The Las Vegas Raiders took care of business against the New York Giants in a Week 17 loss. With the loss, the Raiders have now moved up to No. 1 in the draft order.
They are the only team left in the NFL with only two or fewer wins. The Giants would’ve clinched the No. 1 pick with a loss, but the Raiders turned out to be the worst team.
However, Las Vegas hasn’t quite clinched the No. 1 pick quite yet. According to The Athletic’s predictor, the Raiders now have a 94% chance to get the No. 1 pick with the loss to the Giants.
The Raiders control their own destiny in Week 18. With a loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the Raiders get the top pick regardless of any tiebreakers. Unfortunately, the team could still drop if they end up winning.
According to Tankathon, the Giants have played a worse strength of schedule, so if that stays true, but both teams finish 3-14, New York gets the top pick. The good news is that it appears the furthest the Raiders can fall following the loss is the No. 2 pick. That would put the team in a position to land one of the top quarterbacks in the class.
Who Could Raiders Target at No. 1?
For now, the obvious player the Raiders will take at No. 1 is Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. He’s cemented himself as the top prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft so far. He still has some College Football Playoff games to play, but if he plays well, then he’s likely to go No. 1.
Oregon quarterback Dante Moore could also make things interesting. He’s got more athletic upside than Mendoza, but he hasn’t played as many games. There’s speculation that he could decide to return to college for another season, but with such a limited quarterback class, it seems more likely that he decides to declare for the NFL.
The Raiders are in line to take one of those two quarterbacks now, so they’re going to do a lot of work on both prospects. Either way, Las Vegas has its best chance of finding a franchise quarterback in years.
Future Could be Bright in Las Vegas
The Raiders have been a sinking ship for a long time. The franchise hasn’t won a playoff game since 2002. Despite having just two winning seasons in over two decades, the Raiders have only had the No. 1 pick once.
That was also the only time they took a quarterback in the first round when they took JaMarcus Russell, who is a historic bust. However, things can change quickly if the Raiders get this draft right.
Not only will they have a top-two pick in the first round, but that will be the case for every round. This is a great chance to finally restock the roster with strong young talent. While it looks like the Raiders are far away from being a good team, landing a franchise quarterback and nailing the rest of the draft could lead to a much quicker turnaround. Nobody in Las Vegas is happy that they have the worst team in the NFL, but it could be the best thing for the future of the franchise.
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