The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's American Football Conference West Division. Founded on January 30, 1960, as the Oakland Raiders, they were a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and joined the NFL in 1970 following the AFL–NFL merger. The team departed Oakland to play in Los Angeles from the 1982 season through the 1994 season, becoming the Los Angeles Raiders, before returning to Oakland and switching back to being the Oakland Raiders at the start of the 1995 season. Prior to the start of the 2020 season, the Raiders moved to Las Vegas and changed their name to the Las Vegas Raiders. The team began utilizing Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, for home games the same year.

The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.

Before the merger agreements in 1966, the AFL directly competed with the NFL and held a separate draft. This led to a bidding war over top prospects between the two leagues, along with the subsequent drafting of the same player in each draft. As part of the merger agreement on June 8, 1966, the two leagues began holding a multiple round "common draft". Once the AFL officially merged with the NFL in 1970, the "common draft" simply became the NFL draft. The first AFL draft was held prior to the start of the 1960 season. The first round of the 1960 AFL draft was territorial selections. Each team received a "territorial pick" which allowed them to select a single player within a pre-agreed upon designated region (the team's "territory"). Teams then agreed on the top eight players at each position, who were subsequently assigned to teams by random draw, with each of the eight teams receiving one of those players. This process was repeated until all 53 roster spots were filled. Beginning in the 1961 draft, the AFL, using the same system as the NFL, began to assign picks based on the previous season's standings.

Since the team's first draft, the Raiders have selected 66 players in the first round. The team's first-round pick in the inaugural AFL draft was Dale Hackbart, a defensive back from Wisconsin; he was the team's territorial selection. The Raiders have drafted first overall twice, selecting JaMarcus Russell in the 2007 NFL draft. In the most recent draft, held in 2026, the Raiders selected Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza.

The Raiders did not draft a player in the first round on eleven occasions. Five of the team's first-round picks—Marcus Allen, Tim Brown, Ray Guy, Gene Upshaw, and Charles Woodson—have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Raiders used four first-round picks in the 1960s to select players—Roman Gabriel, Dale Hackbart, Tony Lorick, and Joe Rutgens—who chose to sign with the NFL instead.

Player selections

+ Key Symbol Meaning Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame * Selected number one overall

Position abbreviations C Center CB Cornerback DB Defensive back DE Defensive end DT Defensive tackle G Guard K Placekicker LB Linebacker P Punter QB Quarterback RB Running back S Safety T Tackle TE Tight end WR Wide receiver

+Las Vegas Raiders first-round draft picks Season Pick Player Position College Notes 1960 Territorial QB Wisconsin First round was territorial selections. Signed for the NFL's Green Bay Packers instead. 1961 4 DT Illinois Signed for the NFL's Washington Redskins instead 1962 2 QB NC State Signed for the NFL's Los Angeles Rams instead 1963 Pick traded to Dallas Texans 1964 7 RB Arizona State Signed for the NFL's Baltimore Colts instead 1965 3 T Memphis 1966 Did not make any selections until the seventh round 1967 17 G Texas A&M-Kingsville 1968 25 WR Tennessee State 1969 22 DT Syracuse 1970 24 TE Morgan State 1971 19 DB Ohio State 1972 21 WR Villanova 1973 23 P Southern Mississippi 1974 19 T Florida A&M 1975 24 DB Ohio State 1976 Pick traded to Green Bay Packers 1977 Pick traded to Green Bay Packers 1978 Pick traded to Green Bay Packers 1979 Pick traded to Los Angeles Rams 1980 15 QB BYU 1981 21 DB Texas Tech Pick received from Houston Oilers 23 G Washington Moved up draft order in trade with Buffalo Bills 1982 10 RB USC 1983 26 C USC 1984 Pick traded to New England Patriots 1985 23 WR Florida State 1986 24 DE Pittsburgh 1987 15 T Missouri 1988 6 WR Notre Dame 9 DB Tennessee Pick received from Houston Oilers 25 DE Illinois Moved up draft order in trade with San Francisco 49ers 1989 Pick traded to Chicago Bears 1990 11 DE Arizona 1991 24 QB USC 1992 16 DT Clemson 1993 12 DB Texas A&M 1994 22 LB Michigan State 1995 18 RB Washington 1996 9 TE Ohio State Moved down draft order in trade with Houston Oilers 1997 2 DT USC Moved up draft order in trade with New Orleans Saints 1998 4 DB Michigan 23 G Florida Moved up draft order in trade with Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1999 18 G Georgia 2000 17 K Florida State 2001 28 DB Florida State 2002 17 DB Miami Pick received from Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Moved up draft order in trades with Washington Redskins and Atlanta Falcons. 23 LB Northwestern 2003 31 DB California 32 DE Colorado Pick received from Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2004 2 T Iowa 2005 23 DB Nebraska Original pick traded to Minnesota Vikings. Pick received from New York Jets. Moved up draft order in trade with Seattle Seahawks. 2006 7 DB Texas 2007 1 * QB LSU 2008 4 RB Arkansas 2009 7 WR Maryland 2010 8 LB Alabama 2011 Pick traded to New England Patriots 2012 Pick traded to Cincinnati Bengals 2013 12 DB Houston Moved down draft order in trade with Miami Dolphins 2014 5 LB Buffalo 2015 4 WR Alabama 2016 14 S West Virginia 2017 24 CB Ohio State 2018 15 T UCLAMoved down draft order in trade with Arizona Cardinals 2019 4 DE Clemson 24 RB Alabama Pick received from Chicago Bears 27 S Mississippi State Pick received from Dallas Cowboys 2020 12 WR Alabama 19 CB Ohio State Pick received from Chicago Bears 2021 17 T Alabama 2022 Pick traded to Green Bay Packers 2023 7 DE Texas Tech 2024 13 TE Georgia 2025 6 RB Boise State 20261 *QBIndiana

See also History of the Las Vegas Raiders List of Las Vegas Raiders seasons

Notes

References