Raiders take Mendoza with first pick of NFL Draft

Image source, Getty Images

ByBen CollinsBBC Sport journalist

• Published24 April 2026, 02:05 BST
• 112 Comments

Updated 5 hours ago

The Las Vegas Raiders selected quarterback Fernando Mendoza as the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft.

The 22-year-old was the overwhelming favourite for the honour, having been named the best player in college football last season, when he led Indiana to their first national championship.

He becomes just the third player to be the Heisman Trophy winner, a national champion and the first overall draft pick in the same year, after Cam Newton (2011) and Joe Burrow (2020).

Mendoza did not attend the start of the three-day event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as he opted to share the moment with his family at home in Miami.

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The strongest area in this year's draft class was thought to be the defensive front and the New York Jets took pass rusher David Bailey with the second pick.

Yet the next two picks were both offensive players, with the Arizona Cardinals selecting running back Jeremiyah Love before the Tennessee Titans sprang a surprise by taking wide receiver Carnell Tate.

The New York Giants had two of the first 10 picks and bolstered on each side of the ball, taking pass rusher Arvell Reese at five and offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa at 10.

Mauigoa grew up in American Samoa and the 20-year-old paid homage to his homeland with a collage on the back of his suit jacket.

"I never thought I'd be here," he said. "If I can do it, you can do it."

Image source, Getty Images

Rams make shock move for Simpson

The Kansas City Chiefs are keen to rebuild after missing out on the play-offs for the first time since the 2014 season and traded up from the ninth pick to sixth to take cornerback Mansoor Delane.

"They weren't really on me too much in this process," said Delane. "But they said they just wanted to keep it quiet and make that sneaky move, and they made the best move of the draft so I'm excited."

The Dallas Cowboys moved up one spot to claim safety Caleb Downs at 11 while the Los Angeles Rams pulled off a shock by taking Ty Simpson.

The former Alabama quarterback was seen as a potential first-round selection but not as early as the 13th pick.

However, the Rams are hoping to develop him under last season's Most Valuable Player Matthew Stafford, who turned 38 in February and has committed to one more year with the Rams.

A crowd of 320,000 attended the start of the draft, which was held outside the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the other drama was the amount of movement as eight trades were agreed on day one.

The Steelers were set to select Makai Lemon until the Philadelphia Eagles moved in front of them to select the wide receiver 20th overall. With the following pick Pittsburgh claimed offensive tackle Max Iheanachor, who left Nigeria for the US at the age of 13.

Six teams finished with two first-round picks, while the Jets had three after jumping back into the first round for wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr.

The Washington Commanders took pass rusher Sonny Styles with the seventh pick. The 21-year-old is the son of Super Bowl-winning linebacker Lorenzo Styles and Sonny's older brother Lorenzo Jr also hopes to be drafted this weekend.

"He's my best friend, my inspiration," said Sonny. "We've dreamed about this since we were five years old so to see it all happen, we're living out the dream, but it's just the beginning."

The draft continues with rounds two and three on Friday, before rounds four to seven are held on Saturday.

Who were the first 10 picks?

1. QB Fernando Mendoza (Las Vegas Raiders)

2. LB David Bailey (New York Jets)

3. RB Jeremiyah Love (Arizona Cardinals)

4. WR Carnell Tate (Tennessee Titans)

5. LB Arvell Reese (New York Giants)

6. CB Mansoor Delane (Kansas City Chiefs, trade with Cleveland Browns)

7. LB Sonny Styles (Washington Commanders)

8. WR Jordyn Tyson (New Orleans Saints)

9. OT Spencer Fano (Cleveland Browns)

10. OT Francis Mauigoa (New York Giants)

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'There's no substitute for game experience' - analysis

Rob Staton, BBC Radio

The big story of the night was undoubtedly the LA Rams taking Ty Simpson at number 13. There'd been little expectation that the Alabama quarterback would go that high, given he only started 15 games in college.

You can't help but wonder if the Rams, when making the trade with Atlanta a year ago that led to them gaining the 13th pick, did so with a plan for the future at quarterback in mind. However, many of the highly touted signal callers failed to impress during the 2025 college season, or opted not to declare.

Were they so committed to having a future beyond Matthew Stafford that they convinced themselves to take a chance on Simpson?

He does have some excellent throws on tape and he clearly has natural talent. Yet his inexperience showed up when he started to feel pressure in the second half of last season and he took far too many avoidable sacks.

It'll help that Simpson is working with a head coach like Sean McVay, but there's no substitute for game experience. He won't get that watching on the sidelines.

Elsewhere, Dallas Cowboys fans will be celebrating landing the excellent Caleb Downs. He only fell due to positional value at safety.

Caleb Banks is an interesting one to Minnesota. The Florida defensive tackle has the talent to be one of the best in the league at his position but persistent foot injuries make the selection a bit of a gamble.

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Previous imageNext imageSlide 1 of 4, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell holding a jersey with Jordyn Tyson after he was selected by the New Orleans Saints at the 2026 NFL Draft, Jordyn Tyson broke down in tears before reaching the draft stage after being selected by the New Orleans SaintsEnd of image gallery

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