Raiders Clinch No. 1 Pick in 2026 NFL Draft After Giants' Win, Who Should LV Pick?

The Las Vegas Raiders are officially on the clock.

Las Vegas clinched the No. 1 pick of the 2026 NFL draft Sunday before it even took the field for its season finale against the Kansas City Chiefs. Thanks to the New York Giants' victory over the Dallas Cowboys, the Raiders are locked into the top selection regardless of the outcome from their own game.

Landing the No. 1 pick is at least a solid consolation prize for the AFC West team after a season to forget, and attention now turns to who it will choose.

And the thought here is the Raiders will target a quarterback.

After all, Geno Smith leads the NFL with 17 interceptions this season and isn't the long-term answer with a contract that runs through just the 2027 campaign. The 35-year-old didn't live up to the expectations that were in place when Las Vegas brought him in, and it would be surprising if an ownership group that includes Tom Brady doesn't use the top pick to try to find a new franchise signal-caller.

And that choice will come down to Indiana's Fernando Mendoza and Oregon's Dante Moore.

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In something of an ironic twist, Mendoza and Moore face each other in the College Football Playoff semifinals. Las Vegas' front office will surely have an eye on that game to see how the two quarterbacks perform under the pressure of the moment.

B/R's NFL Scouting Department ranked Mendoza as the No. 1 quarterback and Moore as the No. 2 quarterback on its latest big board.

The former was also listed as the most pro-ready and accurate in the draft and should be the choice if he continues to play well in his final games with the Hoosiers.

That would give the Raiders a young quarterback to build around with an offense that already includes cornerstones in Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty. They have a ways to go to catch up to the other teams in their division, but that would be an impressive trio to start with heading into the 2026 campaign.

And it could make the struggles of the 2025 season hurt just a little bit less.