Las Vegas Raiders NFL Draft “X” Receiver Targets

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - FEBRUARY 27: Eric McAlister #WO30 of TCU speaks during a press conference at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium on February 27, 2026 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images) | Getty Images The Las Vegas Raiders have Tre Tucker, who is coming off a rather successful 2025 season and has continued to develop each season he’s been in the NFL. Additionally, the Raiders also have 2nd year second rounder Jack Bech who should slide into a versatile role working as a slot and Z receiver.

In addition, 2025 fourth rounder Dont’e Thornton is likely going to be in a tough battle, for a roster spot, this year after struggling heavily in 2025 lacking separation, route running, contested catch abilities, and ranking pretty much bottom 10 in every stat I mentioned, plus EPA/target, yards/route run, and YAC/reception. The Raiders also added Jalen Nailor, who signed for an extensive contract banking on his development in the role, despite just 1000 career yards in four seasons for the Vikings. Las Vegas isn’t going to run a traditional offense under Klint Kubiak, they’re going to rely on heavy motion, a wide zone run attack concept, and spreading the ball out to their weapons.

The Raiders aren’t going to have a true “slot” though if they do it’ll likely be Jalen Nailor as he’s thrived in that position majority of his career. Something the Raiders will need to address is their boundary X receiver, and luckily for Las Vegas there’s plenty of options in the 2026 draft that they can target to give assistance to Fernando Mendoza. Before we begin in all this, I’ll breakdown briefly what each archetype/role is, and it’s a lot easier than the defensive line techniques: *I will note this, your X isn’t your WR1, but they are often the top target, though the modern NFL has adapted to a slot based approach with your best weapon often aligning in the slot with designated concepts to create YAC and short area seperartion* X: Typically the best receiver, but not always as mentioned above.

Diverse route tree, usually bigger frames (6’2+, 190+). Strong physical receivers, need to get off press, work through space, and usually the strongside run blocker WR as well. Traditionally get used mostly on in multi level concepts, or ones that utilize the outside leverage of the cornerback.