Armed with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders are widely expected to select Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza is the consensus best quarterback in the draft and the Raiders finally get to fill a major need that’s plagued their offense in recent years.
However, Las Vegas also has nine other picks to play with, including two on Day 2 of the draft. The Raiders currently own the Nos. 36 and 67 picks, valuable slots to add more impact players to a roster that desperately needs more talent.
As per tradition, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will announce all of the first round selections but the league announced the legends and current players to announce selections on Day 2. Representing Las Vegas will be former linebacker Matt Millen, via Adam Schefter of ESPN:
The NFL players who will announce the selections at the 2026 NFL Draft: pic.twitter.com/ETxHro3RNy
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 16, 2026
The Raiders selected Millen in the second round of the 1980 NFL Draft, and he spent nine of his 12 seasons with the Silver and Black. Millen had a successful NFL career, winning four Super Bowl championships and making the 1988 Pro Bowl. After retiring from the league, Millen spent seven years as the Detroit Lions’ President and CEO.
Las Vegas will surely be hoping to nail on prospects that can come in and contribute right away as the organization has been mired in a funk. The 2025 season a rough watch for fans as the team was rarely competitive, so hopefully the incoming rookies are able to solve some of their issues.
Landing Mendoza is a great start to Las Vegas’ rebuild, but they’ll need to surround him with more offensive talent if they hope to develop him properly. While Kirk Cousins will likely earn the start to begin the 2026 season, Mendoza should take over at some point as he’ll need real reps.
This year’s draft is fairly deep at receiver, so that would be a good direction to go in for one of their Day 2 picks. As for the other one, addressing defensive tackle makes sense as there’s a clear void in the middle of the trenches.
New Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins gives thoughts on Fernando Mendoza
The Raiders signed Cousins in free agency to give Mendoza a mentor and someone to buy him time as he develops in the background. While Cousins admitted he hasn’t watched Mendoza a lot, he said the former Indiana star has a great feel for the quarterback position.
