Each day leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft — April 23-25 — TeamFB7 will break down a different team’s biggest draft need and the best selection to address it. Granted, teams will most often use their first-round pick on the best available player/value and not necessarily always their biggest need, so this isn’t going to compile together into a mock draft in the end. It’s more a breakdown of how each team could best address its most paramount priority if it chooses.
The Las Vegas Raiders are on the clock with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft!
And the suspense is … zero.
Barring an unexpected shift, the Raiders are earmarked to use the top pick in the draft to select Heisman Trophy-winning Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza — which does, indeed, address their biggest need.
So for the sake of this breakdown, we’re going to look at the Raiders’ second-biggest need and the best way they could address it with their second-round pick.
Las Vegas thought it was going to have an extra pick in the first round via the trade sending edge rusher Maxx Crosby to the Ravens earlier this month that was nixed after Crosby’s team physical in Baltimore.
Instead, the Raiders hold the following picks listed by round (overall pick): 1 (1), 2 (36), 3 (67), 4 (102), 4 (117), 4 (134), 5 (175), 6 (185), 6 (208), 7 (219).
So after finding a franchise quarterback, what’s the Raiders’ biggest need as they continue a busy offseason?
Biggest Non-QB Need In NFL Draft For The Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders, coming off a 3-14 season, have plenty of needs still despite an aggressive free agency push that saw them dole out the second-most money in terms of total contract value ($292,262,000) and the most guaranteed money overall ($222,723,000) for 11 free agents. (Data per Spotrac.com)
On defense, they shored up the linebacker position with free agents Quay Walker and Nakobe Dean, over-addressed the needs at edge rusher by adding Kwity Paye (formerly of the Colts) and re-signing Malcolm Koonce before knowing Crosby would end up back on the roster, re-signed cornerback Eric Stokes and traded for veteran starting cornerback Taron Johnson from the Bills.
On offense, Las Vegas made former Ravens three-time Pro Bowl standout Tyler Linderbaum the highest-paid center in NFL history (3 years, $81 million with $60 million guaranteed), signed free agent wide receiver Jalen Nailor (a solid No. 3 WR with upside for more; formerly with the Vikings) and brought in offensive guard Spencer Burford (38 starts in 56 games the last four seasons for the 49ers) on a cheap 1-year, $3.255-million deal).
In our eyes, the area the Raiders should prioritize in the draft would be further upgrading the offensive line.
Las Vegas had one of the absolute worst O-lines in the NFL last year as former QB Geno Smith tied for the league lead in sacks taken (55) while the run game ranked dead-last in the league (77.5 yards per game).
If the Raiders believe they’ve found their franchise quarterback in Mendoza and already showed a priority in upgrading his protection via the record-setting Linderbaum deal, it only makes sense to double down further there.
A Closer Look At The Projected OL For The Las Vegas Raiders
Here’s the Raiders’ projected starting offensive line as it stands now (with each player’s PFF grade, position rank and advanced stats, if you’re into that sort of thing):
LT: Kolton Miller: Limited to four games last season due to a high-ankle sprain/hairline fracture but has made 111 starts in eight seasons for the Raiders. PFF grade: 86.5 (not enough snaps to qualify)
LG: Spencer Burford: A starter in three of his four seasons for the 49ers but missed six games with a knee injury in 2025. His isolated pass-blocking grade from PFF of 48.5 ranked 70th out of 81 qualifying offensive guards as he gave up 21 pressures (including 2 sacks) in 266 pass-blocking snaps. PFF Grade (Rank): 58.9 (49th out of 81)
or
LG: Jordan Meredith: Played the bulk of his snaps as the Raiders’ starting center last year but will now move back to a guard spot. Allowed 20 pressures (4 sacks) in 439 pass-blocking snaps for a pass-blocking grade of 48.5 that ranked 38th among 40 qualifying centers. PFF Grade (Rank): 57.5 (32nd out of 40)
C: Tyler Linderbaum: Pro Bowl selection last three seasons with Baltimore, allowed 26 pressures (2 sacks) in 536 pass-blocking snaps in 2025 while boasting the fourth-best run-blocking grade (83.7) among all centers. PFF Grade (Rank): 80.2 (5th out of 40)
RG: Jackson Powers-Johnson: Drafted two years ago in the second round as a center, he played mostly right guard last season while playing in eight games with seven starts. Allowed 10 pressures (2 sacks) in 210 pass-blocking snaps. PFF Grade (Rank): 63.8 (37th out of 81)
RT: DJ Glaze: A third-round pick in 2024, he started 31 games over the last two seasons, allowing 48 pressures (10 sacks) in 639 pass-blocking snaps in 2025. The 10 sacks allowed ranked 88th among 89 qualifying tackles while the pressures put him 86th. So … not great. PFF Grade (Rank): 60.6 (65th out of 89)
(*Stone Forsythe took over as the Raiders’ starting left tackle last season after Miller’s injury and has since signed with the Panthers as a free agent. Dylan Parham started at left guard and has since signed with the Jets.)
So it should be pretty obvious what the Raiders need most.
Consider those three guards interchangeable on the left or right side, as none have been great in their NFL careers, and either spot could stand an upgrade.
But more pressing probably is upgrading at right tackle — and having a better plug-in option should injury strike on the other side again.
Other pressing draft needs: Interior defensive line, wide receiver, secondary
Who Should Raiders Take With 2nd-Round Pick?
Again, there’s no telling if the Raiders agree with our assessment, or even if they do, whether they’d draft an offensive tackle 36th overall no matter what. It will more likely depend on who is available at that time, where they rank on the team’s draft board, who the overall highest-valued available player at any position is, what trade talks might develop, etc.
But we can’t account for all of that, so our focus here is simple. Who is the best offensive tackle the Raiders could draft at No. 36 overall if they want to address their biggest need?
Well … if it’s that important to them, they may want to package some of their draft capital and trade up.
It’s also notable that there seems to be no consensus at all on the order in which the top OL prospects will be drafted, other than that a handful are likely to be off the board in the first round.
– ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper Jr. projects six offensive tackles (Monroe Freeling, Francis Mauigoa, Spencer Fano, Kadyn Proctor, Max Iheanachor and Blake Miller) and the top offensive guard (Olaivavega Ioane) to be off the board in the first round.
– Noted draft analyst Todd McShay also projects six OTs (Mauigoa, Fano, Freeling, Miller, Proctor and Caleb Lomu) and OG Ioane in the first round.
– ESPN’s Field Yates, meanwhile, has five OTs (Mauigoa, Freeling, Fano, Proctor and Lomu) and OG Ioane going in the first round, with OGs Keylan Rutledge and Chase Bisontis and OT Miller going early in second round while Iheanachor falls to No. 48.
– And NFL.com’s Bucky Brooks also projects five OTs (Mauigoa, Fano, Freeling, Miller and Lomu) and OG Ioane in the first round.
So it seems most likely that the best possible OT target the Raiders could hope to see at No. 36 is either Lomu (from Utah), Miller (Clemson) or most likely Iheanachor (Arizona State).
Beyond those names, OT/OG Gennings Dunker, OT Caleb Tiernan and OG Emmanuel Pregnon would be the next ones on the list.
Who The Raiders Should Pick
Our advice to the Raiders is …
With a third-round pick and three fourth-round picks, the Raiders should package their second with some of those other assets and move into the latter part of the first round and draft whichever offensive tackle they ranked highest after Mauigoa, Freeling and Fano.
It’s worth Las Vegas losing another mid-round pick to make sure it gets the best offensive tackle possible in this draft.
If the Raiders hold at 36, they’ll have to hope one of those top seven tackles falls to them, as the next names on the list would feel like a reach at that spot. (We’re higher on Pregnon in this draft than others as a ready-to-rock NFL OG who would be a solid starter on Day 1, but probably not as high as 36.)
Three of those four mock drafts we surveyed had Iheanachor falling out of the first round — he’d be a great pickup at that spot and is ideally suited to start out at right tackle (where he played at ASU) as he grows into the NFL.
The 6-foot-6, 321-pound Iheanachor moved with his family from Nigeria to Los Angeles at age 13 and initially took up soccer and basketball before being steered to football — for obvious reasons. Despite having not played the sport, he was given a chance in the JUCO ranks at East Los Angeles College, played well enough there in his second year to get picked up by Arizona State, started for two and a half seasons for the Sun Devils and has just continued to get better.
He was a standout at the Senior Bowl and performed well at the NFL Scouting Combine as well.
Some teams could be worried that he’s still raw compared to the other offensive tackles on the board, but his ultimate upside might be higher than some of those other linemen.
Per PFF, Iheanachor allowed 14 pressures with 0 sacks in 484 pass-blocking snaps, earning a 72.5 overall grade that ranked 68th of 632 qualifying offensive tackles at the FBS level.
That’s our speculative suggestion for the Raiders at No. 36 in the draft.
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