When Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza was selected first overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in April’s NFL draft, he updated his biography on LinkedIn to say that he was “focused on preparation, growth and discipline.”
Emphasis on the first part.
It is a quirk of the NFL that teams historically race to draft a quarterback early, then play them as little as possible for much of their first season. Teams view the position as so demanding and the pro game so fast that they want their prized picks to prepare as much as possible before inheriting the pressure of an entire franchise.
Mendoza’s time to prepare ended Tuesday, nine games into his rookie season.
Now, the Raiders need him to produce.
Before Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, Las Vegas (4-5) traded veteran starting quarterback Kirk Cousins and elevated Mendoza to starter ahead of Sunday’s Week 10 matchup against the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks (5-4). Cousins had thrown 20 touchdowns, the most by any quarterback to change teams midseason in NFL history, per NBC Sports research.
After starting 3-0, the Raiders have lost five of their last six games but still have what one playoff tracker pegged this week as a 15% chance to make what would be only the franchise’s third playoff appearance since 2003. Trading Cousins and elevating Mendoza “is no way to signify that we are punting on the season or looking forward to 2027,” Raiders general manager John Spytek said.
“It’s something that [Mendoza] worked very hard for since the moment he walked into this building,” Spytek told reporters this week. “He passed every test. I want to stop short of saying he’s earned it, but he put us in a position where we had to make a really hard decision today with his growth as a person, as a teammate, as a leader, as a quarterback.”
Mendoza is known as a quick study. While attending Cal, he spent his summers away from Berkeley interning at investment firms. In his first and only season at Indiana last fall, Mendoza picked up the Hoosiers’ offensive playbook so quickly that he led the perennial Big Ten doormat to a stunning national championship by using his arms and his feet.
Raiders coach Klint Kubiak, who as an offensive playcaller mentored Sam Darnold during last season’s Super Bowl run with the Seahawks, said that Cousins was “the right role model” for Mendoza to learn from and accelerate his acclimation to the NFL.
“It’s time to rally around Fernando,” center Tyler Linderbaum said. “Everyone has to step up and play for him. Obviously, it’s never easy being a rookie in that first game, but there’s 10 other guys on the field with him, there’s a whole defense, special teams unit, and just be there for him. Let him play with confidence. We’ve seen it every day in practice, the plays he can make.”
Mendoza’s only snaps to this point came Oct. 11 when he played late in a blowout loss to the New England Patriots and completed 6 of his 8 passes. Rookie debuts are inherently difficult; quarterbacks taken No. 1 overall are 5-23-1 in their first start since 1970, per NBC Sports research. Facing the Seahawks will make Mendoza’s big day even more challenging. Seattle leads the NFL in total defense, allowing just 244 yards per game.
Mendoza might not be under the most pressure of any Raiders player on Sunday, however. The team’s defense has allowed 30 or more points in each of its last six games, tied for the longest streak by a team in a season in NFL history.
“Fernando has done everything we’ve asked him to do in practice,” Kubiak said. “I think he’s exceeded those expectations, and we all know that live bullets Sunday is far different from practice. However, he showed us that he’s ready, not only physically, but mentally.”
