Fernando Mendoza is just days away from officially joining the Raiders, and every indication is that the Heisman-winning quarterback has impressed the team at every level of the organization.
Some of the stories around specifically how Mendoza has impressed the team will be coming in the weeks ahead, but according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Mendoza wasn’t happy with himself after his first visit with the Raiders at the NFL Combine.
“Minutes after Mendoza, the presumptive No. 1 pick, walked into his first meeting with the Raiders’ front office and coaches at the combine in February, they put him on a FaceTime call with the team’s limited partner owner, Tom Brady. Mendoza finally got to speak to the quarterback that he idolized, and they spoke for about five minutes, exchanging pleasantries for the first of what should be many times. Mendoza then met with the team’s staff for the next 30-plus minutes and was asked to draw plays on a whiteboard,” Schefter reported on Monday.
“When their first meeting ended and Mendoza was leaving the room, he was visibly mad at himself and said loud enough for those around him to hear, ‘I messed that up.’ One Raiders scout walking with him insisted to him that he hadn’t, that Mendoza had done great. He did well enough to help convince Las Vegas to select him with the No. 1 pick, while leaving the team with the impression that its soon-to-be quarterback is always striving to improve.”
Every indication is that Mendoza is picking up the Raiders offense quickly, and he is much farther along in head coach Klint Kubiak’s playbook than anyone expected.
Schefter added that if there is an NFL comp for Mendoza at quarterback, it might be Matt Ryan.
“If there were an NFL comparison for Mendoza, it might be former Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan, who was the No. 3 pick in the 2008 draft,” Schefter said. “Ryan measured 6-foot-5, Mendoza measured 6-foot-5. Ryan weighed 228 pounds, Mendoza weighs 236 pounds. Ryan’s arm length is 32⅝ inches, Mendoza’s arm length is 31⅞ inches. Ryan has 9½-inch hands, Mendoza has 9½-inch hands. And if Mendoza can go on to have the type of NFL career that Ryan had, the Raiders would be more than satisfied.”
There is still more than four months before the start of the 2026 season, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the Raiders handle their quarterback room in the months ahead.
It’s no secret that Brady would prefer to give Mendoza time to develop, and that’s why the Raiders made the move to sign Kirk Cousins two weeks ago.
Every indication out of the Raiders’ building is that no one is locked into the idea of Mendoza starting the season on the sideline. It might play out that way, but it sounds like the plan is to have a legitimate quarterback competition between now and the end beginning of September.
Listening to Cousins last week, it sounds like he has every intention of grooming Mendoza but also winning the starting job. And whatever way it plays out, training camp and preseason are going to be fascinating to follow.
x: @raidersbeat
REVISED DRAFT BASED ON NEW PROJECTIONS….
1. FERNANDO MENDOZA
2. DANI DENNIS-SUTTON
3. MIKE WASHINGTON JR.
4. KEVIN COLEMAN JR.
5. JUDE BOWRY
6. JAEDEN ROBERTS
7. ZANE DURANT
8. VJ PAYNE
9. ANDRE FULLER
10. ERIC GENTRY
Gotta love Ferdie’s tongue in cheek tell everytime he’s locked on his target.
One rule. Easy to follow. Kinda dumb if you don’t know the history:
Just Win Baby…
That dies decades ago with me. After Al gained majority ownership and did what he did to Marcus. His actions built a resentment inside me. All the greatness he built he burned to the ground and covered us in sewage. Literally. Just the memories of the Oakland Alameda county Colosseum bathrooms are also fresh in my mind. And on a pair of my favorite pair of silver and black air Jordan’s.