{"id":857925,"date":"2026-04-07T01:47:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T01:47:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/857925\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T01:47:45","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T01:47:45","slug":"2026-nfl-mock-draft-raiders-jets-cardinals-titans-two-quarterbacks-go-early-in-dbns-mock-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/857925\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Mock Draft: Raiders, Jets, Cardinals, Titans: Two quarterbacks go early in DBN\u2019s mock draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s time to kick off the 2026 DBN Community NFL Mock Draft! We are releasing four picks at a time in one post to give you more substance to digest how the draft is unfolding. Here you can see all of our NFL mock draft coverage<\/a> for the Cleveland Browns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

No. 1 \u2013 Raiders \u2013 Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana<\/p>\n

The selection and write-up were made by fjblessi:<\/p>\n

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This is a pretty easy choice as the Raiders need a quarterback and Mendoza has a chance to be a franchise quarterback in the NFL.<\/p>\n

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Mendoza has the size (6\u20194\u2033 236 lbs) and work ethic that you look for in your quarterback. \u00a0His strengths are his mechanics, accuracy, and poise in the pocket while making accurate reads and placing the ball where it needs to go.\u00a0 His weaknesses are that his arm strength is only adequate, not elite, and he is not one to hurt a defense by extending a play and making an off-platform throw.\u00a0 Like almost all college quarterbacks, he also benefited from heavy RPO usage.<\/p>\n

Watching the BIG10 championship and playoff run, I was impressed by his ability to make a play when his team needed a play.\u00a0 He did not wow me as being a that much better than the competition for the entire game, but there is something to be said for being able to step up in the moment and Mendoza showed that multiple times in the postseason.<\/p>\n

No. 2 \u2013 Jets \u2013 Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama<\/p>\n

The selection and write-up were made by Robo Dawg:<\/p>\n

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Ty Simpson is the second best quarterback in the draft, and the Jets quarterback room currently has Geno Smith, Brady Cook, and Bailey Zappe.\u00a0 This is not a quarterback room built for the future, and any future that retains Aaron Glenn will require them not to have the #2 pick again next season.\u00a0 The best option that the Jets have in this draft is Ty Simpson \u2013 and it at least gives Glenn a young quarterback with potential to groom under Geno while he adapts to NFL play.<\/p>\n

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Is Simpson the second best player in the draft?\u00a0 He is not.\u00a0 But he\u2019s the second best player in the most valuable position, which is why the Jets and their paucity of quarterback play will reach to take Simpson at #2.<\/p>\n

No. 3 \u2013 Cardinals \u2013 Francis Mauigoa, OT, Miami<\/p>\n

The selection and write-up were made by TheLee:<\/p>\n

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The Arizona Cardinals are in total rebuild mode. After giving up on former #1 overall pick Kyle Murray, they\u2019ll most likely be looking forward to the 2027 Draft to take the next franchise quarterback. Why not start protecting the future now? Francis Mauigoa is the perfect start to that rebuild and can help the running game slow some games down to perhaps steal some wins in 2026.<\/p>\n

No. 4 \u2013 Titans \u2013 Arvell Reese, EDGE, Ohio State<\/p>\n

The selection and write-up were made by wahoo7:<\/p>\n

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The Titans overhauled their coaching staff this offseason, hiring Robert Saleh as head coach and Gus Bradley as defensive coordinator. Arvell Reese gives them a hybrid-type pass rusher who can explode off the edge, similar to how Micah Parsons has been used in his career.<\/p>\n

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Adding Reese to a front seven with DT Jeffery Simmons and newly-acquired Jermaine Johnson would give him the opportunity for some one-on-one matchups where he can make game-changing plays. Although it\u2019s tempting to draft offense here to support Cam Ward, Reese will be the engine that makes the Titans\u2019 defense menacing in the AFC South.<\/p>\n

Up next will be the 5-8 picks in the 2026 DBN Community Mock Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time to kick off the 2026 DBN Community NFL Mock Draft! We are releasing four picks at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":857926,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4918,1585,390,2222,6089,2723,127,54,3619,7,7770,7779,1507,8578,10563,226,216,491,4002,6,1293,525,796,20708],"class_list":{"0":"post-857925","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-2019-nfl-draft","9":"tag-aaron-glenn","10":"tag-arizona-cardinals","11":"tag-arvell-reese","12":"tag-bailey-zappe","13":"tag-brady-cook","14":"tag-cam-ward","15":"tag-cleveland-browns","16":"tag-fernando-mendoza","17":"tag-football","18":"tag-franchise-quarterback","19":"tag-francis-mauigoa","20":"tag-geno-smith","21":"tag-icon-sportswire","22":"tag-jeffery-simmons","23":"tag-jets","24":"tag-miami","25":"tag-micah-parsons","26":"tag-mock-draft","27":"tag-nfl","28":"tag-qb","29":"tag-raiders","30":"tag-the-jets","31":"tag-ty-simpson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116360909449579704","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857925"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857925\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/857926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}