Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice runs through his top picks for the 2026 NFL Draft and explains why top pick Fernando Mendoza may exceed early expectations. Check out the full conversation on “Football 301” – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders, pick number one quarterback.
Number two, the Jets, Ruben Bain from Miami, an edge player.
num- pick number three, the Cardinals take offen- I’ll call him an offensive lineman, Francis Maoga, Maouga, Maugoa, from Miami as well, who is a right tackle/guard.
Cardinals need that.
No matter what, they need a lineman.
I actually like that fit a lot.
pick four, Titans take Arvell Reese from Ohio State, linebacker/edge, however you want.
Front seven weapon, I’ll describe him.
pick five, New York Giants select safety.
Caleb Downs would be the highest safety drafted since Jamal Adams, also from Ohio State.
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Very good player.
Safety Positional value of safety is gonna be a, it’s gonna be a discussion for the next few months, so everybody strap in about that.
pick number six, the Browns take offensive tackle Spencer Fano from Utah, who’s a right tackle there.
They need linemen badly.
Pick seven, Washington takes edge, David Bailey from Texas Tech.
He’s a little dime- dynamo off the edge.
That might be the one I- one of the highlights, so I’ll hold on to that one.
pick eight, Saints take receiver Carnell Tate from Ohio State.
Felt, felt like I had some rhymes there.
pick nine, v- the Chiefs take running back Jeremiah Love from Notre Dame.
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And pick 10, the Bengals take corner Mansar Delane from LSU.
Whoof!
All right.
Three of my favorites at the very least.
Mendoza with the Raiders is gonna be a great one.
I don’t know if I want to use that as my one of my three, but I think that’s why that Raiders job and that Raiders opening is a lot more interesting than maybe some of the other openings for a team that was so bad this year.
Mendoza, good quarterback.
How I- I haven’t written my full write-up yet, of kind of like my profile, like I like to do with a lot of the top quarterback prospects for Yahoo.
But from what I wrote about him last year going into the season and what I watched this year, a high-floor quarterback that has a little bit more ceiling, a higher ceiling than I think he’s getting credit for.
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I think the comparisons he’s getting is kind of, to Jared Goff and who I’ve compared him to.
I- I’ve been saying this is the high-end comparison is Matt Ryan, is that I think he has a little bit more arm juice than he’s getting some credit for, and also a little better athlete.
But man, this guy is very smart.
Goes to the ball, ball goes to the right spot.
They run a lot of RPOs.
They’re in the gun almost exclusively at Indiana.
But I feel like his footwork is so clean, and his polish, and how hard he works, and he’s a good enough athlete, that transitioning to more under center will be no issue for, for Mendoza, for whoever’s calling plays for him.
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I think he throws well on the move.
It makes sense.
He throws ball the mi- over the middle well.
He anticipates well, that I think that he would translate to a Shanahan Kubiak offense if it is Clint Kubiak.
But I also think his skill set matches for a lot of offenses.
I, I really like Mendoza.
I would say I maybe have Cam Ward a hair over him, but same kind of tier as far as prospects.
It’s the same grade I gave C.J.
Stroud, which is a compliment.
I know C.J.
Stroud’s stock isn’t very high right now, but that is a compliment.
Like a good top 15 pick in any draft class, that’s gonna be number one in this draft class ’cause there’s nobody above that.
That’s how I view Mendoza, and I think also the Raiders’ setup could set up very well with him, with Bowers, Gentty, even Trey Tucker.