Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Hoosiers
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(Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
The Las Vegas Raidersare projected to take former Indiana Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. For Las Vegas, they are hoping that Mendoza can be their franchise signal-caller.
After Derek Carr’s departure in 2023, it’s been a revolving door of QBs, so Mendoza would bring stability to the position should the Silver and Black select him. Nonetheless, one NFL analyst believes the Raiders would be reaching if they selected the 22-year-old first overall.
CBS Sports’ Emory Hunt appeared on Feb. 25 on Raider Nation Radio and made it clear that, for him, Mendoza is a second-round talent.
“It’s not like Mendoza doesn’t have the tools and what we saw at Indiana, the Raiders, which is the job of an NFL team, are going to have to build around him,” Hunt said. “He’s going to need things to help him have success.
“It’s not going to be one where you’re winning, he’s pulling the whole wagon, as they like to say. But he’s not a bum, and he can make all the throws that you want. I love that he could go out there and use athleticism.
“So I said he’s a second-round talent. Now, he’ll go in the first round. But people hear that and think that’s a knock, but it’s not a knock. It’s just my honest evaluation.”
Mendoza had a passer rating of 182.9 with 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns, and six interceptions in 16 games in 2025 for the Hoosiers,per StatMuse.
Raiders GM Talks Putting a Rookie QB in Place to Succeed
Raiders general manager John Spytek didn’t use Mendoza’s name, but he outlined what the Silver and Black need to do for a rookie QB to find success, should they decide to draft one in the 2026 NFL Draft.
“I think you’ve got to support them in many different ways,“ Spytek said on Feb. 24 (h/tRaider Nation Radio). “To think that you’re just going to take a young quarterback anywhere and just start them Week 1 and it’s going to go great is naive, and you’re not doing that kid any favors at all. I think probably more organizations fail those kids than those kids fail the organizations.
“So, whoever we got at the quarterback spot, it takes the whole building to support them because they have such a hard job. We’ve got to be patient with young players in general. I think we saw that with some. Offensive line, it’s a hard job to come in and start as a rookie. Those guys had to earn the chance to go play football. We’ve got to support those guys and build them up and develop them.”
Fernando Mendoza Could Bring Clutch Gene to Las Vegas
Meanwhile, FOX Sports college football analyst Joel Klatt believes that if the Raiders were to select Mendoza, they’d be receiving a player who isn’t shy in stepping up in the most tense situations of a game.
“When you look at Mendoza and his best performances and his most clutch performances and the most important parts of the season, what was he doing? Making huge throws from the pocket,“Klatt said during a Feb. 24 appearance on “The Herd.““Third downs, fourth downs, on the road: Iowa, Oregon, Penn State, Big Ten Championship Game, Ohio State, Natty, Miami.
“What was he doing? Late in the game, late in the down sequence, making throws from the pocket. I think he’s accurate. Reminds me a little bit of Michael Penix Jr. and his accuracy, in the vein of being a leverage thrower.”