It’s been almost 20 years since the Raiders had the no. 1 pick in the draft and the hope of every Raider fan is that the organization doesn’t make the kind of mistake they did in 2007.
On Friday, Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers talked about the Fernando Mendoza era that has officially begun in Las Vegas and explained why he isn’t worried about Mendoza from the standpoint of potentially becoming a Jamarcus Russell variety bust.
“I’ll tell you this. I feel very confident in saying his work ethic alone won’t allow him to be a bust. I don’t mind putting my name on that. I’m a firm believer in, I don’t have to be the most talented dude in the room, but I’ll be the hardest worker in the room. That’s who Fernando Mendoza is. He’s the guy that’s going to go in there and make sure that he works his tail off,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show.
“The only time I look at guys that are busts is when they get fat and happy. When they arrive and all of a sudden, they’re like, ‘Oh, I made it. I don’t have to do anything. I’m not going to work to make my game, elevate my game or even try.”
“[Jamarcus Russell] got fat and happy. He made it to the league, he got the check, he wasn’t happy when he, Link loves body language. I mean, even when he took the picture with the jersey, he wasn’t happy then. He knew what was going on. He had already told the Raiders don’t draft him. He wasn’t feeling that and he didn’t have a good work ethic,” Myers continued.
“The Raiders didn’t do anything to help him. They didn’t have a very good squad, obviously, and so it wasn’t a lot of help around him, but he also didn’t help himself. That’s when I started looking at… what did you do to help yourself? Did you do everything you could to succeed? No, you didn’t? Okay. Did you go look at the film that was a blank DVD and say, ‘Oh yeah, I checked out the game plan, coach.’ No, you didn’t do that. That’s on you. That’s why I think when you look at Jamarcus Russell, that’s a whole extreme situation because he just wasn’t cut for it. He wasn’t built for it.”
From the standpoint of character and work ethic, Mendoza is ahead of most players entering the league, and there’s no question he has made a big impression on Tom Brady – which is no small statement.
Nevertheless, don’t expect Brady to go easy on his hand-picked quarterback. Mendoza said as much prior to the draft.
“[Tom Brady] gave me the message that he’s going to push me,” Mendoza said last week on the Dan Patrick Show. “He’s not going to be all lovey-dovey – and that if the Raiders draft me, he’s going to be a mentor and wants to pour into whatever quarterback the Raiders have.”
x: @raidersbeat