Is Fernando Mendoza a lock to be drafted by the Raiders with the first-overall pick?
Based on comments from NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah on Friday, the Raiders haven’t just made up their mind on Mendoza… they already have him learning the playbook.
“Fernando Mendoza is working with Brian Griese right now and it’s not so much that they are working on foot work, they’re installing the Raiders offense,” Jeremiah said on the Pat McAfee Show.
“He’s full speed ahead,” Jeremiah continued. “This is the same thing that happened with [Joe] Burrow where you can use this time to really try and learn a lot of the core verbiage and concepts along with an offense. I’d be shocked, stunned, astonished if he’s not the first overall pick. I don’t see that going any other direction.”
Mendoza is Jeremiah’s top graded player in the 2026 draft and last month he shared what he believes is Mendoza’s best attribute as a quarterback.
“The best attribute that he has, to be honest with you, I’d say is his toughness,” Jeremiah said in February.
“I think if you go through and look at all these great quarterbacks over the years, I’ve always harped on poise being a big part of it. The Hall of Famers, I did a study a long time ago, and you see all different sizes. You’ll see different arm strength; you’ll see different athleticism. But they all had a poise to them, and that also has to do with the toughness,” Jeremiah continued.
“When you get drilled early in the game – as he did a couple times – and you don’t see any rattle to him at all, he locks back in. There’s a mental and a physical toughness to him that I think is going to serve him well. And I would imagine with Tom Brady in the building, as someone who had a reputation for both the mental and physical toughness, that those traits will be appreciated.”
x: @raidersbeat
Feature Image: Jan 4, 2026; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders fans hold a sign during a game between the Raiders and the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth quarter at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
It has to be Mendoza!
Good. The biggest thing we need to see from him this year is to be comfortable in the offense. The prep he does now will go a long way in giving him an advantage
JIM PLUNKET II & FERNANDO MENDOZA DEJVU
Fernando Mendoza is the man who will lead us back to the promised land. So, someone asked me, “what would make you say this West Side?” I’m glad they asked, sit down and flash back with with me back into Raider history and the “Jim Plunkett II & Fernando Mendoza Dejvu factor.” For this has to do with their similar biographies that simply spell winner for both these great players.
Jim Plunkett simply won the biggest games at every level of football period. Jim won the California state High School Football Championship in 1967, a really big deal in a big time football state. The Heisman trophy winner, Rose Bowl winner and first over all pick of the Boston Patriots in the year of 1971. Jim went on to be the rookie of the year and then went on to win the Raiders two Super Bowls. Jim always made a big difference in a game whenever he stepped out onto the field. Jim was and is to this very day a big time winner who won the biggest of games.
Fast forward to our similar winner in the person of Fernando Mendoza who like Plunkett before him in this last year won: the Heisman trophy, a National Championship, will be taken as the the first over all pick and become a Raider as well too. Mendoza’s story is only in the beginning stage but when you draw comparisons to Jim Plunkett one thing is clear, Fernando Mendoza is the man with no limits.
Jim Plunkett did have a rough go of it in Boston because they were never able to provide him with a good Offensive Line. Jim got beat up here and injured too, but fortunately a dominant Raiders with a dominant Offensive Line redeemed him and gave him the time he never had with the Patriots or 49ers. If we can provide Mendoza with a great line, Fernando is the man who will lead us back to the promised land.
Make some noise Raider Nation for the Offensive Tackle depth this great Quarter Back needs now and the Offensive Linemen he will need in the future as he requires them, so that he may succeed for us in what is the ultimate team sport.
Of course these are also two great Latino Players as well who are good football players, but too often some of the most over looked players. What I am proud of as a Raider fan is we have never had segregated teams and I hope we never do. We want our Silver with our Black players and that is to say a healthy mix of players because this is what championship teams are made of and look like. What other team in the NFL can say they have had three great Latino quarterbacks as Mendoza takes on Tom Flores’ old #15.
If Jim Plunkett was before you go to jimplunkett.com and read more about this great Raider who should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Raider On,
West Side
RN
Since 1974
“With the number 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, the las Vegas Raiders select Fernando Valenzuela.”
1. FERNANDO MENDOZA
36. MAX IHEANACHOR
67. DANI DENNIS-SUTTON
102. ANTONIO WILLIAMS
117. NICHOLAS SINGLETON
134. ZANE DURANT
175. TACARIO DAVIS
185. RED MURDOCK
208. BISHOP FITZGERALD
219. ERIC GENTRY