In five years, when each rookie quarterback from the 2026 NFL Draft is no longer on their rookie contract, who will have the best NFL career?
This was the question posed on the latest episode of PFSN’s Football Debate Club, and NFL analysts Jacob Infante and T.J. Randall both picked Fernando Mendoza (understandably). However, they each had a different reasoning for the pick.
Fernando Mendoza, Raiders Poised for Success
Randall believes that Las Vegas is a terrific landing spot for Mendoza.
“He has a head coach with an established offensive identity,” Randall said. “He essentially resurrected [Sam] Darnold in that Seahawks offense. He kept the Saints offense afloat the year before in 2024 when they lost Derek Carr and a slew of offensive contributors to injury. They’ve shown a commitment to bolstering the personnel around the quarterback and continuing to bolster the coaching staff.”
Randall believes that Mendoza has the best support system and apprenticeship of the 2026 rookie QBs, so “it’s fair to assume that they’re going to have the best career” as well.
“Now of course, there are a lot more contributing factors than that. With all that being said, I still have to go with Mendoza because of that apprenticeship and how I feel about it,” he added. “Even as a player, from an eval standpoint, he’s big, he’s strong, he’s durable, he’s a smooth processor, sufficient athlete, all of these things. No throws are off limits. And I just think that combination of who he is as a player is going to really pair well with Kubiak.”
Klint Kubiak’s system has produced top-tier quarterback play across multiple stops, and Kirk Cousins can help teach Mendoza the offense while allowing the Raiders to ease Mendoza in.
“I’m a little nervous of them maybe not winning enough games for people to feel like it’s a success,” Randall admitted, “but maybe he is enough to turn it around.”
The Raiders went 4-13 in 2025 and have cycled through seven starting quarterbacks across the previous three seasons. The fear that Mendoza could be good on a roster that buries him isn’t unreasonable.
BE AN NFL GM: PFSN’s Ultimate GM Simulator
Infante agreed on Mendoza, but for a different reason.
“I think a lot of it comes down to the situation he’s in, but also just the pure talent. In the long run, the Raiders have some good long-term pieces to work with,” Infante explained.
“Brock Bowers as a tight end is a quarterback’s best friend. Having Ashton [Jeanty] out of the backfield is going to take a lot of stress off of him developing. An improving offensive line. And I love this 2027 wide receiver draft class, too. That stands out as the biggest need to me for the Raiders. I think they have a serious chance next year to shore up that need and give Mendoza a better situation, too.”
Bowers caught 112 passes for 1,194 yards as a rookie in 2024, the most receptions ever for a first-year player at any position and the most receiving yards in a season by a rookie tight end in NFL history. Jeanty went No. 6 overall in 2025 after finishing as the Heisman runner-up. Mendoza inherits a skill-position foundation most rookie quarterbacks would trade their first contracts to land in.
