Las Vegas used the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, betting the quarterback who helped Indiana beat Miami 27-21 in the College Football Playoff national championship can anchor the franchise’s next era.
General manager John Spytek said the Raiders were sold on Mendoza by the time they arrived for his pro day in Bloomington, Indiana, after first seeing him in person at the championship game. Mendoza threw for 186 yards in that win and scored on a goal-line leap that Spytek described as the kind of play that showed both awareness and fearlessness when the moment was at its biggest. He said the Raiders were struck not just by the throwing, but by the way Mendoza handled the room around him and took charge of the workout.
Spytek’s comments came after the draft, when he talked on the Up & Adams Show with Kay Adams about Mendoza, the receiving corps and the rest of a class that brought 10 players to Las Vegas. The Raiders also used the draft to make multiple trades, including moving the 102 overall pick and a 2027 seventh-round pick to move up one spot for Jermod McCoy, who ran a 4.37 40-yard dash at his pro day after missing last season with an ACL tear.
The Raiders’ approach to Mendoza came after due diligence that began well before draft week, and Spytek said the team viewed him as far above the rest of the board when it came time to make the pick. He also said the club was not going to force additions at receiver just to fill a need, even after analysts were surprised the Raiders did not add more there.
Las Vegas drafted only one wide receiver, Malik Benson from Oregon, and Spytek pointed to a group he said the team believes in, including Tre Tucker, Jalen Nailor, Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton. Bech was a second-round pick last year, Thornton came in the fourth round, and Spytek said the Raiders are excited about Nailor after the draft.
The result leaves Mendoza as the face of the class and the clearest signal of how the Raiders want to build around him. If Spytek’s read on the quarterback is right, the first question in Las Vegas is no longer why they took him at No. 1. It is how quickly the rest of the roster can match the bet they just made.
