The Raiders are expected to go into the start of the 2026 season with Kirk Cousins as their starting quarterback, but is there a chance Fernando Mendoza could win the job before the start of the season?
According to the California Post’s Vinny Bonsignore, there are people in the Raiders’ building who expect Mendoza to put himself in the running to start right away, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler seemed to support that sentiment this week on ESPN’s NFL Live.
“The expectation is that [Kirk Cousins] is well positioned to be the early season starter,” Fowler said on ESPN’s NFL Live on Monday.
“Talking to people in Vegas, they say ‘Mendoza will be ready when he’s ready and that’s kind of a nice feeling because they don’t have to rush him into week 1 action until he’s full prepared. He’s been learning the under center [and] play action stuff in Klint Kubiak’s offense. They’re leaving a little wiggle room if he shows up for training camp and just wows everybody and takes the job, he could play.”
“But they’re going to do it when he’s fully ready. There’s a plan. They’re just not trying to rush him.”
Bonsignore: Raiders won’t hesitate to start Mendoza when he’s ready
Two weeks ago, Bonsignore used the term “open minded” to describe the Raiders’ approach to Mendoza’s place on the depth chart going into the season.
“I think that there’s people in that building who fully expect Fernando to put himself right in the running to start day one. Flat out, I don’t think there won’t be any hesitation to start him if that is the case and there’s people in the building [that] kind of fully expect that to be the case,” Bonsignore said on Raider Nation Radio’s Morning Tailgate.
“So I’m not ruling out rule week one and… I think it would almost be a waste not to play him this year, because I’m looking at 2027 as the year where things really in a powerful way for the Raiders, they are really announcing themselves. So why would you wait until 2027 or late in this season and [to] not take full advantage of this year as a development year for Fernando Mendoza on the football field, not behind the scenes watching Kurt Cousins?”
“I think that would be my preference and I think that there are people in the building that are going to be open minded about, okay, if he’s ready to go out there and acquit himself and he’s not going to get destroyed by the offensive line and we feel good about that part of it, I feel like they’ll make that decision. Now we’ll have to wait and see because anything can happen in training camp one way or the other, but they are open minded about getting him on the field as quickly as possible.”
x: @raidersbeat
BS story – the O-Line protection is currently a mystery, and needs to be seen for at least 6-8 games prior to throwing that kid into a risky injury because the O-Line is still a bit shabby
only when they can block for him to not rip his head off
I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again, NOTHING ( no position group in football ) is MORE IMPORTANT than THE OFFENSIVE LINE!!! Lincoln Kennedy has it right!!! What made the Raiders great, and ANY team successful, is the play of their offensive line. This fact IS NO mystery to ANYONE who knows ANYTHING about football. Ask Joe Burrow, who in my opinion is the best quarterback in pro football, from a thrower’s perspective. Also, from my perspective, the Raiders should have, and still should, trade for Joshua Dobbs who is younger, more athletic and cheaper than Kirk Cousins and a decided upgrade over leadfooted Adian O’Connell. Oh well, another missed opportunity by the Raiders, what’s new? While ANY improvement in the offensive line play will be an upgrade over last year’s edition, the worst in the NFL last year, the addition of a mobile quarterback, over a stationary one, would certainly help this group out while they try to establish themselves.
And, for those of you who want Mendoza to start immediately I say, HIS TIME WILL COME!!! The NFL IS NOT college football and he needs time to acclimate to the speed of the game. If I haven’t thus far been clear let me reiterate, WEAK OFFENSIVE LINE PLAY, MINIMAL WINS!!! Further, the Raiders would be well served to hire Phillip Rivers, who has seen EVERYTHING defenses can throw at a quarterback, to help mentor not only Mendoza but also Kirk Cousins. The reason I’m sure that NONE of these recommendations will come to fruition is because Raiders management routinely shun pragmatism in favor of unbridled optimism. Long ago, someone coined the phrase, “Experience is the best teacher.” Apparently, current Raiders management has yet to learn this lesson. So, the debacle, that is the Las Vegas Raiders continues until they do. As a Raiders fan since 1968, at this point, I’m just hoping for a six win season, that would be double last years total.