LAS VEGAS — It remains to be seen whether Fernando Mendoza is the Raiders’ Day 1 starting quarterback.
But whatever direction the Raiders take with the NFL draft’s soon-to-be first overall pick, it will be merit based rather than philosophically driven.
In other words, the Raiders are not going to sit the Indiana Heisman Trophy winner just because they’re married to a certain way of thinking.
Former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza impressed the Raiders’ brass at the school’s pro day. Getty Images Raiders general manager John Spytek made that clear Tuesday when he met with the media ahead of next week’s draft.
“Ultimately, this is a meritocracy,” Spytek said. “And the best guy will play.”
In an ideal world, that should be Mendoza, whom the Raiders envision as the franchise-altering quarterback they have been trying to uncover for decades. They will get him in their building soon after the draft, pour development time into him throughout the offseason and training camp, and he will prove to them that he is ready to take the reins for the season opener.
Again, that is the ideal scenario. Just in case that perfect picture doesn’t develop, though, the Raiders have veteran Kirk Cousins on hand to bridge whatever gap Mendoza might need to get ready.
Based on past comments by Spytek and Tom Brady, the Raiders’ minority owner and a powerful voice in their football operations, it was generally assumed that the addition of Cousins would mean a prolonged pause before the Raiders gave Mendoza the keys.
More out of developmental preference than actual performance.
“It’s a hard position to play, and there’s a lot to learn beyond throwing a football and being a good teammate,” Spytek said.
Mendoza will be given every opportunity to earn the opportunity to play right away, though. What he makes of that is on him, not some organizational inclination.
That leaves the door open for Mendoza to follow the paths of C.J. Stroud and Jayden Daniels, two recent quarterbacks taken near the top of their drafts who earned immediate starting jobs and led their teams to the playoffs.
“It’s just really hard to play really well at a young age,” Spytek said. “But we’ve seen plenty of quarterbacks do it recently. Obviously, we’ve got Kirk. We’ll see how it goes. But the best man [will] play.”
Raiders GM John Spytek recently signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins in case presumed No. 1 draft pick Fernando Mendoza needs more time to develop. TNS Mendoza faces a transition similar to the ones Stroud and Daniels faced in 2023 and 2024, going from college football, where quarterbacks work primarily out of the shotgun and run heavy RPO systems, to the far more sophisticated schemes in the NFL.
“A lot of these guys, they’ve lived their entire life in shotgun, they don’t huddle,” Spytek said. “You really have to teach some of these guys how to run a huddle and how to break a huddle and how to get under center and call a cadence … So it’s far beyond just learning a playbook, which in and of itself is hard enough.”
That creates a bit of a leap of faith that NFL teams have to make that the young quarterback is coachable and adaptable. To some extent, that aptitude can be determined during the draft evaluation process. In the Raiders’ case, they have spent time with Mendoza at the NFL scouting combine, during his Indiana pro day and during his recent private visit with the Raiders in Las Vegas.
That is on top of the hours upon hours of game tape that they have watched and the background work they have poured into him. It doesn’t entirely eliminate the leap of faith. But it can mitigate it.
“Are they smart? Can they process a lot of information quickly? Do they make good decisions with the football? Are they tough? Are they good teammates?” Spytek said. “Obviously, can they throw the ball at a level that’s required to play quarterback in the NFL? Are they athletic? Can they improvise, or do they have to play in the pocket all the time?”
“I think when you get a chance to spend time with them, like we have with a lot of players in this draft, you start to learn a little bit more about how they work, how they think, how they learn, and we lean heavily on the coaches with that, with the meetings at the combine, in the buildings, Zooms that we’re able to do,” Spytek said. “And usually the coaches have a pretty good feel. Like, this guy learns it really well, and I feel like he’ll be able to grab and hold onto it, remember it, and then we can build and build and build.”
Mendoza will get the chance to prove that to the Raiders this summer.
