The Las Vegas Raiders were expected to target a wide receiver early in the 2026 NFL Draft, and there were some very good choices left on the board in the second round. However, the team decided to focus on other positions and didn’t draft a wide receiver until the sixth round.
The Raiders are in a rebuild, so it’s not fair to expect them to fill every hole on the roster in one year. The team does have some intriguing wide receiver talent. Jack Bech and Dont’e Thornton were draft picks last year who still have a chance to develop into impact players.
If that doesn’t happen, there’s a good chance the team’s first-round pick in 2027 will be used on a wide receiver. Luckily, there’s a potential all-time prospect who could be in the class. In Rob Rang’s 2027 mock draft for Fox Sports, he projects the Raiders to select Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith with the No. 5 pick.
“With all due respect to his former Ohio State teammate Carnell Tate — the fourth overall pick this week — Smith would’ve been the first receiver selected had he been eligible for the 2026 draft,” Rang wrote. “One of the few players I’ve ever seen physically capable of competing at the NFL level as a true freshman, Smith has a frame and game that reminds me of a young Julio Jones.”
Smith Called ‘Generational’ Talent
Smith has a chance to be one of the best wide receiver prospects ever. As a freshman, he had 1,315 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns. In three fewer games last season, he had 1,243 yards and 12 touchdowns.
It is expected that he’ll put up huge numbers in 2026, as well. Smith is big at 6-foot-3, 223 pounds, but still moves really well. He also has strong hands. In college football, they’re already looking at him as an all-time talent.
“That’s just what happens when you’re playing a generational talent,” South Florida head coach Alex Golesh said of Smith, via ESPN.
The Raiders would be fortunate if there were a run on quarterbacks at the top of next year’s draft because there’s a chance Smith will be the first non-quarterback off the board in 2027.
Raiders Offense With Smith Could Be Elite
The Raiders have a No. 1 pick quarterback, a young All-Pro tight end and a top-10 pick running back on the roster now. Adding a superstar wide receiver to that group could lead to huge things.
Now, the Raiders need Fernando Mendoza to hit if they’re going to have any kind of long-term success, but surrounding him with elite young talent only makes his life easier. That said, the Raiders may have done too much this offseason to improve. There’s a good chance they could win seven or eight games in 2026. That would likely put them out of the position to draft Smith.
With the Raiders, another bad season is always possible, but they seem to finally be headed in the right direction. Regardless, they are likely to be in the market for wide receivers early in the draft next year, even if they can’t land Smith.
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