The Las Vegas Raiders haven't drafted Mendoza yet, but he's already learning their offense via a friend of Klint Kubiak.
The Las Vegas Raiders still haven’t said anything very revealing about drafting Fernando Mendoza, but if you’re looking for signs that this is going to happen, his current workouts behind the scenes are more than a little revealing, according to an article written by Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
Florio’s writeup was based on the appearance of draft expert Daniel Jeremiah on the Pat McAfee Show, and most of what happens on McAfee’s show should be accompanied by an endless blooper reel. But Jeremiah is a credible source, and he provided an interesting nugget about Mendoza and the Raiders.
According to Jeremiah, Mendoza is currently learning the Raiders offense, under the supervision of former NFL quarterback and assistant coach Brian Griese.
“Fernando Mendoza is working with Brian Griese right now, and it’s not so much that they’re working on footwork,” Jeremiah said, via Matt Holder of SB Nation. “They’re installing the Raiders’ offense. He’s full speed ahead. This is the same thing that happened with [Joe] Burrow, where you can use this time to really try and learn the core verbiage and concepts along with an offense.”
The connection here is between Griese and new Raiders coach Klint Kubiak. They spend a year together working for the San Francisco 49ers in 2023, and Griese left coaching after the 2024 season.
There are several possible conclusions to tentatively draw from this. One is the certainty that the Raiders will indeed draft Mendoza, despite the hot take that emerged from Dan Orlovsky this week in which the former quarterback declared that Ty Simpson of Alabama is better than Mendoza. The NFL probably isn’t thrilled about the level of certainty implied in Jeremiah’s comments about Mendoza definitely going to the Raiders, but nothing here is all that surprising.
The other possibility is more tentative, but far more tantalizing. Does this level of early work mean the Raiders are going to start Mendoza in Week 1? And if they are, how will that affect their plans to acquire a credibly veteran quarterback to back up Mendoza or serve as a brief bridge quarterback.
Another interesting factor here is the absence of any mention of Tom Brady, who’s now basically a football celebrity gadfly who rarely misses an opportunity to get attention and tease his possible return to the field. Presumably Brady will be integrally involved in Mendoza’s development at some point in the near future, but it’s surprising to see his name missing from this report, especially given Florio’s propensity to take pot shots at Brady.