Raiders' 2026 draft will be defined by how Fernando Mendoza performs

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Raiders' 2026 draft will be defined by how Fernando Mendoza performs

2026-04-26 09:11 Last Updated At：09:40

HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — This week for the Las Vegas Raiders will be known, for better or worse, as the Fernando Mendoza draft after he was taken first overall on Thursday night.

The organization's 2007 NFL draft is still remembered as the flop that became quarterback JaMarcus Russell when he was the top pick. It didn't help it also was an underwhelming draft class for the then-Oakland Raiders.

Current Raiders management has been doing what it can to relieve stress on Mendoza by spending big in free agency, using nine other picks to try to add more talent and signing veteran quarterback in Kirk Cousins so that the rookie doesn't necessarily have to start right away.

But Mendoza will play, whether that's at the beginning of the season or later. Raiders coaches and officials need to know what they have in Mendoza — who won the Heisman Trophy and led Indiana to the national championship — and whether he indeed is their franchise QB.

In the meantime, the Raiders seem genuinely excited to have Mendoza, even throwing a party for him at their indoor practice facility Friday that attracted about 2,000 fans.

There is an optimism inside the Raiders facility that hasn't existed in some time, and general manager John Spytek made it clear he shut down offers that came his way to trade out of the top spot.

“I think any coach is excited to work with a big, athletic, talented thrower that is extremely smart and a very driven worker, and that’s been our experience with Fernando,” Spytek said. “That’s a great starting spot for any quarterback.”

In a bid to surround Mendoza with talent, the Raiders also drafted Texas A&M interior offensive lineman Trey Zuhn III in the third round, Arkansas running back Mike Washington Jr. in the fourth and Oregon wide receiver Malik Benson in the sixth.

Las Vegas also sought defensive help, especially targeting the secondary by selecting Arizona safeties Treydan Stukes (second round) and Dalton Johnson (fifth) as well as cornerbacks Jermod McCoy of Tennessee in the fourth and Hezekiah Masses of California in the fifth.

The Raiders took Auburn defensive end Keyron Crawford in the third round and North Carolina State defensive tackle Brandon Cleveland in the seventh.

Had he been healthy last season, McCoy might have been a top-10 pick, but he had to wait until the first selection of the final day.

The Raiders swapped draft places with Buffalo and sent the Bills a 2027 seventh-round pick to take McCoy.

McCoy missed last season because of an ACL tear, and reports surfaced recently that he might need another surgery to address a second issue with the same knee.

“All my doctors that did my surgery, they told me I’m good,” McCoy said. “I feel like I’m good, but if there’s something that they’re wanting me to do for the longevity of my career, I’m willing to do that. I’m going to listen to the team, because I feel like they have my best interest for me.”

Brandon Hunt, the Raiders' vice president of player personnel, said no decision has been made on whether McCoy needs a second procedure.

“We felt good about it at where we took him,” Hunt said. “It was an opportunity to get value. This is arguably the best corner in the draft, and we feel like we have great people and a great process to make sure we get the best out of each player.”

The Raiders drafted defensive end Tyree Wilson with the seventh overall pick in 2023, envisioning that he and Maxx Crosby would form a destructive pass-rush combination.

It didn’t work out that way. Wilson had just 12 sacks over three seasons. Crosby had 32 over the same span.

And now, Wilson’s gone.

The Raiders packaged him in a trade with New Orleans, also sending a seventh-round pick in exchange for the Saints’ fifth-round selection, which turned into Johnson.

“It was just an opportunity for a fresh start, a fresh start for him, a fresh start for us,” Hunt said.

Stukes and Zuhn are capable of playing more than one position.

Stukes played safety and cornerback at Arizona. Zuhn was the left tackle at Texas A&M, but also started two games at center last season.

“Versatility is awesome, but wherever they were put, they were OK with and they proved themselves to be pretty good football players,” Spytek said.

Washington is pursuing a master's degree that he expects to get next spring. His mother has a doctorate in psychology and his father is an investigator.

Stukes had a 4.0 grade-point average in high school, graduated two years ago from Arizona and was an academic All-Big 12 Conference selection.

“We used to have a coach that said, ‘The days of the dumb jock are over,’ and it’s very true,” Stukes said. “You have to be smart to play high-level football. There’s a lot of moving parts. There’s a lot of things going on, and if you want to be able to keep up and adjust in real time, you got to have the brain processing power to do so, especially playing safety. You’re the quarterback of the defense.”

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Trump unharmed after security incident at White House correspondents dinner; no injuries reported

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was uninjured and other top leaders of the United States were evacuated from an annual dinner of White House correspondents on Saturday night after an unspecified threat. There did not immediately appear to be any injuries, and one law-enforcement official said a shooter had opened fire.

Authorities said the incident occurred outside the ballroom where Trump and other guests were seated. It was not immediately clear what happened.

The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the banquet hall at the Washington Hilton as guests dining on burrata salad ducked under tables by the hundreds. “Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as Trump was escorted off stage. He fell briefly — he apparently tripped — and was helped up by Secret Service agents.

A law enforcement official confirmed there was a shooter but no further details were immediately available. All officials protected by the Secret Service were evacuated. Organizers were attempting to resume the dinner.

Some in the crowd reported hearing what they believed to be five to eight shots fired. The banquet hall — where hundreds of prominent journalists, celebrities and national leaders were awaiting Trump's remarks — was immediately evacuated. Members of the National Guard took up position inside the building as people were allowed to leave but not immediately re-enter. Security outside was also extremely tight.

Those in attendance included Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — and many other leaders of the Trump administration.

The event appeared set to resume after the disorder. Servers refolded napkins and refilled water glasses in preparation for Trump's return. Another worker prepared the president's teleprompter for the remarks he was scheduled to make. Guest evacuating the ballroom had to step over many broken plates and glasses.

Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.

Generally, the Hilton hotel, where the dinner has taken place for years, remains open to regular guests during the White House Correspondents' Dinner, and security has typically been focused on the ballroom and rather than the hotel at large, with little screening for people not entering the dinner itself. In past years, that has created openings for disruptions in the lobby and other public spaces, including protests in which security moved to remove guests who unfurled banners or staged demonstrations.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro posted a short video from the hotel after the incident, saying, “I have been taken out of the ballroom after the sound of the shots fired. The Secret Service is now in charge of this building, this hotel. I just spoke to Mayor Murial Bowser. She is on her way and (Police) Chief Jeffery Carroll is on his way. He will be in charge as soon as he gets here.”

Trump's attendance at Saturday's annual dinner in Washington for his first time as president is putting his administration's often-contentious relationship with the press on full public display.

Trump arrived to an event where the leaders of a nation at war mingled with celebrities, journalists and even a puppet — Triumph the Insult Comic Dog — in a dinner that typically generates debate about whether the relationship between journalists and their sources should include socializing together and putting aside sometimes adversarial relationships.

Trump was being watched closely at the event held by the organization of reporters who cover him and his administration. Past presidents who have attended have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding in some light roasts about individual journalists.

The Republican president did not attend during his first term or the first year of his second. He came as a guest in 2011, sitting in the audience as President Barack Obama, a Democrat, made some jokes about the New York real estate developer. Trump also attended as a private citizen in 2015.

Trump entered the subterranean banquet hall of the Washington Hilton to the strains of “Hail to the Chief” and greeted prominent journalists on the dais, also pausing to laud White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt with a cheerful pointing of his finger.

Past dinners have also featured comedians who poke at presidents. This year, the group opted to hire mentalist Oz Pearlman as the featured entertainment.

Between berating individual reporters, fighting organizations like the Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press in court and restricting press access to the Pentagon, the administration’s animus toward journalists has been a fixture of Trump’s second term.

On the eve of the dinner, nearly 500 retired journalists signed a petition calling on the association "to forcefully demonstrate opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample freedom of the press.”

The WHCA president, CBS News reporter Weijia Jiang, said the organization was fighting for all different forms of the press that have a line in to the American people. “I don't think people realize how closely we are working with the White House,” she said on CSPAN before the dinner convened. “The relationship is important. It can be complicated. It can be intense. But it is robust.”

Welcoming guests, Jiang alluded to the contentious relationship in thanking Leavitt “for everything your team does to work with us every day, whether you like it or not.”

Veteran reporter Manu Raju of CNN, as he entered the Washington Hilton for the dinner, said it was not his role to express his opinion on Trump's relationship with the press. “I'm not an activist,” he said. “My job is not to protest.”

A few dozen protesters stood across the hotel in the runup to the event. One was dressed in a prison uniform, wearing a Pete Hegseth mask and red gloves. Another carried a sign saying “Journalism is dead.”

Journalists often invite sources as guests at the dinner. It will be noticed Saturday whether administration officials who have also expressed hostility to the press will attend, and with whom they will be sitting. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he was invited by the New York Post; Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Secretary of State Marco Rubio were NBC guests.

The Associated Press invited a former Trump official that it sued last year. Taylor Budowich, a former White House deputy chief of staff who crafted communications policy, was a named defendant last year when the AP sued the administration after it reduced its access to the president because the news outlet did not follow Trump's lead in renaming the Gulf of Mexico.

“We maintain professional relationships with people across the political spectrum because we are nonpartisan by design — focused on reporting the facts in the public's interest,” AP spokesman Patrick Maks said.

The White House correspondents will also hand out awards for exemplary reporting. That includes some stories that displeased Trump, such as one from the Journal about a birthday message Trump once sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The story led to a presidential lawsuit.

AP journalists Alanna Durkin Richer, Michael Balsamo, Zeke Miller and Anna Johnson contributed to this report. David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.