Brandon Cleveland News: Reeled in by Raiders

The Raiders selected Cleveland in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 229th overall.

Cleveland was a distinguished two-gap tackle for North Carolina State, and one way or another he should prove a useful enough pick for the Raiders this late. The concern with Cleveland's NFL projection is that at 6-foot-3, 307 pounds, he doesn't have as much natural anchor as you'd like in a nose tackle, especially given Cleveland's lack of explosiveness otherwise. Cleveland has only one calling card -- eating interior blocks to crowd the ground game -- but it's not clear if his anchor will set well enough to play as well in the NFL as it did in college.