The Las Vegas Raiders were the most embarrassing team of the 2025 season and landed the luxury of drafting No. 1 overall in a draft with just one clear top quarterback prospect.
Fernando Mendoza led Indiana to a national championship and won the Heisman Trophy. His reward was landing with a team that has one major glaring hole: wide receiver. ESPN penned a new column looking at the biggest roster hole for every team in the league and wide receiver was listed as the biggest problem for the Raiders heading into the 2026 season.
“The Raiders have wide receivers, but no one is established as a No. 1 option. (Yes, their No. 1 receiver is tight end Brock Bowers, but it is still good to have somebody drawing attention outside.),” ESPN noted.
“Tre Tucker is going into his fourth season and had 57 catches for 696 yards and five touchdowns last season, but he also had a score of just 29 out of 100 in the ESPN receiver scores. Jack Bech (20 catches for 224 yards) and Dont’e Thornton Jr. (10 catches for 135 yards) underwhelmed in their rookie seasons,” it added.
Las Vegas opted to trade wide receiver Jakobi Meyers to the Jacksonville Jaguars during the 2025 season, hurting the team’s depth at the position.
The Raiders drafted oft-traveled wide receiver Malik Benson, who started his collegiate career at a community college before landing at Alabama. He eventually transferred to Florida State before finishing his college career at Oregon where he hauled in 41 receptions for 696 yards and six touchdowns during the 2025 campaign.
Mendoza might not start the season given the Raiders signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, but when he does see action, he’ll do so with one of the worst wide receiver corps in the league.