Good NFL teams are built through the draft. It is no wonder, then, that the Las Vegas Raiders have struggled so consistently in the two decades since their last playoff win. At times, it feels like the Silver and Black are allergic to landing studs or even value in April, and no antidote seemingly exists.
But the last few years have represented a turning of the tide. Although they got a bit lucky with Brock Bowers falling in their lap back in 2024, the Raiders still made the right pick. And the year after that, they landed star running back Ashton Jeanty, who also looks like a star in the making.
Later this month, they'll almost certainly take Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick, who has an incredibly high floor and what most would consider low odds to be a complete bust. But before fans got too excited, USA Today went back and listed the most foolish draft picks of the last decade.
You'll never guess who the most well-represented team is.
Las Vegas Raiders still being dragged for draft miscues ahead of 2026 event
USA Today's Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz provided a list of 10 of the biggest draft whiffs since 2016, and the Raiders took up three of the spots. But Middlehurst-Schwartz was actually nice, as he lumped two picks together in one of those slots, so Las Vegas really had four picks on the board.
"8. Raiders pick DE Clelin Ferrell at No. 4, 2019
"In the last 10 years, no one cut against the grain quite as often as former Raiders general manager Mike Mayock. His first pick proved to be a harbinger for a three-year run of surprises that almost exclusively turned into disappointments.
The Silver and Black were due to reimagine their pass rush after trading Khalil Mack the previous fall. But Mayock threw the top of the order for a loop when he went with Ferrell, an accomplished edge rusher at Clemson who nevertheless didn't seem to measure up to his more athletic counterparts. Among the more highly rated alternatives that Mayock passed up were Josh Hines-Allen (61 career NFL sacks), Brian Burns (71 career sacks) and Montez Sweat (57 career sacks). Ferrell, who has just 21 sacks in seven seasons, was relegated to a backup role by his third season and was the lone top-five pick in his class not to have his fifth-year option picked up. He's earned opportunities elsewhere as a rotational piece, but his output can't compare to that of his more prolific peers."
Fans remember the shock of seeing Ferrell's name across their television screens when most expected to hear Hines-Allen (then just "Allen") or Devin White's name called. If it weren't for Mayock selecting Maxx Crosby in Round 4 that same year, Mayock would have taken a lot more heat.
But Mayock wasn't done making his mark on this list. In fact, each of the next two spots are occupied by draft blunders that he made.
"7. Raiders pick OL Alex Leatherwood at No. 17, 2021
"Herd mentality certainly wasn't in effect when the Raiders selected Leatherwood. Despite being a consensus All-American and Outland Trophy winner, the former Alabama standout wasn't widely seen as a first-round pick, with many questioning his ability to stick at right tackle.
"Maybe groupthink was the way to go. Leatherwood's woes at right tackle were so pervasive that he was moved inside after just four games, and he finished his rookie year having surrendered a league-high 65 pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. The Raiders' new regime tried moving Leatherwood back to right tackle before waiving him outright at the roster cutdown deadline. Las Vegas' line issues would continue to fester for years, while Christian Darrisaw – taken six picks after Leatherwood – would go on to become one of the league's most effective pass protectors with the Minnesota Vikings."
It's not just the picks themselves. It's who Las Vegas passed on in the process. Whether the Raiders simply didn't have good infrastructure to develop these players like other franchises or merely lacked talent evaluation, the Silver and Black just couldn't get it right.
And things were even worse and much more ill-fated in the 2020 draft. This was Mayock's... whatever the opposite of a magnum opus is.
"6. Raiders pick WR Henry Ruggs at No. 12 overall and CB Damon Arnette at No. 19, 2020
"Neither of Mayock's pair of first-round picks in his second draft was lacking for talent, but each would go on to tarnish the organization.
"Fresh off the Antonio Brown debacle, the Raiders struck out for another speedy receiver in Ruggs. Few others anticipated the Alabama product to be the first pass catcher taken in a loaded class at the position, as former teammate Jerry Jeudy (who went No. 15 to the Denver Broncos) and CeeDee Lamb (No. 17 to the Dallas Cowboys) were more highly regarded by most. But in November 2021, the Raiders released Ruggs on the same day as his drunken driving crash that killed a 23-year-old woman and her dog, for which he was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison. Mere days after that, Las Vegas also parted ways with Arnette after a video emerged of the cornerback making death threats to an unspecified person while brandishing multiple guns.
"Mayock later acknowledged that there had been 'significant concern' through the pre-draft process regarding the former Ohio State cornerback's off-field behavior. The general manager added that 'the team did more research on Arnette' than any other draft prospect during his tenure, which led him to believe taking the cornerback was an 'acceptable risk.' In the end, however, Las Vegas was left to face the fallout from its own hubris."
Simply put, it hasn't exactly been a great run for the Raiders on draft day in the last decade. But if the team, now led by John Spytek, strings together a three-year stretch of Bowers, Jeanty, and Mendoza, then Las Vegas should be heading in the right direction.
Excitement is seemingly at an all-time high for Raider Nation with the partnership of Spytek and Klint Kubiak and a young, potentially franchise-altering quarterback on the horizon. But before any of that could fully kick in, the franchise had to be cut off at the knees and reminded of their past draft woes.