Las Vegas Raiders News

In speaking with Bryant McFadden of NFL on CBS, Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty shared that he's cut candy and sugar from his diet while working to build up his cardio ahead of his second season. The 2025 first-round pick told McFadden, "I didn't feel like I was in good enough shape last year." As a rookie, Jeanty handled an impressive 86.6% of the Raiders' running back rush share, having to fight for every inch behind a porous offensive line that allowed first contact after only 1.6 yards on average. Again expected to handle the bulk of the team's running back workload, now with an upgraded and healthier offensive line in front of him, an improved diet and better cardio could pay immense dividends, and Jeanty is potentially undervalued as RotoBaller's RB7.

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jalen Nailor has a real path to the largest role of his career, but he is better viewed as a late-round redraft swing than a guaranteed breakout. Las Vegas signed the 27-year-old to a three-year, $35.03 million contract with $18 million fully guaranteed at signing after he totaled 57 receptions for 858 yards and 10 touchdowns over his final two seasons in Minnesota. Nailor set career highs with 29 catches and 444 yards in 2025, averaged 15.3 yards per reception, and flashed his ceiling with five catches for 124 yards and a touchdown against Baltimore. The opportunity is legitimate, but Nailor has never exceeded 29 receptions or 444 yards in a season. Tre Tucker led the Raiders with 696 receiving yards last year, while Brock Bowers recorded a team-high 64 catches and seven touchdowns despite playing only 12 games. Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr. also remain in the competition for wide receiver snaps. RotoBaller's WR66 ranking keeps the price manageable. Nailor has late-round and best-ball appeal, but dynasty managers should wait for evidence of sustained target volume before treating him as a meaningful buy.

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said star edge rusher Maxx Crosby (knee) is "ready to go" and will get all the first-team reps when the team's training camp begins on Wednesday, per Ryan McFadden of ESPN. Crosby underwent knee surgery in January, and concerns around the recovery timeline for the surgery caused a proposed trade of Crosby to the Baltimore Ravens to fall through. However, it appears as though the 28-year-old is on track for full participation in training camp and remains a part of the Raiders' plans, at least for the time being. Across 15 games in 2025, Crosby recorded 28 TFLs, 10 sacks, and two forced fumbles. As long as he's on the field, he remains one of the most disruptive defenders in the NFL and profiles as a high-end option for fantasy managers in IDP leagues.

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak said Kirk Cousins will take the field as the starting quarterback when the team opens practice Wednesday, according to Ryan McFadden. Kubiak said Cousins deserves the first opportunity because he has played "really good football," while adding that he wants No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza and Aidan O'Connell to push him. Cousins joined Las Vegas after completing 166 of 269 passes for 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five interceptions across 10 games with Atlanta in 2025. The 37-year-old also has familiarity with Kubiak's system after the two worked together for three seasons in Minnesota. Mendoza remains the Raiders' long-term investment after being selected first overall in April, and Kubiak previously said Cousins, Mendoza, and O'Connell would all receive first-team opportunities during camp. Cousins enters the competition atop the depth chart and has the clearest immediate path to the Week 1 job, though Mendoza's presence limits his long-term security.

Former Pro Bowl running back Miles Sanders (knee) worked out for the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday, a source told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Sanders is currently a free agent but is fully cleared from a knee injury that required surgery and cut his season short last year with the Dallas Cowboys. The 29-year-old former second-rounder in 2019 by the Philadelphia Eagles out of Penn State only appeared in four games in Dallas in 2025 and had 20 carries for 117 yards and one touchdown, adding eight receptions for 30 yards as a receiver. If Sanders were to sign with the Raiders, he'd be competing for a depth role in their backfield behind starter Ashton Jeanty with rookie Mike Washington Jr. and Dylan Laube. Sanders was a first-time Pro Bowler in his final year with the Eagles in 2022 and reached the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in his career, but he has fallen off drastically since then with 754 yards, four touchdowns, and 3.7 yards per carry in three seasons since with the Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. In his last year in Carolina, Sanders rushed the ball just 55 times for 205 yards (3.7 yards per tote) and two rushing touchdowns.

After recording 112 receptions and being named a first-team All-Pro as a rookie in 2024, Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers battled through an injury-marred sophomore campaign in 2025. The 23-year-old was clearly hampered while playing through a knee injury that he suffered in Week 1 and eventually ended the season on Injured Reserve. However, Bowers is reportedly fully healthy heading into 2026. The Raiders should also have a significantly improved offensive environment in the upcoming year, hiring Klint Kubiak as their new head coach and play-caller and revamping their quarterback room with veteran Kirk Cousins and 2026 number one overall pick Fernando Mendoza. Bowers profiles as the clear number one option in the Las Vegas passing game and could have a chance to exceed the 153 targets he earned as a rookie. While Bowers' stock may be slightly down following his disappointing 2025 production, he remains an elite fantasy tight end ahead of 2026.

Veteran kicker Matt Gay will compete with undrafted rookie Kansei Matsuzawa this summer in training camp after the Las Vegas Raiders didn't bring back All-Pro placekicker Daniel Carlson after he posted an 81.5% field-goal percentage in 2025, his worst since his rookie year in 2018. ESPN's Ryan McFadden writes that Gay isn't much of an upgrade over Carlson after making 73.9% of his kicks in 2025 in 12 games with the Washington Commanders and San Francisco Giants. Barring a disaster from Gay in camp, we'd expect him to get the nod over Matsuzawa to begin the 2026 regular season, but he'll surely be on a short leash. In his seven-year NFL career, the 32-year-old Gay, a former fifth-round pick by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019 from the University of Utah, has made 84.3% of his 216 field-goal attempts (32-for-54 from 50-plus yards) and 96.7% of his extra points. The Raiders' offense is expected to take a step forward under new head coach Klint Kubiak, but that isn't a reason enough to target Gay in most fantasy football leagues.

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza has signed his rookie contract, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Raiders rookies are due to report to the team facility today, with the team's training camp officially beginning on Tuesday. Now that Mendoza's contract is signed, his participation in training camp will not be impacted in any way. The number one overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Mendoza threw for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns, and six interceptions while rushing for 276 yards and seven scores across 16 games in his final collegiate season at the University of Indiana. The 22-year-old is expected to see some first-team reps in training camp, but he will likely enter camp behind veteran signal-caller Kirk Cousins on the team's depth chart. Still, Mendoza profiles as the quarterback of the future in Las Vegas, and it may only be a matter of time before he takes over as the team's QB1.

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Michael Mayer put together a career year last season. Across 13 games, Mayer hauled in 35 receptions for 328 receiving yards and one touchdown. Both the receptions and yardage are career highs for the 25-year-old. His overall ceiling is going to be limited because Brock Bowers is ahead of him on the depth chart. The good news for Mayer is that new head coach Klint Kubiak deploys a two-tight-end set at the same time. The assumption is that more time on the field will lead to more involvement in the offense for Mayer. He's not someone who needs to be rostered in 12-team formats to start the season. However, he'll be a popular waiver wire candidate if Bowers ever goes down.

Las Vegas Raiders rookie fourth-round running back Mike Washington Jr. has the "potential to grow into a second option in the backfield" in 2026 in his first year in the league behind RB1 Ashton Jeanty, according to Ryan McFadden of ESPN. Washington has a nice blend of size (6-foot-2, 228 pounds) and speed (4.33-second 40-yard dash) and rushed for 1,070 yards (606 yards after first contact) and eight touchdowns at the University of Arkansas last year. He added 28 receptions for 226 yards and another touchdown as a pass-catcher. The Raiders expect Jeanty to have a heavy workload under new head coach Klint Kubiak, but "that shouldn't take away from Washington playing meaningful snaps" in his first year in the league as the top backup in Vegas. Washington took reps with the second team and occasionally with the first-team offense during the offseason program. The 23-year-old has a clear path to RB2 duties, but he still has plenty to clean up, including ball-security issues he showed in college. He'll be trying to hold off undrafted rookie RB Roman Hemby in training camp.

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins is no stranger to competing with a first-round pick in his first season with a new team, though the comparisons to his 2024 campaign with the Falcons end just below surface level. The Falcons shocked the football world by selecting Michael Penix Jr. with the eighth pick in the 2024 NFL Draft weeks after signing Cousins to a four-year, $180 million deal. In contrast, Fernando Mendoza was always going to wind up with the Raiders, even if his selection with the first overall pick was not made official until after Cousins had signed his two-year, $12.6 million bridge quarterback contract. With new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak preaching patience for Mendoza, Cousins is expected to start the season with the starting job and could be given plenty of leash in an offense that should show signs of improvement from a year ago. That said, the soon-to-be-38-year-old's per-game fantasy production has been on the decline for years, and little is expected of RotoBaller's QB33 in 2026.

While it remains highly unlikely that Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the first overall pick in April's draft out of Indiana, will open the 2026 campaign as the team's starter under center, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer writes that it sounds like the Raiders will "sprinkle" Mendoza in with the first-team offense in training camp this summer. New head coach Klint Kubiak is thrilled with the long-term prospects of Mendoza leading the Raiders' offense, but he must first learn to take more snaps under center, something he didn't do much in college. The good news for Mendoza's long-term fantasy upside is that his reputation as a worker while being coachable has checked out this offseason, and he has shown the ability to absorb what he's being taught and apply it on the field quickly. He has also already developed a strong relationship with veteran QB Kirk Cousins, who is expected to begin the year as the Raiders' starter. Because the Raiders are slow-playing Mendoza as their QB of the future, he won't be much of a redraft asset in fantasy football in 2026.

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Tre Tucker led the team with 696 receiving yards in 2025, taking advantage of a depth chart that saw Jakobi Meyers traded away after Week 9 and All-Pro tight end Brock Bowers in and out of the lineup with a knee injury. With free agent receiver Jalen Nailor representing the most notable addition to the pass-catching group, Tucker should again be a featured piece of the Raiders offense under new head coach and playcaller Klint Kubiak. As offensive coordinator for the Seahawks, Kubiak was able to scheme up splash plays through heavy play-action usage, making Tucker a particularly interesting dart throw in best ball formats, though he could work his way into weekly flex discussions if Vegas can find cohesion under veteran Kirk Cousins and later first overall pick Fernando Mendoza. At RotoBaller's WR65, Tucker is likely to begin the year on waivers in many leagues, but he is a player to monitor throughout training camp, as his big-play ability can rack up fantasy points in a hurry.

Unable to rise to a position of relevance on a lackluster depth chart, Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jack Bech disappointed as a rookie, finishing his first season with only 224 yards on 20 scoreless receptions. A second-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, Bech was held outside the team's top five in all major receiving categories, and although the team made minimal improvements to a room that was led by Tre Tucker's 696 receiving yards, fantasy expectations remain low for the second-year player. Vegas signed former Viking Jalen Nailor to a three-year deal, and he is expected to form a tandem with Tucker in a Klint Kubiak passing offense likely to run through tight end Brock Bowers and running back Ashton Jeanty. When the Raiders take to the field for their first public training camp practice on August 2, Bech should have an advantage for what amounts to a fifth spot in the rotation, as his biggest competition will come from Dont'e Thornton Jr. and sixth-round rookie Malik Benson, but without a notable push for a regular place in two-receiver sets, he is unlikely to matter for fantasy as RotoBaller's WR96.

As a rookie in 2025, Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty finished as the RB13 despite averaging only 3.7 yards per carry while working behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league. With left tackle Kolton Miller expected back at full health after playing in only four games last season and the team spending big to acquire free agent center Tyler Linderbaum, Jeanty should see a drastic improvement from the abysmal 0.6 yards before contact that he averaged on his 2025 carries. And while new head coach Klint Kubiak spent much of the early offseason espousing the values of a split backfield, the team's actions have done little to suggest that Jeanty's fantasy-friendly volume is in any real jeopardy. The team spent a Day 3 pick on running back Mike Washington Jr., and Vegas does not have a wide receiver on the roster who has ever caught more than 57 passes in a season. For reference, Jeanty caught 55 of his 68 targets as a rookie, and with only tight end Brock Bowers locked in for a healthy pass-catching role ahead of him, he could threaten for triple-digit targets in year two. With better cohesion in 2026, the Raiders offense has the potential to rise to a level just around league-average, and in such a scenario, Jeanty has the bell cow abilities to deliver a league-winning season as RotoBaller's RB7.

The Athletic's Sam Warren writes that "all signs point to" wide receiver Jalen Nailor "having a chance to post career numbers" in his first year with the Las Vegas Raiders in 2026. The Raiders traded Jakobi Meyers to the Jacksonville Jaguars last November, but Nailor was the lone premium addition the team made at receiver this offseason, giving the 27-year-old a clear opportunity to produce like he never has before in his NFL career. In his four years with the Minnesota Vikings after they took him in the sixth round in 2022 out of Michigan State, Nailor was always a depth option behind Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, never having more than 29 catches or 444 receiving yards in a single season. Not only does Nailor have the opportunity to be the Raiders' WR1 in 2026, but he joins the organization with established chemistry with veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins and head coach Klint Kubiak from their Vikings days. Nailor's 2026 fantasy value could fade a bit if the Raiders add a player like Stefon Diggs to their roster before the start of the regular season, but for now, he should be considered a strong late-round selection at the WR position with volume upside. RotoBaller has him ranked as the No. 64 WR for the upcoming season.

Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (knee) is "fully healthy" ahead of training camp at the end of July, according to Ryan McFadden of ESPN. Bowers' athletic and pass-catching prowess left veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins "in a state of shock" during the offseason program. The 23-year-old led all TEs in receiving yards (1,194) and set the Raiders record for most catches in a single season (112) as a rookie in 2024, but he finished with just 84 catches, 630 yards, and seven touchdowns in Year 2 due to a knee injury. Now that he's back to full health, the former 13th overall pick from the University of Georgia could finish as the TE1 overall in fantasy again in new head coach Klint Kubiak's offense in 2026. Kubiak has shown the ability to scheme the ball to his best pass-catchers, and Bowers is the Raiders' best pass-catcher. Despite playing through a PCL injury and a bone bruise in his left knee in 2025, Bowers had a 74.4% catch rate, averaged 10.6 yards per catch, and was named to his second Pro Bowl. Heading into Year 3, Bowers is ranked as RotoBaller's top fantasy TE for a reason, and he's not going to come at a discount in fantasy drafts despite his injury-plagued 2025 campaign.

Las Vegas Raiders running back Mike Washington Jr. does not need a weekly role to justify his price near the end of drafts. The Raiders traded up to take him 122nd overall after he piled up 1,296 scrimmage yards and nine touchdowns on 195 touches at Arkansas, including 28 receptions. He is now listed at 6-foot-2, 228 pounds after clocking a 4.33-second 40 at the combine, and the team viewed him as a natural fit for Klint Kubiak's wide-zone scheme. Ashton Jeanty is not about to lose the backfield. He handled 321 touches as a rookie, and Washington may have to live on scattered change-of-pace work while Jeanty is healthy. The appeal comes from the depth chart behind him. Dylan Laube, Chris Collier, and undrafted rookie Roman Hemby offer little proven NFL production, leaving Washington with a real chance to enter the season as the primary backup. RotoBaller ranks him RB55 and 191st overall in PPR, a price that asks for very little. Washington is not a standalone flex play yet, but he is a worthwhile late-round handcuff for Jeanty managers and a reasonable injury-away bet for anyone taking shots at running back depth.

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jalen Nailor has a better opportunity than he ever had in Minnesota, but that does not automatically make him a dynasty buy. Nailor is already 27 and has never topped 29 catches or 444 receiving yards in a season, which matters for a player whose value is still built more on projection than proven volume. The Raiders did make a real commitment with a three-year deal that includes $23 million guaranteed, and the fit is interesting after he produced 57 catches, 858 yards, and 10 touchdowns over his last two seasons in Minnesota. He also reunites with Kirk Cousins in a wide receiver room where Tre Tucker is the top returning producer but not an untouchable target hog. Still, Brock Bowers should lead the passing game, Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton Jr. are entering Year 2, and Malik Benson adds more speed. Sitting at WR66 on RotoBaller's board, Nailor is fine as a late redraft or best-ball swing. Dynasty managers should be careful paying like a breakout is already here.

Las Vegas Raiders running back Roman Hemby is not a redraft name to force into 2026 drafts, but he is at least worth filing away in deeper dynasty leagues. The 6-foot, 210-pound rookie went undrafted, then landed with a Raiders backfield that already has Ashton Jeanty locked into the lead role and fourth-rounder Mike Washington Jr. positioned for a real shot at No. 2 work. Hemby does bring something to the table. He rushed for 1,120 yards and seven touchdowns at Indiana last season, added 17 catches, and had a productive four-year run at Maryland before transferring. He also played with rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza, which does not guarantee anything but gives him some built-in familiarity if he sticks. The issue is roster math. Dylan Laube has special-teams value, Chris Collier is also competing for reps, and Hemby has no draft capital pushing him onto the field. He is a taxi-squad stash in deep dynasty formats, not a player redraft managers need to draft.