Former Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza was one of the most hyped prospects before being selected No. 1 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders during the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Raiders were in desperate need of a quarterback after a woeful season with veteran Geno Smith under center led to his departure for the New York Jets.
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After the polarizing Smith’s departure, the Raiders brought in Kirk Cousins, further complicating the team’s QB1 picture ahead of next season.
In an article tracking the progress of the 2026 NFL Draft first-round picks, ESPN’s Ryan McFadden revealed how Raiders coach Klint Kubiak has dealt with integrating Mendoza into the team.
“The Raiders have been patient with Mendoza’s adjustment to the next level, having him play mostly with the second and third teams during OTAs and minicamp,” McFadden wrote. “He has impressed many in the building with his work ethic, leadership qualities and ability to quickly find open targets for completions.
“At the same time, he’s had his fair share of growing pains, especially when playing under center, and mastering the footwork that comes with it. With veteran Kirk Cousins on the roster, the Raiders don’t feel like they need to rush Mendoza.”
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Mendoza turned himself into the hottest draft prospect in the country after a spectacular season for the Hoosiers, during which he led them to their first national championship, while winning the prestigious Heisman Trophy in the process.
In a quarterback class that was notoriously light on quarterback talent, Mendoza stood out as the best prospect available on the board and was aggressively courted by the Raiders’ new coaching team.
A key piece of the new coaching team fell into place when Kubiak hired Mike McCoy to be the Raiders’ assistant head coach.
McCoy has worked with many round one draft picks, including overseeing Trevor Lawrence as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ quarterbacks coach and Cam Ward as the interim head coach of the Tennessee Titans last season.
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While speaking to reporters during the Raiders’ minicamp, McCoy revealed the growing pains of building Mendoza into an NFL-ready quarterback.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, just learning and mastering everything. There’s
going to be mistakes, but I’m a true believer in the only way to learn is by making some mistakes, and there’s the ups and the downs,“ McCoy said.
”Everybody’s different. Cam [Ward], he had his ups and downs early, and then he was so efficient at the end of the year.”
In his final season in college football, Mendoza tallied 3,535 passing yards on 72% completion, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions, while adding 276 rushing yards and seven scores, to earn a PFSN College QB Impact score of 93.3, the second-best in the country.
