On Wednesday, the Raiders officially announced Kirk Cousins as the starting quarterback.
There were plenty of signs pointing to Cousins as the likely starter, but with head coach Klint Kubiak choosing not to name a starting quarterback until September 2, it seemed like the door might still be open for Fernando Mendoza to potentially seize the job.
That door might not have been open, though.
According to The Athletic’s Ted Nguyen, the decision to start Cousins was made even before Mendoza was drafted, and NFL Network’s Peter Schrager reported on Wednesday that Tom Brady was heavily involved in the decision to keep Mendoza on the sideline.
“As long as Tom Brady was a part of this, and I’m told this year he has been very vocal and has been a part of it, they weren’t going to rush their first overall pick just to sell some extra tickets or to sell a jersey. They were going to make sure that he’s ready to go,” Schrager said on the Pat McAfee Show.
Just prior to the Raiders announcing Cousins as the starter, ESPN’s Dan Graziano said Brady has been adamant that young quarterbacks benefit from time on the sideline.
“Coach Klint Kubiak can play it as coy as he wants, but don’t be fooled: The Raiders absolutely, 100% plan to start veteran Kirk Cousins in Week 1,” Graziano wrote on Wednesday.
“They have been telling people since the combine that they don’t want to play Mendoza right away. Team executive and part owner Tom Brady has an influential voice in the building and has argued strongly that young quarterbacks are better off when they can sit and learn behind a veteran rather than being thrust into a starter’s role right away.”
“The Raiders want to make sure they don’t play Mendoza until he’s ready — and until they’re ready for him. They have issues to sort out on their offensive line and in their unproven wide receiver corps, and while they work through those questions, they believe the veteran Cousins is better suited to solve problems that might arise as a result. Las Vegas loves Mendoza and everything he has been since he got there, but the team wants him to be able to work on the parts of his game that need improving and for him to do it without feeling any pressure to rush.”
Graziano even added that if the Raiders need to go to a backup quarterback early in the season, there is a good chance it would be Aidan O’Connell – which is something that was mentioned as a reason to keep O’Connell in the first place.
When will the Raiders turn to Mendoza?
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the consensus around the league has been that Cousins will start at the beginning of the season, but Schefter didn’t seem to think the wait for Mendoza is going to be long.
“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 on Monday.
“I think that’s the way it’s been trending all along and Mendoza had moments in the preseason,” Schefter said on the Pat McAfee show this week.
“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.”
x: @raidersbeat
Preseason means nothing about a Q except for accuracy. And that’s to be taken with a grain of salt considering whether the receiver is on time and route specific.