Fernando Mendoza
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Fernando Mendoza #15 of the Indiana Hoosiers warms up prior to a game against the Miami Hurricanes in the 2026 College Football Playoff National Championship at Hard Rock Stadium on January 19, 2026 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza recently put together one of the most historic seasons in college football ever with a 16-0 record, and he’s expected to be the No. 1 pick by the Las Vegas Raiders in the NFL Draft.
Mendoza has a hill to climb now in order to start with the Raiders this fall since the team signed four-time Pro Bowl quarterback Kirk Cousins on Thursday. Before signing, Cousins was very clear that a rookie quarterback waiting his turn is a good idea.
“Well, I do think that there was a time when Aaron Rodgers got drafted and sat for three years. Carson Palmer got drafted and sat for a year, Cousins said during an episode of This is Football! with Kevin Clark. “There have been teams that have said that was the plan, and then Week 4, 5, 6, the guys playing.”
Rodgers benefited from sitting behind Brett Favre with the Green Bay Packers and became an all-time great. Palmer sat behind Jon Kitna in 2003 with the Cincinnati Bengals and went on to have a successful career with three Pro Bowl appearances.
Fernando Mendoza Has Clear Vision For Rookie Season
Whether or not Mendoza sits a whole year or supplants Cousins as the starter will be a storyline to watch with the Raiders. Speaking with reporters during his pro day at Indiana, Mendoza is clearly aiming to start sooner rather than later.
“My goal is to be the best quarterback in September, the start of the season, rather than being the best quarterback today April 1st for the Pro Day,” Mendoza told ESPN on Wednesday.
Mendoza also isn’t concerned about the rookie wall, where first-year players are known to burn out. As a national champion, Mendoza has hardly seen a break from football since last summer due to the playoff run and pre-draft process.
“A lot of trainers, a lot of coaches, talk about the ‘rookie wall’ — that once you finish playing on Jan. 19, you go straight into training, and then you go all the way to next February, hopefully,” Mendoza told NFL Network Wednesday. “But at that point, I love football. And I’ve never burnt out. And I’m never gonna hit a rookie wall.”
Development is Key
During his podcast appearance, Cousins emphasized continuity as key for a quarterback’s success, and that is something the Raiders have failed to establish since Derrick Carr left Vegas in 2023.
“So I also think there was a time when coaches stuck around and a quarterback learned a system and played in that system most of his career, ” Cousins explained. “So the guys who are on the back end and are able to build up that experience can deal with that maybe a little more, but the young guys you wanna give as much continuity as you can and just hasn’t been the environment many guys, including a Sam Darnold, have been given.”
“…When you’re asking a talented player to kind of rewire his brain and do something different, he’s not gonna be the same talented player because he’s gonna be a step slower and he’s gonna be learning and thinking again,” Cousins added. “You wanna take that thinking out of it. The more you can be a Tom Brady or a Drew Brees, who’s been in the same system for 15 years, the better quarterback play you’re gonna get.”