The Raiders’ preseason came to an end on Thursday night and even though head coach Klint Kubiak continues to make public statements about the depth chart not being set at quarterback, it seems obvious from the outside that Kirk Cousins is going to be the starter for now.
Fernando Mendoza wasn’t sharp for the second consecutive game in the Raiders’ preseason finale, and even before the game former Raider great Matt Millen made a strong statement about Mendoza not being ready to be the starter.
“I’m going to be completely straight with you, the young quarterback is not ready yet,” Millen said on Thursday’s pre-game show with Q Myers and Lincoln Kennedy.
“You can see him making steps. Every now and then a [Dan] Marino comes around or somebody like that. Just like, ‘What the heck is he doing? He’s not supposed to do that.’ But it usually takes about three years to learn this league. And while you’re learning this league, they’re learning you. And so Fernando has an excellent arm. He has excellent mobility. He sees the field. He’s a great worker. He has a really good work ethic, which that’s half the battle.”
“But he’s going to see things that he’s never seen before. And he’ll be able to process all that and put it in his lunchbox and move on for the next game. But he’s going to get fooled sometimes and we have to expect that.”
Raiders have given Mendoza a perfect situation to learn
Mendoza finished Thursday’s game against the 49ers’ second-string defense 7-14 for 57 yards, with an interception and was sacked twice.
The good news for Mendoza is the Raiders are going to allow him time to develop, and Millen said that with Cousins in the building, the Raiders have the best quarterback room in the NFL.
“Honestly, I think the Raiders did a phenomenal job,” Millen said of the team’s decision to add Kirk Cousins to the quarterback room in the offseason.
“I think they probably have the best quarterback room in the league. I think Kirk Cousins is one of those guys who’s like a goody two-shoes guy who if you get into a fight, he’d kick your ***. You go, ‘He’s not supposed to do that.’ I’ve always liked that about Kirk. He’s been like that his whole career. He has that nice goody two-shoes kind of thing going with him, but he ain’t afraid to throw down…”
Looking ahead, the Raiders have a little more than two weeks to prepare for the Miami Dolphins in the season opener, and it will be interesting to see what Mendoza’s timeline to the top of the depth chart looks like after Thursday’s game.
The Raiders play the Dolphins, Chargers and Saints in September, but October might be a month they want to keep their rookie quarterback on the sideline.
In October, the Raiders have a road game against the Patriots and home games against the Chiefs, Bills and Rams. The schedule softens up a little in November with the Jets, Seahawks, Broncos and finally the Browns, which has been a game some have pointed at from the beginning as a potentially soft landing spot for Mendoza to make his regular season debut.
x: @raidersbeat