It’s no secret where Fernando Mendoza is going to be taken in the draft and when the Raiders finally take him with the no. 1 pick, the Heisman-winning quarterback will already be ahead of the curve in learning Klint Kubiak’s offense.
Mendoza has been working with former NFL quarterback Brian Griese (a former University of Michigan quarterback for what it’s worth) on getting more comfortable in the West Coast offense, and ESPN’s Louis Riddick said last week that Mendoza is well ahead of schedule in his development.
On Monday, Mendoza was asked on the Up and Adams Show about the work he has been putting in with Griese, and he told host Kay Adams that he’s trying to eliminate some of the learning process that rookie quarterbacks tend to go through in their first week or two with the team.
Mendoza added that it’s going to take some time for him to get everything right.
“I have a lot to improve… it’s a different game,” Mendoza said on the Up and Adams Show.
“Having the under center work and trying to make the run action look the same as the pass action is very important to fooling the defense… so I’m just trying to do the best I can in that sense. It’s going to take a while and I’m very far from a finished product.”
Mendoza downplayed the idea that he already knows the team that’s going to draft him (the NFL probably appreciates that sentiment), but he has essentially been handed a version of Kubiak’s playbook and is trying to understand as much of the Raiders’ offensive system as possible before OTAs begin in May.
When practices start ramping up for the Raiders, Mendoza will be competing with Kirk Cousins for the starting job, and Mendoza told Adams that he has been studying Cousins all the way back to his time at the University of California.
“I was able to watch all of his clips from the Minnesota Vikings,” Mendoza told Adams.
“Funny enough, when I was at Berkeley, I watched him just to learn from his game. The way that he reads defenses and his footwork, and to be able to have this full circle moment, someone you have studied, to potentially have the opportunity to play with, someone who is a man of God, who’s very cerebral and has had so much success throughout his entire career, would be an absolute blessing.”
x: @raidersbeat
NFL game experience and class room/practice field, a different galaxy.