The Raiders have a lot of reasons to be excited about their 2026 draft class and the closer we get to the season, it’s starting to feel like one of GM John Spytek’s shrewdest picks came on the last day of the draft.
Fernando Mendoza was the obvious headliner of the 2026 draft, but the player that seems to be the biggest surprise at training to this point has been rookie wide receiver Malik Benson.
Benson was the 195th pick in the draft and didn’t come with a great deal of hype out of the University of Oregon. He led Oregon in receiving yards in 2025 but was part of a wide receiver and tight end group at Oregon that featured six players with at least 25 receptions.
After being drafted in the sixth round by the Raiders, Benson impressed at OTAs and has built on that momentum at training camp.
Earlier in the week, Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers said Benson has been the Raiders’ receiver that has “stood out the most” and The Athletic’s Sam Warren added that Benson has been Mendoza’s no. 1 target.
After Tuesday’s practice at Allegiant Stadium, Myers said Benson stood out again and made an impression on some who had not watched him play to this point.
“Don’t call me shocked, but Malik Benson continues to stack days. He’s still Mendoza’s number one target,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders podcast on Wednesday.
“I had people that were there in attendance at Allegiant Stadium that were sending me texts during the scrimmage or during the practice saying, ‘Hey man, this is the first time I’ve seen Benson. He’s good.’ Every time you look down at number 19, that’s something that I talked about. Even OTAs, mandatory mini camp, there’s guys that make plays and you look down at your roster and say, ‘Wait, what number was that?’ 19, Benson. ‘What was number that?’ That was 19 again. Man, 19 again to the point where you ain’t looking at your roster anymore. You know exactly who that player is.”
What will the Raiders do with Dont’e Thornton Jr.?
Since being drafted, Benson has gone from being a hopeful to make the team to a lock to make the 53-man roster. What that means for second-year wide receiver Dont’e Thornton Jr. might not be ideal.
Thornton Jr. has missed four straight practices with injury and was trending toward potentially being a player on the roster bubble before he missed time.
Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter talked about Thornton this week and he believes the Raiders could have an opportunity to stash the former Tennessee wide receiver on injured reserve rather than release him.
“I feel bad for him. I know he wants to be out there,” Carpenter said on the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast.
“The kid is a grinder. This is not good for him to be missing camp, but one advantage could be that it may be a way that they don’t have to cut him. [They can] put him on IR to start the year. Think about that. Don’t forget that one. It could be a thing.”
Myers agrees Benson and Thornton Jr. could be in competition
If Benson makes the roster (and he obviously will), it’s easy to see how Thornton could be the odd man out among the wide receiver group in Las Vegas.
Last week, Myers said alluded to that idea even before the talk of Benson being Mendoza’s no. 1 target.
“They went and drafted Malik Benson. That’s a name… I like to give you a name or two to pay attention to. Malik Benson, sixth round pick wide receiver out of Oregon. I think that might be a guy that you hear at the end of the training camp [and] preseason, ‘Hey, this guy is making some noise.'” Myers said on NFL Spotlight with Ari Meirov on Friday.
“I honestly believe it’s going to be a big competition between Benson and Thornton, who’s going to be out there. And why I give the advantage to Benson is he’s also a special teams guy. Kick return, punt return, and the Raiders haven’t had a threat in that game in a very, very long time.”
x: @raidersbeat
Thornton lit up camp last year. I’ll wait until some games before we act like we nailed the class