2026 Team Previews: Las Vegas Raiders
Las Vegas Raiders 2026 Preview
All ADP data is courtesy of Fantasy Pros.
** = target in drafts at this ADP
Drafted Everywhere
Ashton Jeanty, RB (ADP: 11, RB6): Jeanty had incredible hype entering his rookie season, and while his talent was on display plenty of times, and his final line – 1,321 yards from scrimmage, 10 total touchdowns – are excellent numbers from a first year player, a lot of Jeanty’s season left his managers cold. When Jeanty got going, he looked every bit like the first round RB people treated him as. Jeanty put up 120+ rushing yards twice, and scored multiple rushing/receiving touchdowns in both of those games. Those are the week-winning performances he can deliver, but he also had a whopping nine games in which he rushed for 50 or fewer yards. That is disastrous, and even with the volcanic eruption games, it’s not salvageable. The question then is whether or not those blowup games were flukes based on his physical talent, or are they going to happen more consistently in a better-designed offense?
Reception Perception took a deep dive into his rookie year, and came away impressed. Jeanty was elusive as all hell, making people miss like crazy, breaking tackles, and being a demon on outside runs. It’s also clear that Jeanty suffered immensely from not only an offense devoid of pass catchers that let defenses hone in on him, but an offensive line that couldn’t keep people from smashing him before he could build any momentum. Per Reception Perception, Jeanty faced an unblocked defender on nearly 30% of his runs. The pass-catching situation somehow looks like it’s gotten worse for the Raiders, but their offense can’t be more dysfunctional than it was last year, and the combo of Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza should deliver superior QB play. We aren’t getting much of a discount on Jeanty, so it seems the rest of the community is onto him as well as a clear bounce back candidate. His injury in training camp is concerning, even if the news thus far hasn’t been dire. It is enough to knock him down a few spots for me, making him a poor value to take a massive injury risk in Round 1.
Brock Bowers, TE (ADP: 22, TE1): Bowers let people down last season with his year-end stats, as he missed five games with injuries and was affected in others by those same maladies. Still, Bowers operated as the Raiders’ clear-cut top pass catcher and ended with 64 receptions, 680 yards and seven touchdowns. The path there was rocky, but Bowers’ super powers were on display at some points, most notably a 127-yard, three-touchdown effort vs. Jacksonville in Week 9.
There aren’t many TEs capable of explosions of that magnitude, even the other elites at the position, and Bowers is probably the only TE, save for maybe Trey McBride, who is the obvious top target of his team’s entire passing offense. I am typically loathe to draft a TE in the first two rounds, and I actually believe the position is far deeper in 2026 than people realize, but Bowers could be tempting at the end of Round 2. As a rookie he drew 153 targets and caught 112 passes for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns. In five fewer games his touchdown total rose, while his receptions were still over five per game in a completely broken offense. With no WRs to speak of that will be target hounds, Bowers could conceivably lead the NFL in targets. I don’t think I’ll ever call a second round TE a “value,” but I do believe this is a fine spot to take him and that he’s a very special player.
Interesting Players
Mike Washington Jr., RB (ADP: 135, RB49): Washington was a pretty productive player for Arkansas last season, saving his best for his fifth and last collegiate season. It was his first season getting past the 1,000-yard mark, and he chipped in 28 catches for 226 yards and a touchdown. He runs hard, and he’s very fast. Given an opportunity to have a big workload, it’s easy to see Washington as a fantasy relevant player. He’s unlikely to see significant workload for the Raiders as long as Jeanty’s here, which makes him a pure handcuff. If you want to lock up the Raiders backfield go for it, he’ll be low-cost. I don’t think it’s worthwhile though, especially since it doesn’t seem like Jeanty is slated to miss significant time.
Jalen Nailor, WR (ADP: 160, WR58): Nailor looks like Las Vegas’ de facto WR1, which is really a failure of team building to my untrained eye. While it’s fair to say that Nailor’s never had a real chance at a major role because Justin Jefferson has long been the alpha and omega of Minnesota’s offense, the facts on the ground are that Nailor’s never caught 30 passes, put up 450 yards, or had a multi-TD season. Nailor has never even drawn 55 targets in a season, and now he’s supposed to anchor a WR room? This requires massive suspension of disbelief, and his Reception Perception breakdown doesn’t shed light on a quietly amazing player. He put up a 47th-percentile mark against man (68%), and he was lowkey terrible vs. zone (73.3%, 18th-percentile). His 57.1% success rate on go routes does jump out, so we could see splash plays from him especially if he has a huge target share, but it’s a leap to view him as a major fantasy contributor. He could be worth a late dart throw on the prayer there’s an Alec Pierce jump, but that’s asking a lot.
Deep Cuts
Fernando Mendoza, QB (ADP: 206, QB27): The No. 1 overall pick’s got to be mentioned, even if he’s ticketed to begin the year on the bench. Mendoza was prolific last year en route to a national title, and while a jump like he had, going from 16 touchdowns in 2024 at Cal to 41 in 2025 is unusual, sometimes we see college QBs just have everything click. Mendoza passes the eye test with flying colors, and he’s a good scrambler even if we aren’t going to see NFL coaches design run plays for him. I’d expect to see him hit the ground running whenever he gets on the field, but I wouldn’t count on him for anything in fantasy this year. The WR room is too weak for a rookie to carry it.
Tre Tucker, WR (ADP: 220, WR73): Tucker actually had some moments last year, which will happen when you are the default top target in an NFL passing game. When Bowers missed action, somebody had to get targets, and Tucker was that person. He finished the year with 696 yards and five touchdowns. He could do that again this year since there weren’t many meaningful changes to this group, but it’s truly low-ceiling stuff to draft him. We should all be dreaming bigger.
Kirk Cousins, QB (ADP: 258, QB35): Cousins is here to be a steady, transitional hand for Mendoza to eventually take over. Cousins overall is good for Bowers and Jeanty, because he’s a pro who will get the ball out quickly and pepper his best targets. It’s not great for Tucker and Nailor, who get busy down the field and will be working with a QB whose arm strength is diminished, and was never elite to begin with. There’s almost no long term value in Cousins, although he could be deployed as a desperation QB2 in supported formats.
**Jack Bech, WR (ADP: 341, WR105): Bech did absolutely nothing as a rookie, and he was a player who I actually was very into as a prospect. The good news is the path to playing time is as clear now as it was last season, and there are new coaches who might value what Bech brings to the table. I am not kidding, it’s possible for Bech to be the team’s top WR. Bech’s ceiling is limited by his lack of speed, but he does do certain things extremely well that bring a lot of value to an offense. He posted an 80% success rate vs. zone last year, a 63rd-percentile mark, and he was at over 80% on digs, curls, comebacks and slants, with slants and digs making up 42.7% of his routes. He also was a 51st-percentile receiver vs. man coverage, he just struggled to separate on deep routes.
Bech was inexplicably used as an X a lot of the time by last year’s coaches, and 15.4% of his routes were nines. That’s just sending the guy on suicide missions over and over. With proper usage, Bech can be a reliable target hound who owns the short and intermediate middle areas, freeing up Bowers to work those areas further down the field for bigger impact. He’s also a boulder rolling down a hill when he gets a head of steam, which can make for dynamic plays and can turn him into a high level chain mover. I still like Bech’s game, and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t turn heads in 2026 with this clear a path to playing time.
Michael Mayer, TE (ADP: 332, TE42): Mayer is well past the sell-by date in terms of turning into a fantasy stud, but on a team with this few difference makers in the passing game we will see lots of multi-TE sets. The focus will be on Bowers at all times, meaning Mayer could actually have some spike games. Don’t draft him, but be aware of him in games with smash matchups.