welcomed Fernando Mendoza to Las Vegas<\/a> in the afternoon. He rubbed elbows with Raider legends, learned some franchise traditions and riled up the 2,000 or so fans in attendance by yelling minority owner Tom Brady\u2019s catch phrase: \u201cLet\u2019s f\u2014ing go.\u201d<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s a huge responsibility, but it\u2019s also a huge honor to honor the legacy,\u201d Mendoza said of being a Raider. \u201cThe Raiders are a core historic franchise \u2026 and I feel like I need to prove it and earn it every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mendoza is the team\u2019s most exciting draft pick since relocating to Las Vegas, and maybe ever. Behind the scenes of his celebration, the organization\u2019s brass went to work on decisions that were less enthralling but will also have a role in restoring the Raiders\u2019 legacy.<\/p>\n
Las Vegas selected Arizona safety Treydan Stukes, Auburn edge Keyron Crawford and Texas A&M guard Trey Zuhn III on Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft. The team entered Friday with just one pick in each of Rounds 2 and 3, but a trade down from the 36th pick netted them an extra top-100 selection, allowing them to grab Zuhn.<\/p>\n
Las Vegas needed help all over the secondary, specifically in the playmaking department. Stukes gives them a versatile defensive back who can play safety, nickel and corner with elite speed and ballhawking skills. His six pass breakups as a sixth-year senior for Arizona matched the combined output of Jeremy Chinn and Isaiah Pola-Mao last season, and his four interceptions doubled the safety duo\u2019s total.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think every time that ball\u2019s in the air, I want to get it back for our offense because scoring points wins games,\u201d Stukes said. \u201cI think a lot of teams, and honestly, football as a whole has kind of recognized the value of turnovers, and I value that as highly as anything on the football field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edge wasn\u2019t a pressing need, but Crawford is a high-upside prospect who earned All-SEC honors last season, just his fifth year of organized football. Las Vegas will look to develop Crawford with several of its edge rushers approaching free agency and Maxx Crosby\u2019s outlook still unclear.<\/p>\n
The offensive line needs to be the Raiders\u2019 most improved group in 2026, especially with Mendoza now in place. The group allowed the most sacks in football last year (64) and struggled immensely in run blocking. Zuhn projects to play guard, but the Raiders tout his versatility, and he says he can play all five offensive line positions \u201cat a high level.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a guy that has kind of been on the radar for a couple of years,\u201d assistant general manager Brian Stark said. \u201cHe\u2019s always played with that temperament, and then now with that added versatility to his game, I mean, it just increased his value as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each player selected on Friday provides a building block for a franchise intent on digging itself out of irrelevancy, though questions remain around Las Vegas\u2019s skill players entering the final day of the draft. The board was set up nicely for the Raiders to give Mendoza a weapon on Friday, but three times they passed on receivers they appeared to have interest in during the pre-draft process. While Las Vegas opted for other positions, other teams pounced \u2014 10 wideouts were selected on Day 2.<\/p>\n
By passing on pass catchers, the Raiders\u2019 receiver group remains mostly unchanged from the end of last season. Free-agent addition Jalen Nailor joined a stable that includes Tre Tucker, Jack Bech and Dont\u2019e Thornton Jr., all of whom struggled to produce in 2025. None of those four have surpassed 700 receiving yards in a season. They also don\u2019t fit the profile of pass catchers Mendoza meshed with at Indiana: physical, athletic X receivers capable of finishing contested catches and back-shoulder throws Mendoza executes so well.<\/p>\n
Friday\u2019s decisions could reflect confidence in the team\u2019s current core, though that faith would be bold even if general manager John Spytek is banking on major growth from second-year players Bech and Thornton.<\/p>\n
More likely, the Raiders see value in the receivers available on Day 3. Several prospects could fill their X role. That includes Bryce Lance, the younger brother of Chargers quarterback Trey Lance, who totaled back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons for North Dakota State. Elijah Sarratt, Mendoza\u2019s go-to target with the Hoosiers, also remains available.<\/p>\n
Regardless of who it is, the addition of another playmaker to supplement Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty seems imminent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just going to keep trying to identify the really good football players that want to be Raiders and lay it on the line for their teammates,\u201d Spytek said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of really good ones left, too. We\u2019ve got six picks left tomorrow, and we\u2019re thrilled and excited about that challenge and that opportunity tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 The hope is that Friday was a momentous day for the Raiders franchise. It welcomed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":874382,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-874381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-las-vegas","10":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","11":"tag-lasvegas","12":"tag-lasvegasraiders","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116466088925059474","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874381","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=874381"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/874381\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/874382"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=874381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=874381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=874381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}