The only good thing that comes out of a Las Vegas Raiders season that Raider Nation has endured is that the team will get the number one pick in the 2026 NFL Draft in April. The draft and the offseason that follows are always a chance for even the most jaded of fans to believe that next year will be different.
The Raiders have now missed out on the playoffs for the past four years and have played just two postseason games since losing to the Bucs in Super Bowl XXXVII. It can be assumed that none of the best Super Bowl betting sites have the Raiders as one of the favorites for next year. But could the experts be wrong?
It has been almost 20 years since the Raiders last had the number one pick in the draft. Even though JaMarcus Russell hardly ushered in a new era of dominance, there is hope that this year’s pick could turn the tide. It looks like Heisman Trophy and national championship-winning QB Fernando Mendoza will be suiting up in Silver and Black next season. So, will the Raiders really be able to compete in 2026?
How good is Fernando Mendoza?
Anything can happen at the NFL Draft. But the common consensus is that the Raiders will use their number one pick overall to take Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. But with Dante Moore of Oregon out of the running, why not take the best QB when you get the chance?
It was plain to see that Geno Smith didn’t work for the Raiders, and with Pete Carroll now gone, it seems unlikely that Smith would get the starting role next season. Throwing a rookie in at the deep end doesn’t always work, but Mendoza looks like he can handle the pressure. He will need a lot of help from his offensive line, but his percentages and numbers during the College Football Playoffs were impressive. There is the potential for Mendoza to start his pro career well, and the Raiders should give him every chance to do so.
The rest of the NFL draft…
As we have already alluded to, taking Mendoza with the first pick will be a waste if he is not given the protection he needs next season. The Raiders brought in a lot of new recruits thanks to deals at the 2025 draft, but this year will see the standard amount coming through the door. That means that the draft has to be a successful one, with considered picks that complement each other, as well as the wider roster.
After Mendoza in round one, the organization should look to get the best possible offensive lineman still available. This will help as a backup to Kolton Miller, who is suffering from injuries at the moment, as well as provide some much-needed protection for a rookie QB in his first year in the NFL. The rest of the picks should be as wide-ranging as possible, boosting the team across the field – on both sides of the ball – and generally resetting the Raiders for 2026.
Who will coach the Raiders?
At the time of writing, the Raiders were still searching for their new head coach. This will obviously have a huge impact on how successful the team can be next season, so the decision has to be the right one. There was a lot of hope when Pete Carroll came in last offseason, though, so nothing is guaranteed.
That being said, the Raiders haven’t kept a head coach on board for more than one year since the move to Las Vegas, and no HC has spent more than two years with the organization since the turn of the millennium. An offensive-minded coach would be ideal, considering who will be joining from the draft, although Chris Shula, the defensive coordinator at the Rams, has been rumored to be a contender, and he would be an ideal appointment as well.
A new beginning for the Raiders…
Going into the new season with a new head coach and a new QB does give the Raiders a perfect chance to start again, and the regular season just gone suggests that the old dynasties have disappeared. The Chiefs failing to even make the playoffs was just the latest piece of evidence that the NFL has turned into a wide-open league.
There were shocks and surprises right through the 2025 season and there were not many people outside of New England and Seattle who thought that it would be the Pats and the Seahawks battling it out in the Super Bowl this year. The unpredictable nature of the league is a positive for a new-look Raiders team. There should be the chance to win more games (although winning any fewer would take some doing) and compete in a division and conference that does not have the same tiers of talent as it had just a few years ago.
2026 NFL Schedule
Usually, when a team finishes with such a poor record as the Raiders did this year, the next season’s schedule is a silver lining. But the 2026 slate could turn out to be a little tricky. The AFC West showed this year to be one of the toughest in the NFL, while the rotation brings around the NFC West and the AFC East. There is the fourth-placed teams to fill in the schedule, but the overall look is not as plain-sailing as we might have hoped.
There will be nine matchups with 2025 playoff teams (with four in the division alone), as well as games against three out of the four conference championship participants. Depending on how the schedule finally looks, there could even be a thought to allow Mendoza to miss the first few games, so as not to dent his confidence straight away.
Even with a potentially tough set of games, it seems very unlikely that the Raiders could be as poor as they were this year. There is the chance of competing – especially if the new recruits hit the ground running – but it will take a few years of stability before a Super Bowl run can really be expected.
*Top Photo: Ramble Illustration/Getty Images