Everyone knows who the Raiders are planning to take with the no. 1 pick in the draft and at least one NFL executive believes Fernando Mendoza might the best quarterback prospect to enter the draft since C.J. Stroud.
But not everyone is sold on the Raiders future QB1 as we learned a few weeks ago with Bomani Jones.
The latest Mendoza skeptic, though, is someone who actually played football at the highest level and said on Monday that the Heisman-winning quarterback is not a “great” quarterback.
“Can we keep in real [on the quarterback]? I love what Indiana did. I think that Curt Cignetti is probably the greatest college coach of all time… [Mendoza] is not great,” former Eagles running back LeSean McCoy said on the Speakeasy podcast.
“When I watch [Mendoza] though. When I watch the player. The eye test. I want everyone to hear what I’m saying. You can always get better. But the eye test? Don’t tell me… he’s the no. 1 pick overall,” McCoy continued, with the full support of co-host T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
Prior to winning the NCAA National Championship, Bomani Jones had a similar message on Mendoza. And like McCoy, Jones wasn’t able to pinpoint what he didn’t like about Mendoza, but said he knew what a no. 1 quarterback looks like and Mendoza wasn’t it.
“I got people asking me [about] Fernando Mendoza. Is he what the Raiders need and I watched Mendoza. We’ll talk a little bit more about that game, and Mendoza looks like something I’ve seen very many times, which is a very good college quarterback,” Jones said on The Right Time with Bomani Jones.
“I know what the no. 1 pick in the draft look like. That ain’t it. Even if you think Cam Ward’s not going to be that guy, you look at Cam Ward with the Titans and you’re like ‘That guy was the no. 1 pick in the draft.’ You see that.”
“Mendoza. Eww. I don’t know.”
There will be plenty of time to break down Mendoza’s NFL career, but for the next three months there will be plenty of media personalities tossing around sound bites about why Mendoza’s 41 touchdowns and 6 interceptions at Indiana didn’t pass the eye test.
No doubt, Mendoza’s athletic abilities will be questioned with no reference to his touchdown run in the fourth quarter of the NCAA title game.
The modern NFL is looking for quarterbacks like Caleb Williams and Josh Allen, who possess elite arm strength with an uncanny ability to avoid sacks.
But as Williams and Allen both put on display in the playoffs, sometimes it’s the throws that quarterbacks don’t make that take their teams to the Super Bowl.
Allen repeatedly missed open targets in the Bills’ AFC Divisional Round loss to the Broncos, and while everyone was still celebrating Williams’ game-tying touchdown throw against the Rams in the NFC Championship, he threw one of his worst interceptions of the season and handed the game back to the Rams.
For what it’s worth, McCoy has also taken a strong stand on Sam Darnold in recent weeks, and he hasn’t backed down on his criticisms of Darnold, despite the fact that Seattle is playing in the Super Bowl.
“Y‘all got the pompoms on [for Darnold]? Not me,” McCoy said. “I think he played well, but if you’re asking the real question, the real question is where was the Rams’ defense at? Where was the Rams’ special teams at?”
“What do you want me to say? He’s a great quarterback? When I watch the game, the Rams made it super easy for him. They rushed four all day, and they played zone.”
And so moving forward it might be best to take McCoy’s comments with some context and know that it will probably be someone else’s accomplishment if Mendoza goes on to have a successful career with the Raiders.
x: @raidersbeat
ll these black critics mad at the fact that the best QB in college football isn’t black, can throw like a real QB, is intelligent (unlike the darker toned ones), and just wins with humility and doesn’t do any ghetto dancing, or doesn’t have a ghetto name like they do. F@CK all the black critics. Pinchi Putos!
Sad, but true!
The Raiders need a QB. By all the so called analysists that I’ve seen, Mendoza is likely the be the top of the list. Good QB prospects are never an abundant commodity in the draft. If the Raiders pass on him, he will be snapped up. So what does McCoy suggest?
McCoy who?
If we’re getting Kubiak, there’s no better choice this year at qb. He’s gonna sit most of year one anyway and watch Geno get pounded.
you think their could be some racism in his words ??
I believe that mendoza has to be the one! I mean come on mCcoy! You can bad mouth the guy all you want but a heisman and a national title don’t spell loser to me. So take your opinion somewhere else cause raider nation will rise up with a brown (not black) brother this time around. So don’t be hating or downplaying accomplishments from someone other then your folks bra! I drop the mike on your ignorant ***. Out…