The Las Vegas Raiders have already made some great additions this offseason. Las Vegas hired Klint Kubiak at head coach, giving the team a new leader with a brilliant offensive scheme. Now the Raiders are preparing for the 2026 NFL Draft later this month where they hold the first overall pick.
Raiders owner Mark Davis expressed his excitement ahead of the draft at last week’s Annual League Meetings.
Davis praised Kubiak and GM John Spytek for adding talent during NFL free agency. He is also excited about commanding the first overall pick in the draft.
“Well, I’m really impressed with the way John and Klint are working together, along with John’s staff and the coaching staff,” Davis said, per Paul Gutierrez of Raiders.com. “Having the first pick in the draft is exciting because we kind of control the draft – we get to make the decision on who we’re gonna pick.”
But Davis is under no illusion about his team’s history of failure at the top of the draft. After all, the Raiders are the team that whiffed on JaMarcus Russell back in 2007.
Davids admitted there is no easy answer, though he seemed confident that Spytek and Kubiak would make the right pick.
“But we’ve had that position before, and it didn’t work out,” Davis added. “So there’s no magic bullet there, but it’s a great opportunity to get a great player, whoever they decide to pick.”
Of course, everyone in the media expects Las Vegas to pick Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza at the top of the draft. Mendoza is not the perfect quarterback prospect, but he is certainly worthy of the first overall pick.
If that happens, it will be interesting to see how the Raiders surround Mendoza with talent during the rest of the draft.
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