.

So the mock drafts we are seeing are that minus the dialogue teams are having amongst themselves. Why did Sanders fall last year? His college tape said he should have gone no later than the second round. He was accurate, could make most the throws, was tough and he moved well in the pocket. Teams saw something in Sanders that most the mocks did not account for. The family plus the attitude were famously discussed. It took one QB starved team to open the books on him. But even that starved team did not give up a PREMIUM pick for him.

I may be alone in this, but mock drafts into the 4th round are almost just throwing darts and seeing what picture has a hole in it after.

[NoThanksSir]

Yea it's pointless mocking after the top 100. Once consensus is exhausted teams are targeting specific players in the late rounds, and we simply lack the intel to predict those late selections.

[CWood24]

low 20s to end of the round kind of guy. I can't see him dropping out of the first but stranger things have happened

The 6 i like in the 2nd could all be gone in the 1st i’m just hoping one of Miller, Iheanachor, Pregnon, Hunter, MacDonald & Rodriguez is there after that i’m kinda of like there are nice option but not steals like those guys would be

Hunter is the guy i want to drop to us i know we need OL but having that lynch pin on the D would be nice aswell.

As far as OT goes i like Drew Shelton in the 3rd but thats if he makes it there

[Attyla]

Yea it's pointless mocking after the top 100. Once consensus is exhausted teams are targeting specific players in the late rounds, and we simply lack the intel to predict those late selections.

I watch some, but I mostly watch guys I have seen in just regular season games that stand out, then I go back and watch a bunch more.

When Mendoza took that huge step forward, I went back to see the development. A lot of his Cal footage is not great, there are great moments but overall not great. His year at Indiana demonstrates his coachability and the football IQ. But you have to watch it with the idea of where he was and how he got where he is today. And it really boiled down to coachability. It is one of the reasons I like Pregnon. The USC stuff is interesting because he started as a guard but he looks like he can play tackle as well. Very mobile guy.

[KillerRaider30]

At most I can only hope for a position at 36 that id like see filled assuming the players are equal at the respected position.

So I flip a coin and whatever im most disappointed in is what I dont want.
Heads WR tails saftey.
Saftey won and im disappointed so its out. Next...

Saftey vs WR
Safety out
DT vs WR
WR out
DT vs OL
DT out
So I hope we draft OL at 36

[CWood24]

Yea it's pointless mocking after the top 100. Once consensus is exhausted teams are targeting specific players in the late rounds, and we simply lack the intel to predict those late selections.

I think it is kinda cool for us fans to do just to throw the name of a guy that might be a bit of a sleeper pick just for discussion

I had Maxx as a sleeper pick when we drafted him just based of the metrics i had seen of him, it was between him & Anthony Nelson as my sleeper both tested extremely well

I’m glad we’ve stopped taking those type of athletic projects in the 1st & 2nd, i don't mind it in the 3rd or after but those first two round you should be 100% getting starters

[NoThanksSir]

I watch some, but I mostly watch guys I have seen in just regular season games that stand out, then I go back and watch a bunch more.

When Mendoza took that huge step forward, I went back to see the development. A lot of his Cal footage is not great, there are great moments but overall not great. His year at Indiana demonstrates his coachability and the football IQ. But you have to watch it with the idea of where he was and how he got where he is today. And it really boiled down to coachability. It is one of the reasons I like Pregnon. The USC stuff is interesting because he started as a guard but he looks like he can play tackle as well. Very mobile guy.

Yea Mendoza's Cal tape was hard to watch because of how bad the team was. There were a few good reps where we saw him perform under duress in a way he didn't have to for the Hoosiers. But by and large he was drowning on a bad team.

[GoodTimeCharlie]

https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Chr ... DL-Florida

[GoodTimeCharlie]

https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Day ... DB-Georgia

[Viper]

The real problem with these deep dive mock drafts is obviously that fact that there are 32 teams out there that do various levels of scouting. You just cannot get enough tape time with every player in the draft to know who is a great option in the deeper rounds. Time becomes the enemy.

So the mock drafts we are seeing are that minus the dialogue teams are having amongst themselves. Why did Sanders fall last year? His college tape said he should have gone no later than the second round. He was accurate, could make most the throws, was tough and he moved well in the pocket. Teams saw something in Sanders that most the mocks did not account for. The family plus the attitude were famously discussed. It took one QB starved team to open the books on him. But even that starved team did not give up a PREMIUM pick for him.

I may be alone in this, but mock drafts into the 4th round are almost just throwing darts and seeing what picture has a hole in it after.

Mock drafts are usually way off after the first round. While fun to read I find them informative for myself on players I wouldn’t normally be knowledgeable enough about to make an opinion. If I see a player I don’t know, I watch a few videos. It’s the only way for me to get any insight, not that anyone cares what I think. I just try to gather info on different players.

[Attyla]

Mock drafts are usually way off after the first round. While fun to read I find them informative for myself on players I wouldn’t normally be knowledgeable enough about to make an opinion. If I see a player I don’t know, I watch a few videos. It’s the only way for me to get any insight, not that anyone cares what I think. I just try to gather info on different players.

agreed, most the mocks do not give you much additional info which is why I like Walterfootball, most their mocks at least give you a blurb on the players they are suggesting