Last month, ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the Raiders’ plan was to start Kirk Cousins at the beginning of the season and bring Fernando Mendoza along at a “very slow and casual” pace.
On Monday, Schefter said he still thinks the Raiders are going to start Cousins in week 1, but his confidence seems to be shifting a little on how long it will take for Mendoza to take over. Schefter said he was told this week by someone in the league that the Raiders’ will start Mendoza “sooner than you think.”
“I still think it’s going to be Kirk. I’d be surprised if it was anybody else other than Kirk at this point and time,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee Show.
“I think that’s the way it’s been trending all along and Mendoza had moments in the preseason. There’s no doubt his time is coming. He’s going to be the starter. He’s going to be the face of the franchise. The question is how soon. I was texting with someone yesterday, they’re like ‘sooner than you think.'”
“I still think, I’m not telling you, I think Cousins starts the opener against the Miami Dolphins. I think they want to go with the veteran when there are some tough games on the schedule. I think they would love to wait until week 13 [to start Mendoza]. I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Schefter believes Cousins will remain the starter in Las Vegas as long as things are going well, but reminded McAfee’s audience that it’s unlikely the Raiders are going to be setting the world on fire with wins.
“I don’t know if they are a good enough team to play well enough to keep the rookie on the bench,” Schefter continued, “and these teams are always saying ‘We’re going to be patient with our first overall pick. We’re not going to rush the quarterback.’ And lo and behold the last six quarterbacks picked no. 1 overall have started week 1.”
For what it’s worth, Sports Illustrated’s Hondo Carpenter has mentioned on a couple of occasions that he believes the Raiders are targeting the Cleveland Browns in week 12 as the ideal game to start Mendoza.
After the Browns, the Raiders have a bye week and consecutive home games against the Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans.
x: @raidersbeat
the idea is backwards. if the team is trash and cant block, why rush him in to fail