The Las Vegas Raiders have lacked an identity in recent years, but a transformative offseason has led to renewed hope for a contender to arise in Sin City.
Las Vegas’ tried to shortcut its way into the playoffs last season by hiring a 73-year-old head coach in Pete Carroll and trading for a 34-year-old quarterback in Geno Smith, but the moves backfired in spectacular fashion. The team finished with the worst record in the NFL, a painful campaign that at least had the silver lining of securing the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft.
Raiders ownership wasted little time clearing house after that brutal 3-14 season. Carroll was replaced by Klint Kubiak, fresh off winning a Super Bowl as the Seattle Seahawks’ offensive quarterback, while Smith was shipped to the New York Jets to make way for the highly anticipated arrival of Fernando Mendoza.
Mendoza has the chance to play the role of franchise savior after having a similar effect on an Indiana program that was considered one of the worst in college football for decades.
The signal-caller won just about everything there was to win during a legendary 2025 season, including the Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff championship. Mendoza was a shoo-in to be taken with the top overall pick by a squad that has lacked a franchise quarterback for years, filling Vegas’ most glaring hole and giving the squad a puncher’s chance at an instant turnaround once he takes the reins from stopgap Kirk Cousins.
There have been several recent instances of rookie quarterbacks coming in and immediately leading their new team to a playoff berth. Jayden Daniels and Bo Nix were the most recent to do so during their respective postseason runs in 2024, while C.J. Stroud, Brock Purdy, Mac Jones, Lamar Jackson and Dak Prescott round out the full list of signal-callers to accomplish the impressive feat over the past decade.
Mendoza won’t be surrounded with too many Pro Bowl-caliber weapons during his first season, but tight end Brock Bowers and running back Ashton Jeanty headline a supporting cast that has the potential to make some noise in 2026.
If the offense outperforms expectations and the defense—which added a number of proven veterans off the open market—can hold up, the Raiders will become one of this season’s true surprise playoff teams.