Mendoza Offers Mobility, But Will Raiders Choose To Go There?

Rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza made his NFL debut for the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday against the New England Patriots, but it wasn’t very exciting or compelling. 

Mendoza was in at the wrong end of a bad blowout to get some experience, and he led a dink-and-dunk drive down the field against an umbrella prevent defense that finally ended with a fourth-down failure with the game nearly over. 

None of the throw were impressive, but the decisions were. Mendoza refused to take the bait the Patriots were offering by trying to beat the basic coverage, and the result was a series of short gains that led to first downs. 

But Mendoza does offer the Raiders one big difference from Kirk Cousins — he’s mobile. Mendoza can do things when he gets outside the pocket, and he’s tough to bring down. 

Contrast that with quarterback Kirk Cousins, who’s immobile under pressure. Cousins is willing to stand in and take shots when the pocket starts breaking down, but when nobody comes open the results are usually ugly. 

That’s an advantage that can be used effectively on a team with all kinds of roster holes, but the question is whether coach Klint Kubiak wants to go there. He knew this moment was coming, and so did Cousins, but now that we’re here he has a choice to make. 

Kubiak won’t make a move right away. He’s still in contention at 3-2, and he probably thinks he can win at least one of the team’s next two games at home against the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams. That would keep him in contention, which would mean sticking with Cousins for at least a couple of games after that. 

But the Raiders have another bad loss like the one they endured against the New England Patriots when they face the Bills and Rams, then it’s time to rethink things. 

Personnel rescues aren’t coming this year, but a different version of Kubiak’s offense featuring a mobile quarterback might open up plays and possibilities that aren’t there with Cousins at the helm and ever will be. 

This is going to be an interseting decision for Kubiak. He won with an immobile quarterback in Seattle with Sam Darnold, but now he has the opportunity to rework his offense a little. He’ll have to deal with Mendoza’s inevitable mistakes, but the fork in the road leads to the rookie, whether it happens sooner or later.