The Raiders believe they have found their franchise quarterback in Fernando Mendoza, but the expectation is that Kirk Cousins will begin the year at the top of the depth chart and ESPN’s Adam Schefter believes it could be December before Mendoza gets his first start.
Training camp and preseason will give the coaching staff a better idea of Mendoza’s timeline to start, but Raider Nation Radio host Q Myers said this week that the team has no reason to rush him into action.
“I don’t see where they have to all of a sudden go ahead and throw him in there week one,” Myers said on the Locked on Raiders Squad Show podcast.
“Obviously, he’s going to play at some point, [but] they brought in Kirk Cousins for a reason, and I will tell you from what I’m seeing at OTA is very early on, Kirk Cousins has very good command of this offense. He has very good command of the huddle, He’s able to line guys up when they’re not in the right spot, he’s able to put them in the right spot. So there’s a lot of things that that veteran quarterback is going to be able to do and continue to teach Fernando Mendoza without ever teaching him anything.”
“I keep cautioning Raider Nation that you don’t have to be so anxious to get [Mendoza] there day one,” Myers continued.
“If he comes out of training camp [and] preseason and he is no doubt about it, the guy, okay, cool. But from what we’ve heard from the players so far, Kirk Cousins has been stepping up in a major way.”
Regardless of how the next few months play out, Cousins is going to be in a unique position in his 15th NFL season.
Even if he plays well, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where the decision makers in Las Vegas wouldn’t turn the team over to Mendoza before the end of season.
Additionally, there is going to be a lot of pressure on Cousins to play well out of the gate – at least from the fans’ standpoint. A few bad throws from Cousins to start the season and it’s not hard to imagine how the fan base (hypothetically) is going to react.
x: @raidersbeat
Give me George Blanda or Donald Hollas.
“…there is going to be a lot of pressure on Cousins to play well out of the gate – at least from the fans’ standpoint. A few bad throws from Cousins to start the season and it’s not hard to imagine how the fan base (hypothetically) is going to react.” If the fan base screams, cries and whines, it just shows you how much the Raider fan base has deteriorated since the Move to Vegas. All indications are that The Raiders have finally made the Correct moves on many levels to rebuild this storied franchise into a long term success story. Tired of instability and LOSING??? Let the football people do their jobs AND give them the time to fix this for a Long Term Gain!!!!