Every indication is that the Raiders are going to draft Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, and according to multiple reports, Mendoza has already begun the process of learning the Raiders’ new offense under Klint Kubiak.
Last week, ESPN’s Louis Riddick said Mendoza has been working with former NFL quarterback Brian Griese and is rapidly picking up the West Coast offense.
This week, Riddick discussed Mendoza’s offseason program with podcast host Kay Adams and shared some of the details the Heisman winning quarterback has been working on with Griese.
“[Mendoza is working on] everything from… how are your feet are supposed to be positioned so you can best get out from underneath center with efficiency and timing… It’s something that’s repeatable, something you realize you can really depend upon,” Riddick said on the Up and Adams Show on Thursday.
“The emphasis of the play fakes, when you’re doing play action, because everyone says, ‘Fernando didn’t play under center. He doesn’t know how to execute play action. The ball handling is going to be weird to him.’ These are all the things that Brian [Griese] is drumming into his head, the timing and the footwork and how it’s supposed to match up with how the routes are run, and when the ball is supposed to come out of your hand,” Riddick continued.
“Brian was a technician. That’s what allowed him to survive in the NFL… For Fernando, obviously, it’s a lot of new learning. He talked to me about that when I went out there for his pro day. But he’s already way ahead of the game. He’s already on it. Brian has already texted me and said, ‘Look, he’s way ahead of where maybe people think he is at this point, in terms of learning what the West Coast system is all about, the kind that he’s going to run under Klint [Kubiak] out there in Vegas.’”
In a week, Mendoza’s boss in Las Vegas is going to be Raiders minority owner Tom Brady, and it should come as no surprise that Brady is such a fan of Mendoza.
Brady has always emphasized the mental side of playing quarterback and the importance of preparation. Mendoza is already preparing at a level plenty of NFL quarterbacks aren’t matching.
During the college football playoff, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit talked about Mendoza’s preparation and the work he puts into the mental aspect of playing the quarterback position.
“He would tell you a big part of his success this year has been the prep. He feels like he has the answers,” Herbstreit told ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe.
“He’s been working with a sports psychologist all year,” Rowe added.
“And he’s really worked lately on ‘I have the answers to the puzzle. I know where the puzzle pieces need to go.’ His preparation is legendary. Before he even got to Indiana, he asked for a sheet of every player’s name and a picture of them so that by the time he got to his very first meeting and his very first practice, he had memorized every single kid. So he stepped into the building knowing his teammates, being able to call them by their first names and the preparation is legendary, just like you said.”
x: @raidersbeat
2ND & 7 NEEDS FROM THE GOAL
So, someone asked me, “what is the goal West Side”? The goal is a complete roster, because this is what championship teams have and are. This was true of all of our World Championship and Conference Championship teams and others teams’ championship teams too. (This could be a two-year project because if you net just three starters out of a draft, that is a very excellent draft and I count seven needs here as follows.) So, according to no particular order because the draft big board will determine that many times.
I) A True #1 Wide Receiver. To quote Rich Gannon, “we were a good team with Tim Brown but we became a great team when we added Jerry Rice.”
II) A Dominant Defensive Tackle – Nose Tackle. Yes, pound for pound the games are won in the trenches.
* I can run on this defense as a Raiders opponent because it is light in the pants and we don’t have any D.T.s’ listed over 300 pounds and they all have low PFF scores.
* Who is going to play goal line here that will stop anybody?
* We need D.T.s’ who can collapse the interior pocket and keep Q.B.’s from stepping up into it. We need space eating, two gaping D.T.s’ who can allow our Linebackers to shoot gaps when they are blitzing and roam free while scraping to make tackles.
III) A Free Safety. Much has been said here but all you need to know is Isaiah Pola – Mao’s PFF score of 39.8.
IV) Another Half Back. For the rotation with Ashton Jeanty to help carry the rock and some of the load here. I would like to see a power runner who is not afraid to go through the line and grind it out after contact. That is Raider football, someone who requires multiple hats on the ball to stop him and who can win in short yardage and goal line. In pound for pound contact and win the multiple hits from these Linebackers who are afraid to go head up and that are built like Safeties today.
V) An additional Tackle. Kolton Miller is a top #5 Left Offensive Tackle in the NFL when healthy. The question for Miller now is when he is healthy. For this reason, we need another Tackle for depth. (No disrespect to Miller, one of the last Oakland Raiders whose blood type is Silver and Black.)
VI) A QB. The need is not filled until Mendoza’s name is called. It cannot be understated that there is only one QB who ever worked out for us in the draft who had major success and that was Kenny Stabler taken in the second round of the 1969 draft. I had the honor to meet Kenny several times and talk with him; I will never forget that. All of our other QB’s who had success here were free agents. (No disrespect to Derek Carr who played his heart out on some teams that never had a defense.)
VII) Cornerback. Can you ever have enough Corners in a passing league where many teams are now running a 4-2-5 defense on many a down.
What is clear is even after the draft is there will still be much work to do from the usual sources of players. They all look good in shorts but there will emerge holes post draft which are hard to see from the building in LV.
Raider On Nation,
West Side
RN
Since 1974
Live game experience, zero. Under relentless pressure, which he will be, he’s years away if at all being successful.
I’ll beat that horse into a pulp. (Without prejudice) just facts.
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
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