Fernando Mendoza is far and away the best quarterback prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft, and it seems like a forgone conclusion that he’ll be the No. 1 overall pick. That means Mendoza would likely land with the Las Vegas Raiders unless they were to trade back in the draft.
Jonathan Vilma makes Fernando Medonza, Justin Herbert Comparison
Oftentimes during draft season, players get comps to other players already in the league, and one former Super Bowl champion thinks Mendoza is very similar to a star quarterback who could be in his division come draft night.
Mendoza and former Oregon Ducks quarterback Justin Herbert both found great success in college. Herbert took the more traditional route, playing all four years at Oregon, whereas Mendoza started at California and transferred to Indiana to join coach Curt Cignetti for his senior year.
Now that comparisons are beginning ahead of the NFL Draft, Mendoza has been compared to Herbert by a Super Bowl champion. Ratings’ DJ Saddiqi sat down with three NFL voices to talk about the Heisman Trophy winner, and this is what Vilma had to say.
“He reminds me of Justin Herbert. He’s got a release similar to his release. He’s got an arm. He likes to stretch the defense. He reminds me of him, but I’ve also seen where if get pressure, he’ll get rid of the football quickly, similar to Herbert. But both are really, really good quarterbacks.
“I think he’s going to be a good system quarterback, where he’s going to take a year or two to really understand the offense and then understand the defense. I think he’s going to be really good. He’s going to be like where Baker Mayfield needed to get into the right system, Sam Darnold needed to get into the right system. When he gets to a right team with the right coach and system, then he’ll do well. I have no idea what’s gonna happen with the Raiders, so we’ll just leave that alone.”
Medonza grew each year in college and put on a show in his National Championship-winning senior season, throwing for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns. Herbert also grew in his first two years at Oregon and took off in his second two. The former Ducks quarterback threw for 3,151 yards and 29 touchdowns to eight interceptions in his junior year before reaching 3,471 yards and 32 touchdowns to six interceptions in his senior year.
Both guys also displayed a sneaky running ability. Mendoza ran for 90 yards and seven touchdowns last season, and Herbert ran for 560 yards and 13 touchdowns throughout his four years.
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
While Herbert was drafted sixth overall, he found instant success. The former Duck won Offensive Rookie of the Year and made his first Pro Bowl the following year. Herbert has thrown for at least 3,700 yards in five of his six NFL seasons, and he’s remained a factor in the QB scramble game with 1,715 rushing yards in six years.
Vilma noted Mendoza will be really good when he gets into the right system. Herbert found that system instantly and has thrived. Many wouldn’t think of the Raiders as a conventionally successful place for quarterbacks to develop and succeed.
However, the Raiders’ new head coach, Klint Kubiak, could change that. After all, while quarterback Sam Darnold had a year under Minnesota Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell, we all saw what Kubiak accomplished with Darnold last season.
Darnold is very similar: when he’s in the right system, he can play at a very high level.
