The Raiders plan to start Kirk Cousins until Fernando Merndoza is ready, but is there a chance Mendoza will be ready to play week one?
The popular opinion of those around the team seems to be that Cousins will start at least a few regular season games, but the California Post’s Vinny Bonsignore continues to believe a quarterback competition is going to play out in Las Vegas over the next few weeks.
“There’s actually a real QB battle in Raiders camp,” Bonsignore posted on X. “I still believe Kirk gets the opener, but it’s not etched in stone. Fernando has a real chance to win the job.”
Adding to the intrigue on Tuesday night was the team’s first practice inside Allegiant Stadium and it sounded like Mendoza was trending in the good direction.
For what it’s worth, Bonsignore isn’t alone in his reporting on the Raiders’ quarterback situation.
Others have articulated it differently, but some of the most respected insiders in the industry have hinted that the door will be left open just a little for Mendoza to win the job.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on the Raiders QB Competition
“Do they really have a QB battle is an interesting conversation,” Rapoport said on NFL Network’s The Insiders last month.
“Obviously Fernando Mendoza was the no. 1 overall pick. It certainly seems like the way they are planning, the way they are hoping for it to all be, is for Kirk Cousins to be the starter at the beginning of the season, throughout the season, at the end of the season because that means he is playing well. He has stayed healthy and that means Fernando Mendoza can just sit there and learn.”
“If that is the way it goes for the Raiders, that is absolutely fine. But it’s not a guarantee,” Rapoport continued.
“The reason I say that is because we have seen this in the past. You say we’re going to sit this rookie. He’s probably not going to play. He’s going to learn. What if Mendoza hits the ground running so fast and so well that they say, ‘This guy has to play.’”
“It might not be game one but it could be early in the season and if that is the case for the Raiders. that also is excellent news. It does make it a little awkward in the QB room, but still news that the no. 1 overall pick is exactly who they hope he will be.”
Bonsignore made a similar statement on Mendoza in July
“I think that there’s people in that building who fully expect Fernando to put himself right in the running to start day one. Flat out, I don’t think there won’t be any hesitation to start him if that is the case and there’s people in the building [that] kind of fully expect that to be the case,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate.
“So I’m not ruling out rule week one and… I think it would almost be a waste not to play him this year, because I’m looking at 2027 as the year where things really in a powerful way for the Raiders, they are really announcing themselves. So why would you wait until 2027 or late in this season and [to] not take full advantage of this year as a development year for Fernando Mendoza on the football field, not behind the scenes watching Kurt Cousins?”
“I think that would be my preference and I think that there are people in the building that are going to be open minded about, okay, if he’s ready to go out there and acquit himself and he’s not going to get destroyed by the offensive line and we feel good about that part of it, I feel like they’ll make that decision. Now we’ll have to wait and see because anything can happen in training camp one way or the other, but they are open minded about getting him on the field as quickly as possible.”
x: @raidersbeat