There’s been a lot of controversy lately about which quarterback the Raiders should choose with the number one pick in the draft in April. If you watched the CFP "battle" between the Indiana Hoosiers and Oregon Ducks, however, you saw Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza establish himself as the clear favorite over Oregon QB Dante Moore.
The game itself was ugly. Indiana was obviously the better team, and when they ran out to a 35-7 lead at halftime, the contest was basically over.
More important for Raiders fans, though, was the way Mendoza played. He’s gone from being a quarterback who had occasional accuracy issues last year to being a leader who was making back-shoulder throws into tight windows with relentless authority and precision.
The final score was 56-22, and the stat line told an intriguing storyline that will have NFL evaluators diving into the tape of this one for weeks. Mendoza went 17-for-20 for 177 yards and five touchdown passes, and he added 28 rushing yards on six carries.
Moore, meanwhile, acquitted himself well, going 24-for-39 for 285 yards, with two touchdown passes and an interception. He also lost two fumbles, which is the part of his stat line that will raise eyebrows for those evaluators.
Tape and stats aside, it’s important to remember a couple of things about this game. For starters, Mendoza probably looks a lot better than he’ll actually be when he hits the NFL, largely because Indiana was so dominant on both sides of the line of scrimmage. Try to imagine him running given the current state of the Raiders’ offensive line, and that will give you all the imagery you need.
The same applies to Moore, but in a completely different way. He made some throws, but the Ducks were dominated so badly that he had no real chance to keep his team in the game. His fumble will give pause, especially if evaluators find additional tape where that’s a perceived issue.
We’ll get one more chance to see Mendoza, of course, but Indiana’s upcoming showdown against the Miami Hurricanes probably won’t provide a lot more information. Based on what we’ve seen before, Miami will be outmatched just the way Oregon was, which means the Raiders will have to make their draft day call based on what we’ve seen to date.
It would be truly sad to see either one of these quarterbacks introduced to the NFL with the Raiders in their current state, so hopefully the new hire can shepherd the top pick through his rookie year.