The Las Vegas Raiders are virtually certain to draft Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first pick of this year’s draft in April, and the early draft grades on Mendoza are coming out. One of the most reliable onescomes from Pro Football Focus, and their early draft grade on Mendoza just came out, so let’s review some of the highlights.
The most intriguing comment from PFF’s Trevor Sikkema is that Mendoza profiles as a solid starter, which is different from the praise he’s been earning from experts like Dane Brugler of The Athletic. Mendoza has been outstanding from clean pockets, Sikkema adds, but how many of those will he actually see for a team like the Raiders in the NFL?
Mendoza also received high grades for his velocity and touch, not to mention his poise, decision making, out-of-structure accuracy and overall accuracy.
Key elements in those grades include his ability to keep his eyes downfield when he’s flushed from the pocket and his ability to avoid negative plays, although Mendoza has struggled when defenses drop eight into coverage, which is typical for a young quarterback who hasn’t seen a lot of complex looks yet.
The two biggest issues Mendoza has right now are about mobility and the ability to make longer throws. The Indiana quarterback offers what PFF calls “functional mobility,” but a lot of the runs he made successfully during the season and the CFP playoffs will be out the window when he gets to the NFL, especially considering the state of the Raiders offensive line as currently constituted.
The distance issue is a different consideration. Mendoza wasn’t asked to make many long throws at Indiana, and he recorded just one throw that was for over 50 yards. He was asked to push the ball down the field, however, and he did enough to make the offense work.
Another strength of Mendoza’s is his mechanics. They’re clean and well-controlled, according to PFF, and his footwork is balanced and consistent. He has a compact, consistent throwing motion that allows him to generate both power and velocity, so the Raiders won’t have to do a lot of work on the basics with him.
The biggest question about Mendoza is really about the Raiders. He’s shown a lot of mental toughness with Indiana this year, but that’s playing for a good team that controlled the line of scrimmage in nearly all of its games this season. That “solid starter” tag suggests that the Raiders might be better off trading the top pick for the big haul of draft capital they need, but we all know that’s not how things work in the NFL.