Raiders take Fernando Mendoza No. 1 overall in NFL Draft opener

The Raiders used the first pick on Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, putting the league’s most valuable position at the center of Day 1 and extending a familiar draft pattern. A quarterback went No. 1 overall for the fourth straight year, and Mendoza became the first passer Las Vegas chose in the first round since JaMarcus Russell in 2007.

That decision set the tone for an opening night in Pittsburgh that looked less like a best-player board and more like a study in scarcity. Arizona stunned the draft by taking Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love at No. 3 overall, the first running back selected in the top three since Trent Richardson in 2012 and only the fourth taken in the top 10 since 2018. In a league that usually pushes running backs down the board, Love’s selection signaled that some clubs still see elite backfield talent as worth a premium.

Ohio State dominated the early stretch, placing four players among the first 11 selections. The Titans took receiver Carnell Tate at No. 4, the Giants followed with edge rusher Arvell Reese at No. 5, Washington grabbed linebacker Sonny Styles at No. 7, and Dallas landed safety Caleb Downs at No. 11 after trading with Miami. Kansas City made the night’s first major move, climbing from No. 9 to No. 6 to take LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane from Cleveland, another sign that clubs were willing to pay for players they viewed as scarce and immediate difference-makers.

The first round also showed that wide receivers still had real value even in a class many evaluators expected to lean toward the trenches. Jordyn Tyson went to New Orleans at No. 8, giving the Saints another early offensive weapon in a draft where premium positions kept pulling teams upward. The bigger national takeaway from the opener was not just who went first, but how aggressively clubs moved to secure targeted talent before the board thinned out.

The draft itself carried added weight in Pittsburgh, where the league staged its 91st draft at Point State Park and Acrisure Stadium for the first time since 1948. The event runs through April 25 with 257 total picks over seven rounds, and the first round now carries an eight-minute clock between selections, down from 10 minutes for the first time since 2008. With 33 compensatory picks awarded to 15 teams and 16 prospects confirmed to attend, Day 1 made clear that 2026 roster-building is being driven by premium positions, aggressive trades and a race to beat the board to the few players teams truly trust.