Will the Raiders give Fernando Mendoza a legitimate opportunity to win the starting job before the start of the season?
According to the California Post’s Vinny Bonsignore, the decision makers in Las Vegas are leaving the door open for their no. 1 pick to seize the job during training camp and preseason, but the more realistic scenario is that Mendoza will spend a short time behind Cousins on the depth chart.
“I think the way it most likely will play out for Fernando Mendoza, if I were to gauge it or predict it, is either he just completely dominates… and out of training camp, proves to the Raiders and the Raiders feel good about where they are as a team to support him, and he starts the season day one. That is definitely on the table,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate. “Don’t believe anything about that’s not on the table. So that is out there for him.”
“But more realistically, it’s going to be Kirk Cousins to start the season, and I think the plan is for Fernando to play an extensive amount of football in 2026. There will be a handoff at some point for him. When that is, at what point in the season that is, you know, it’s hard to say right now. I do think that the plan would be, the ideal plan would be for him to get about nine, ten games under his belt, right? So that’s kind of the plan for this year.”
Bonsignore said there are dynamics that could change the Raiders timeline on Mendoza, and Cousins’ play on the field will be a factor.
“There are a couple of variables that could change that outcome or change that plan and one of them is Kirk Cousins is either playing really good, or Kirk Cousins is playing really bad. So if he’s playing really good and the Raiders are winning some football games, they’re going to ride that out. They’re going to allow that to ride out,” Bonsignore said.
“You can’t fool the locker room, number one. You don’t want to try to fool your fans and deny them an opportunity for a nice, fun, winning season. So they’re going to let that play out. They owe it to themselves to allow that to play out. Now, the likelihood of that, they play a tough schedule… so it’s hard to see them going on some major run.”
Earlier this week, Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer said he expects the Raiders to give Mendoza a limited number of first team reps with the offense once the team reports to training camp.
“Two things have been clear. The first is that Mendoza’s reputation as a worker and as being coachable checked out—his presence has been constant at the facility, and he has shown the ability to absorb what he’s being taught and translate it to the practice field quickly,” Breer reported on Monday.
“Second, Kirk Cousins and Mendoza already have a really strong relationship, which should help the rookie as he navigates his first season as a pro. So given all that, could Mendoza win the job? I think it’s probably unlikely. Kubiak, I believe, will be very deliberate in how the Raiders bring Mendoza along, as much as anything to ensure that the progress he’s making takes and becomes permanent. But it does sound like the Raiders will sprinkle Mendoza in with the first team this summer—with Cousins’s extensive background in the scheme giving them more flexibility to do so—as part of the rookie’s larger development plan.”
x: @raidersbeat
Mrs. Gump said it best.