Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The Las Vegas Raiders selected QB Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the draft.
- Mendoza has all the tools in the world to be the Raiders' franchise QB, but may have to wait.
- The Raiders and Mendoza's comments seem to indicate that they'll move him along in the program slowly.
Fernando Mendoza isn’t necessarily on the fast track to starting for the Las Vegas Raiders in his rookie season. It’s been customary that top drafted quarterbacks — Mendoza was selected No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL — to start the first game of their NFL career on Week 1. But there’s a chance Mendoza starts the year as QB2 out west. It’s not a bad thing either, if we’re being honest. The Raiders signed Kirk Cousins and while it may have felt like an insurance move, it might be what ultimately helps Mendoza develop the right way.
Fernando Mendoza says he still has a "long way to go" with learning to play under center. But he's doing the most to get up to speed, including taking snaps from his centers in the team hotel after rookie minicamp. Said he's got 25-50 snaps each night he's been here.
— Sam Warren (@samwarren83) May 2, 2026
Mendoza said during rookie minicamp he still feels like he has a lot to learn, according to Sam Warren of The Athletic. It’s true too. Being a rookie quarterback is hard, regardless of the success you had in college. Mendoza putting his pride aside and admitting that is exactly what the Raiders need and exactly what he needs as he prepares for a long NFL career.
Fernando Mendoza’s NFL career is already off to a strong start … even if he starts as a backup
Cousins has been saying for essentially two years now that he doesn’t want to be in a quarterback battle; he wants to go somewhere he can start and not have to worry about his successor. Well, it’s odd he landed in Las Vegas, but the way Mendoza is soaking in the NFL experience, Cousins could very well start Week 1. Think back to Drake Maye.
Maye was drafted No. 3 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft and didn’t get his first NFL start until Week 6 after the New England Patriots dropped to a 1-4 start with Jacoby Brissett. I’m not going to say it’s the reason he played a Super Bowl in year two, but when you look at Bryce Young and Anthony Richardson, well, they probably could have benefited from that same program.
That’s why Mendoza is willingly taking a backseat to make sure he’s fully ready and the Raiders are ready to unleash him. The better prepared he is for his first start, the better the Raiders will be. They didn’t sign Cousins just to be a mentor for Mendoza. They want to take as much pressure off Mendoza as possible so he’s as confident and ready to take over. It helps that he gets to learn behind Cousins as well.
Why Las Vegas should feel compelled to start Kirk Cousins over Fernando Mendoza
What is the rush to play Mendoza in Week 1? He should absolutely play at some point this season, but forcing him to play Week 1 simply because he’s the No. 1 overall pick doesn’t make sense. If the rest of that quarterback room was horrible, then maybe it’s not a bad idea. But they signed Cousins. He’s not great, but the perfect bridge option.
When Cousins was in Atlanta, he got benched to Michael Penix Jr. and only got the job back after Penix suffered an ACL tear last season. Cousins finished the year with 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions in 10 games. He also led the Falcons on a crazy run to nearly make the playoffs this year, forcing a three-way tie. That’s a quarterback that still has some tread on it and a quarterback that will ultimately be good enough to buy the team and Mendoza time to develop.
Fernando Mendoza is already proving the Las Vegas Raiders were wise to draft him
The Raiders didn’t just get the best quarterback prospect probably since Joe Burrow in Mendoza, they got a player that knows how to be a leader. He didn’t come out of NFL Draft night with the mantra that he’s planning on starting Week 1. Of course he wants to earn that, but he understands where he needs to be physically and mentally before he’s comfortable facing live NFL defenses.
At Indiana, Mendoza was the star, the leader and a big reason why it went undefeated and won a national championship. Mendoza completed the trifecta with a Heisman Trophy win as well. He is NFL-ready. There’s nothing he did in college that shows he’s underdeveloped. But playing against the best athletes in the world, that’s more than a notion.
This reminds me of the Baker Mayfield situation in Cleveland back in 2018. The Browns were on the heels of an 0-16 season under Hue Jackson. Browns fans clamored for Mayfield to start and they had to wait for a Week 3 game against the New York Jets that ended an 18-game losing streak. Well, I guess it was worth it because two years later, the Browns were in the playoffs and a fourth-down stop away from potentially reaching the AFC championship game.
Now what happened after, that isn’t anything like Mendoza. But the point being, patience isn’t a bad thing. And the fact that Mendoza is embracing this shows why they made the right decision drafting him. Whether he starts Week 1 or not, Mendoza is their guy. When he finally gets a chance to prove that, they’ll look back and realize maybe the path less traveled was worth it.
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