The Las Vegas Raiders selected QB Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft but the coveted prospect probably won't start right away.
Despite murmurs that the Las Vegas Raiders were looking at other prospects to draft instead of Indiana quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza, the organization went with the no-brainer pick and selected Mendoza No.1 overall.
From day one, though, Raiders coach Klint Kubiak has maintained that he would prefer it if a rookie doesn’t start right away. That notion was supported by the signing of veteran QB Kirk Cousins, who has been participating in OTAs and minicamp as the QB1 over Mendoza and QB Aidan O’Connell.
“Even before they officially selected Mendoza, the Raiders were telling people they didn't want to start him right away,” ESPN’s Dan Graziano wrote Tuesday. “They want him to sit, practice, learn and be ready to hit the ground running when they do make him the starter.”
Kubiak believes rookies should sit and learn behind experienced veterans, and Mendoza is still learning his system; Mendoza has been impressing the coaching staff with his work ethic and how quickly he is picking things up, though.
Although Mendoza hasn’t been getting reps with the first or second team, ESPN’s Ryan McFadden believes that he could get more reps ahead of training camp next month to see how he handles the workload.
While Cousins seems like the favorite to start in the early going, it might not be long until we see Mendoza start for the Raiders. If Las Vegas isn’t winning games and Cousins doesn’t command the offense well, we could see Mendoza within the first few weeks.
“What inevitably happens is that the team starts losing games and faces pressure to play the rookie sooner than it said it wanted to,” Graziano wrote. “(Very often, the rookie plays well enough to convince us the team had nothing to worry about.)
“Unless the Cousins-led Raiders shock us all by starting out hot and staying in contention all season, we're going to see Mendoza at some point. Heck, if he looks good enough in training camp, we could see him start in Week 1. But as of right now, the questions are about when he'll be ready and how long the Raiders can wait before they feel like they have to play him.”
Cousins has been a solid quarterback in his career and based on the fact that he is a pocket passer, he is the perfect mentor for Mendoza. Mendoza would certainly benefit from having Cousins playing in front of him, but he could very well win the job before the season starts.
