March Madness is calming down, and we’ll be turning the calendar to April next week. In other words, the 2026 NFL draft is steadily approaching, as the Las Vegas Raiders are holding and scheduling Top 30 visits to help put the final touches on the roster. So, we have a lot to go over for this week’s mailbag. Let’s get to it!
Q: Do you expect the Raiders to draft ten players or trade for more or fewer picks?
A: I’d be surprised if John Spytek didn’t make at least one trade during the draft, especially
with three fourth-round picks. I could see Spytek using those picks as ammunition to get back into round one or two if there’s a player still on the board whom the front office likes. I also wouldn’t put it past him to do the same thing he did in the second round last year and trade back to get more picks, since there are a handful of holes left on the roster.
Ultimately, it may not be until day three, but I’d expect the Raiders to make at least one trade during the draft rather than stick and pick all 10 times. Whether that’s moving up or down, I could see an argument in both directions.
Q: If Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, A.J. Haulcy, Kayden McDonald, Denzel Boston and Max Iheanachor are on the board at No. 36, who are you taking?
A: Someone else asked the same question, but threw Dillon Thieneman in there, and my answer is Thieneman if he’s on the table. However, it seems like Thieneman is a lock to go in the first round at this point. So, to tie into the previous question, the Oregon product will probably be someone whom Spytek has to trade up for. If Thieneman does somehow fall to 36, I’ll go ahead and sprint the card in for Spytek.
As for the original question, you have a lot of really good options there. I like McNeil-Warren’s game, but I think he’s more of a strong safety who can cover the deep half in two-high looks than the true free safety that Las Vegas needs. To me, Haulcy is a better or more valuable option at 67 than 36, so that’ll eliminate the two safeties from the equation.
I know the Raiders have shown a lot of interest in this year’s receiver class recently, but if I’m calling the shots, that’s a position I’d wait to address until next year. I’m still interested to see what Tre Tucker and Jack Bech can do in Klint Kubiak’s offense. In other words, Boston could be the pick, but wouldn’t be my choice.
That leaves McDonald and Iheanachor, and that’s a really tough decision for me. Ultimately, I’d lean toward McDonald because the Raiders at least have another option at right tackle in Charles Grant, whereas the cupboard is pretty bare at nose tackle. Also, Iheanachor’s technique is still a work in progress, while McDonald would give the team an immediate starter who still has plenty of upside to become an even better player down the line.
A: Thieneman is the biggest one. If Jermod McCoy falls out of the first, since he basically hasn’t done anything since the 2024 season, then he’d be an intriguing option at 36. To be honest, this is a hard question to answer because if I think a guy is a “surefire first-rounder”, I have a hard time seeing them slip into day two. Also, this is a draft class that lacks a lot of top-end talent but has a lot of good, not great prospects in it. So, there aren’t a ton of guys who I’d pound the table for.
A: Yes, Domonique Orange would be a great option in the third round, Darrell Jackson Jr. is a good target at that spot or with pick 102, and I’m a fan of Tim Keenan III as a Day 3 option as well. Guys like Dontay Corleone and DeMonte Capehart are worth keeping tabs on, too. This is an unusually deep class at nose tackle, in my opinion, to give the Raiders plenty of options.
Now, if they don’t walk away from the draft with a nose, I’d much rather see JJ Pegues or Brodric Martin get a chance to prove themselves than sign a veteran as a holdover. I can’t stress enough that this offseason is and should be more about building for 2027 and beyond than next season for the Raiders. Adding past their prime veterans to serve as one-year starters is what they did last year, and look how that turned out.
The proper way to rebuild is to give the young guys opportunities to prove themselves, evaluate them over the season, and take it from there.
Q: Bud Clark or Genesis Smith at free safety?
A: This is a tough one because I like both guys a lot and think they’re similar prospects, but I’d go with Clark. Both players have issues or concerns with tackling; however, Smith missed 18 tackles at a 19.8 percent rate while Clark had nine misses at 14.5 percent last season, per Pro Football Focus. Also, the latter had more ball production with four interceptions and seven PDs to the former’s one and eight.
So, they have similar major issues, but Clark’s isn’t as significant, and there’s a better chance he can be the ballhawk the backend of the defense needs.
A: I’d be pretty shocked if Caleb Downs isn’t taken in the first round, and I think he’s probably going top 10. The Commanders (No. 7), the Saints (No. 8), the Chiefs (No. 9) and Bengals (No. 10) could all use a safety, so I think that’s the sweet spot for Downs, especially with his talent.
But if the knee issue does cause him to slide to 36, the Raiders should proceed with caution. While they’re under similar circumstances, Downs’ situation is different than McCoy’s, who I said I would take if he falls out of the first.
Teams got to watch Downs play this past year (and play pretty well), so if he slides in the draft, that tells me there is major concern about how his body is going to hold up. Whereas McCoy’s hypothetical slide could also be injury related, but there aren’t reports about him having a potential long-term issue like there are with Downs. I could justify to myself that the reason for the rest of the league passing on McCoy is that they only have seen one really good season from him. That’s not the case with the Ohio State product, and the only reason he’d fall is if that knee is in bad shape.
Q: This is the first head coach I’ve been excited about since Jack Del Rio (loved Jon Gruden as a coach, hated his draft picks). How big an improvement would you expect? Any weaknesses you see in the coaching staff? Seems like they nailed every coordinator and position coach.
A: It can’t get much worse than last year! LOL.
I’m with you that getting Klint Kubiak is exciting and the Raiders are headed in the right direction, but I do think it will be more of a slow build-up than a quick turnaround. The roster needed significant improvement this offseason, and the front office was smart to target players seeking their second contracts in the league during free agency. But the downside is that they’ll have a young roster that will have to work through some growing pains. The 2027 and 2028 campaigns are where I think we’ll start to see a bigger improvement in the win-loss columns.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m not thrilled with Rob Leonard as defensive coordinator. That doesn’t mean I think he will be bad; I was just hoping they’d get a better outside hire. To Leonard’s credit, I did like what he did as defensive run game coordinator last season, though. So, it’s not like I’m completely out or down on him, but if we’re talking about weaknesses on the coaching staff, that’s a spot that leaves something to be desired for me.
A: A lot of the concepts are going to be short to intermediate routes with a heavy dose of motion and play-action, so creating yards after the catch is a big factor in the passing game. That bodes well for Brock Bowers and Jack Bech, and Bech’s run blocking should put him in Kubiak’s good graces. It may seem like something that isn’t a big deal for wide receivers, but if you watch the Seahawks’ offense closely last year, even Jaxon Smith-Njigba was mixing it up in the running game.
Also, the heavy use of 12 personnel should help carve out a role for Michael Mayer. With Mayer’s contested catch ability, I could see Kubiak scheming up some good redzone targets to get him favorable matchups for 50/50 balls.
Dont’e Thornton Jr. feels like he’s the guy who is a square peg in a round hole here. Kubiak likes having versatile receivers who can run full route trees or at least make an impact on two levels of the passing game. Thornton doesn’t fit that description, and Kubiak isn’t a height-weight-speed guy. He’ll sacrifice size for route running and YAC ability.
Tre Tucker is the pass-catcher who is tough for me to pin down with Kubiak. He’s grown as a route runner over the years, where I think he could be used similarly to Rashid Shaheed, but Tucker and Jalen Nailor are pretty similar players. Considering Tucker is about to enter a contract year, and that the Raiders have been connected to a few receiver prospects, it wouldn’t surprise me if he gets traded during the draft. Throw Thornton into that category, too.
A: Pretty low. Spytek lost a ton of leverage with the Ravens trade falling through, and Baltimore was the only club to offer two first-round picks. At this point, if another team is going to offer two first-round picks for Maxx Crosby, it will be because the draft didn’t fall their way and they’re getting desperate. Right now, there’s too much ambiguity/optimism that a contender can fill a need for a pass-rusher/edge defender with a high draft pick.
If you’re hoping Crosby gets flipped for draft picks, keep tabs on what the Lions do in the first round of the draft. They could target someone to complement Aidan Hutchinson at No. 17, but the Lions also need an offensive tackle after letting Taylor Decker go during free agency.
If Detroit prioritizes the o-line in round one, the organization could get desperate and make a big offer for Crosby after the draft. It feels like the Lions’ Super Bowl window is starting to close, so I could see them going all-in on a title run next season.
That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to SBPQuestions1@gmail.com or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.
