The Las Vegas Raiders are destined to select Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Based on need, it’s pretty obvious who the Las Vegas Raiders will be selecting with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 National Football League Draft.
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza became a star in his first and only season with the Hoosiers as a redshirt junior, leading all of college football with 41 touchdowns and QB rating (90.3). He was fourth in passing yards in the Big Ten (3,535) and elevated himself as the top quarterback prospect in the NFL Draft this year.
Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy by a landslide and could be the only quarterback taken in the first round (Alabama’s Ty Simpson is projected to be a late first-rounder/early second-rounder).
ESPN’s Jordan Reid did a deep dive into 12 of the QBs entering the draft and compared them to each other. Mendoza stands out among the rest and does a lot of things well.
Reid gave Mendoza a lot of praise for his red zone prowess, as he led the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) with 27 touchdown passes without an interception in the red zone this season. Indiana called a lot of plays tailored to Mendoza’s strengths especially in the red zone, which included a lot of run-play options that opened up single defenders.
Part of what made him so dominant in this area of the field was his toughness and ability to overcome adversity in-game, two traits that Reid highlighted and was on full display during his touchdown run on 4th-and-5 against the Miami Hurricanes in the College Football Playoff National Championship. Mendoza broke several tackles and took big hits to complete the 12-yard run.
“He helped lead the Hoosiers to a Week 7 road win at Oregon, pieced together an 80-yard, game-winning drive at Penn State, and overcame Ohio State in a physical Big Ten championship game in which he was temporarily knocked out of the game early,” Reid wrote Saturday. “He capped everything off with a gutty touchdown run for the game-winning points in the College Football National Championship game against Miami.”
His one glaring weakness in Reid’s eyes is his lack of success on the move. When he stands in the pocket, he delivers strikes and beats defenders in tight windows. But when he is forced out of the pocket, he tends to struggle. He was inaccurate when pressure came and that will be one of his biggest tests when he enters the NFL.
Another thing to look for is how he plays under center. Playing under center in college seems to be going away, but being able to do it well is such a boost for incoming QBs. According to Reid, he was under center just three percent of the time this season. Expect the Raiders to work with him extensively on being effective from this position.