Colin Cowherd watched Fernando Mendoza throw 53 of 56 passes at Indiana’s Pro Day and stopped holding back. “Folks, you’re looking at Peyton Manning,” Cowherd said Thursday on “The Herd.” That is the biggest pre-draft quarterback comparison in years, and it did not come from a scout behind closed doors. It came on national television, from one of the most-listened-to voices in sports media.
Colin Cowherd Heaps Praise on Fernando Mendoza
Mendoza, the Heisman Trophy winner who led Indiana to the national championship, did not need to throw at all. He is the overwhelming favorite to go No. 1 overall on April 23. He threw anyway, and the performance was, in Cowherd’s words, “literally perfect.”
The numbers matched the adjective. Mendoza hit 53 of 56 throws, per NFL.com, building on a college career where he completed 68.6 percent of his passes. The accuracy was expected. What wasn’t expected was the detail that pushed Cowherd over the edge.
During the workout, Mendoza pointed out his receivers’ routes to the NFL scouts in attendance, actively shifting their focus off himself and onto his teammates. Cowherd recognized the instinct immediately.
“A lot of people want to be quarterback,” he said. “They love being quarterback. But do you love being quarterback because it’s about winning and doing everything it takes to be a winner, which is giving teammates credibility, which is telling scouts, ‘I want to watch the guys, and the routes they’re running?'”
Then came the verdict. “A lot of people are saying this guy is a little cringey, and he’s not cool,” Cowherd said. “He’s Peyton Manning. He’s exactly what I want.”
Raiders Sent Their Full Front Office to Bloomington
The Las Vegas Raiders did not send a token scout. Per NFL.com, at least 10 members of the franchise traveled to Bloomington for the workout, including general manager John Spytek, head coach Klint Kubiak, and offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko. The Raiders own the No. 1 pick. They watched every throw.
NFL Network’s Rhett Lewis reported that Mendoza will visit the Raiders facility next week. The draft is April 23. Every move points toward one outcome, and Las Vegas is not pretending otherwise.
Mendoza also showed up to the workout at 236 pounds, 11 more than he carried at the combine just over a month ago. That weight gain, coming off a national championship game in January, signals a player already building toward an NFL season. He is not trying to impress scouts. He is preparing for the job.
PFSN’s CFB QB Impact metric, which weights clean pocket efficiency, designed rushing, and clutch performance, ranked Mendoza second nationally with a 93.3 score and an A grade, trailing only Vanderbilt’s Diego Pavia.
The culprit? A strength of schedule that ranked just 73rd nationally, dragging down his otherwise elite numbers: 33 touchdowns (#1), just six interceptions, and a 51.5% conversion rate on third and fourth downs. But when the schedule stiffened in January, Mendoza answered emphatically, dismantling Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon, and Miami in succession to claim Indiana’s first national title.
Cowherd’s history of bold comparisons makes it easy to wave this one off. That would be a mistake. The Manning comp is precise. Cowherd did not call Mendoza athletic or exciting or electrifying. He called him smart, self-aware, and built to understand professional football. That is the Manning evaluation that mattered in 1998, and it is the one that matters now.
“Peyton Manning was big, smart, self-aware, and understood the NFL game,” Cowherd said. “Leadership is not cool. It’s not cool. Leadership is hard.” Mendoza checks every item in that sentence. He is 6-foot-4 3/4, 236 pounds. He completed 68.6 percent of his passes in college. He won the Heisman. He won the national title. At his Pro Day, he made sure the scouts were watching his teammates.
