Scott Gulbransen
There’s one thing we know for certain about the 2026 NFL Draft: Fernando Mendoza is going to be a Las Vegas Raider before most of us finish our first drink Thursday night. Everything after that is where it gets interesting — and where John Spytek gets his best shot at building something real with the most draft capital this franchise has had since 2007.
Barring trades, here’s my full 7-round Las Vegas Raiders 2026 NFL mock draft.
Round 1, Pick 1 — Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
You already knew this. I already wrote about it. Moving on.
Forty-one touchdowns, six interceptions, 72% completion rate, national champion. John Spytek isn’t trading this pick unless someone offers him an entire franchise and a yacht. Raider Nation exhales for the first time in about a decade and then immediately starts arguing about when he should start. That’s a Week 2 problem. Let’s deal with the draft first.
Related: Raiders Hire Mike Sullivan as Quarterbacks Coach to Develop Fernando Mendoza
Round 2, Pick 36 — KC Concepcion, WR, Texas A&M
This is the one that matters most for what 2026 actually looks like.
Concepcion put up 61 catches, 919 yards and nine touchdowns at Texas A&M last season in an offense that asked him to do a little bit of everything — and he delivered every time. That’s the key thing about him that gets lost in the highlights. It’s not just production, it’s the versatility. Klint Kubiak ran Jaxon Smith-Njigba all over the field in Seattle, motioning him, using him in jet sweeps, lining him up outside, in the slot, wherever. Concepcion fits that exact profile and maybe better than anyone else available in this draft.
The Raiders had him in Henderson. There’s smoke. If he’s sitting there at 36, and he very well might be given how many teams in the back half of Round 1 are going to be chasing corners and pass rushers, Spytek won’t need much convincing. One more thing — Mendoza played college football alongside Concepcion’s Texas A&M teammate Omar Cooper Jr. at Indiana. He already understands that receiver type. Getting him a Concepcion is just smart roster building.
Round 3, Pick 67 — Kayden McDonald, DT, Ohio State
Every draft preview you’ve read in the last two weeks has been so locked in on Mendoza and wide receiver that the defensive tackle need has basically been an afterthought. It shouldn’t be.
McDonald is 6-foot-3 and 326 pounds and visited Henderson ahead of draft week. He’s not the most explosive interior player in this class, but he holds the point of attack, which is the first requirement for what Rob Leonard needs up front in his 3-4. Thomas Booker IV got re-signed in free agency and the room didn’t get much else. That’s not a defensive line, that’s a prayer. McDonald at 67 is a good value and addresses a real problem. Peter Woods is the better prospect, but he’s not making it to 67. McDonald is the next best fit. Some have him going around 48-50, so the Raiders may have to trade up to get him.
Round 4, Pick 102 — Daylen Everette, CB, Georgia
Taron Johnson, Eric Stokes, Darien Porter. Solid starting group. But depth in the secondary? There isn’t much to speak of and in a division with Patrick Mahomes still running around doing Patrick Mahomes things, that’s not a sustainable situation.
Everette made the trip to Henderson before the draft. He’s physical, he can play zone, and he profiles as the kind of corner Leonard’s defense actually uses. He’s not a guy who needs to be a shutdown corner, just a reliable one. The fourth round is the right neighborhood for a player with starter upside who needs NFL reps to unlock it. The Raiders are going to need two or three shots in the secondary this weekend. This is the first one.
Round 4, Pick 117 — Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah
Charles Grant is entering his sophomore NFL campaign in Las Vegas. DJ Glaze had a rough 2025. Kolton Miller isn’t getting any younger. The offensive tackle situation behind the starters is the kind of thing that looks fine on paper in April and becomes a problem in November when someone gets hurt.
Lomu is a technically polished pass protector from Utah who showed up in Jordan Reid’s seven-round ESPN mock, going to Las Vegas at this exact spot. There’s clearly buzz here, and at 117, the value makes sense. Mendoza is going to take some hits early in his career — that’s just how it goes for rookie quarterbacks. You want decent bodies around him, not guys who were available because nobody else wanted them.
Round 4, Pick 134 — Kaelon Black, RB, Indiana
Nobody talks about Kaelon Black’s pass protection. PFF does. They called him one of the best pass-protecting backs in the entire 2026 class. Yet the broader conversation glazes right over it because he’s not a big-play back with highlight reel carries. In Kubiak’s offense, where the running back is a genuine extension of the protection scheme, that skill matters more than it does almost anywhere else in the league.
Black ran for 1,040 yards at 5.6 per carry behind Indiana’s national championship line. He followed Curt Cignetti from James Madison to Bloomington and produced every time he was asked to. He’s not Jeanty. Nobody in this draft is Jeanty. But late in the fourth round, getting a smart, physical, scheme-fit running back who can spell your franchise back and protect your franchise quarterback is a find, not a consolation prize.
Round 5, Pick 175 — Jalon Kilgore, S, South Carolina
Spytek said it himself at his pre-draft presser: the safety room needs work. The Raiders carry four safeties on the roster, and none of them are difference-makers. That’s fine for now, but it’s not a long-term answer. Our Las Vegas Raiders 2026 NFL mock draft addresses this direction — and aggressively.
Kilgore had five interceptions in 2024 at South Carolina. He’s 6-2, 219 pounds, plays physically against the run and covers enough ground in coverage to be genuinely useful in what Leonard is building. Round 5 is a fine spot for a player who projects as a solid backup with a real shot at becoming a starter if the depth chart stays unsettled. The Raiders need more than one safety out of this draft. This is the first.
Round 6, Pick 185 — Germie Bernard, WR, Alabama
Receiver depth is unglamorous work. Nobody writes the headline about the fourth receiver on the depth chart. But the difference between a receiver room with real depth and one without it shows up in the games where your starter gets banged up in the second quarter and you need someone to step in and not embarrass the quarterback.
Bernard visited Henderson and has legitimate speed as a vertical threat. At Alabama, he was inconsistent, which is how most Alabama receivers end up looking because the roster is so loaded that they can’t all get consistent work. Round 6 is the right ask for a player with his profile. If Kubiak can develop him — and Kubiak turned a 33-year-old Cooper Kupp back into a functional receiver last year — this pick could look smart down the line.
Round 6, Pick 208 — Jack Dingle, LB, Cincinnati
The linebacker room got upgraded in free agency with Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker. This isn’t about adding a starter. It’s about finding someone who makes the roster because of what he does on special teams and earns his keep there while learning the defense.
Dingle visited Henderson, he’s got a motor, and he fits the profile of the late-round pick that coaches love because he does exactly what he’s told and shows up every Sunday. Good teams have three or four of those guys. The Raiders are trying to become a good team.
Round 7, Pick 219 — Michael Taaffe, S, Texas
Two safeties in one draft is only excessive if your safety room is in good shape. Las Vegas’ is not.
Taaffe is the kind of prospect that doesn’t wow you on paper — he’s not the fastest, not the most athletic, doesn’t have a standout trait that makes you circle his name on a big board. What he has is football intelligence, and he gets to the right place because he reads the offense, not because he outruns everybody. Jordan Reid had him going to New England late in his ESPN mock. He’ll be there at 219. He’s a Day 1 special teamer who could develop into something more. Round 7 is exactly where you find that guy.
The Las Vegas Raiders 2026 NFL Mock Draft Bottom Line
Quarterback. Receiver. Defensive interior. Tackle depth. A running back who can actually protect the passer. Three cracks at the secondary. That’s 10 picks with a purpose and a roster that looks meaningfully different coming out of Pittsburgh than it did going in.
Not all of these hit. If every pick worked out, everybody would do this for a living. But Mendoza and Concepcion are developing together, McDonald is holding the interior, Black is keeping Jeanty fresh, and a secondary that has actual competition? That’s a foundation worth building on. That’s what this offseason was always supposed to be about.
Come back Friday to see how our Las Vegas Raiders 2026 NFL mock draft stacks up against the actual result.
