fernando mendoza
Getty
Fernando Mendoza with Roman Hemby and D'Angelo Ponds.
The Las Vegas Raiders are about to get a chance to get to know Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. Though he’s not planning on throwing, it appears he does plan to meet with teams.
With the Raiders holding the No. 1 pick, it’s hard to imagine many teams will try to interview Mendoza, as it looks like a foregone conclusion that he’ll be playing in Las Vegas.
However, Mendoza might not be the only Indiana player the Raiders are interested in. The Raiders already met with Indiana quarterback D’Angelo Ponds, per Vincent Bonsignore of California Post. According to Ponds, the Raiders asked him quite a bit about Mendoza, and even floated the idea of reuniting the cornerback with the quarterback in Las Vegas.
Ponds is currently projected to either be a second or third round pick. The Raiders have a big need at cornerback, so he’d make a lot of sense. The No. 36 pick in Round 2 might be a bit high for Ponds, but if he falls to No. 67 in the third round, he could be a good pickup for the team.
Klint Kubiak Offers Thoughts on Mendoza
The Raiders aren’t competing against anybody for Mendoza, so they are able to speak as freely as they want to about him. However, it’s still too early in the process for the team to start talking about him as if he’s a member of the Raiders.
With the draft process still needing to play out, it’s possible that Las Vegas falls in love with another player at No. 1. For now, new head coach Klint Kubiak is going to get bombarded with questions about Mendoza.
He’s not willing to say too much about the quarterback now, but he did offer up some early impressions.
“Excited to keep learning about him, and it’s not just me, it’s our entire coaching staff,” Kubiak told reporters on Wednesday. “I want all of our coaches to get involved, especially at that position. I want everybody’s input, but obviously, he’s been successful. He had a lot of success last year.
“He won a national championship, and that’s what you want. You want a winner.”
Kubiak Talks Geno Smith
The Raiders need to get the quarterback position right. They have Geno Smith under contract right now, but he’s coming off a dreadful season.
It’s hard to imagine they’re going to bring him back, but Kubiak is keeping his options open for now.
“(We’re) looking at all options right now,” Kubiak said. “Watching Geno play last year, (I’m) obviously pretty familiar with what he had done before; putting all on the table right now, trying to see every possible avenue we can go next year at quarterback, and he’s definitely one of those options.”
If the Raiders don’t want to start Mendoza at first as a rookie, keeping Smith could be an option. That likely wouldn’t be very popular with the fan base, but it could make some sense. Smith could also be a possible trade chip down the road.