jon gruden
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Former Las Vegas Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.
The Las Vegas Raiders are nearing the time they have to make one of the most important decisions in the history of the franchise. This is just the third time the team has had the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
If they get this wrong, it could set the team back years. Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has been penciled in as the pick for months, and it seems like the Raiders are leaning in that direction.
There has been a recent push for Alabama’s Ty Simpson, but the notion that he’s a better prospect than Mendoza hasn’t gotten too much steam.
Jon Gruden never got a chance to draft his own quarterback when he was with the Raiders, but if he were making the decision now, he’d pick Mendoza over Simpson.
“I think so. I think Fernando, his body of work is more impressive,” Gruden said on “Wake Up Barstool.” “He did it longer, he did it on two different teams and he’s 16-0 and he played very good at crunch time. … His toughness sets him apart.”
It’s possible that Simpson could end up having the better career, but Mendoza is the far safer pick. If the Raiders were going to bet on upside, they could’ve done it with Oregon’s Dante Moore, but he decided to stay in college. Simpson’s upside doesn’t warrant that kind of gamble.
Wake Up Barstool
“Fernando Mendoza is the No. 1 guy, there’s no debate about that, he’s a Raider, right?” – @stoolpresidente
“I think so, Fernando, his body of work is more impressive. He did it longer, he did it on two different teams…” – @BarstoolGruden
Dan Orlovsky Says Simpson is Better Fit With Raiders
One of the knocks on Mendoza is that he didn’t play under center much last year at Indiana. He mostly operated out of the shotgun.
New Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak is going to want him under center a lot more. Simpson played under center at a higher rate in college, which is why ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky thinks he’s the better fit for Las Vegas.
“Completely different world,” Orlovsky said on “Get Up.” “If we’re being honest, and people won’t say it, I will, Ty Simpson is schematically a better fit or marriage for what the Las Vegas Raiders would do under Klint Kubiak than Fernando Mendoza. …
“So Klint Kubiak is a coach, and he’s not going to change, this is how we was brought up in football, most of the things that he does, at least half of the things that he does from a scheme standpoint are underneath the center. If you look at it since he’s become an offensive coordinator in the NFL, over 50 percent of his snaps are from underneath the center. That’s the most in the last five-plus years in the NFL.”
Raiders Can Teach Mendoza
The fact that Mendoza didn’t play under center much doesn’t seem to concern the Raiders. At the end of the day, every college prospect is going to have to adjust to the NFL game.
Mendoza is a very smart player and a hard worker. He’s likely already been working heavily on playing under center. He’s played more games, played better in bigger spots and is a much more physically gifted prospect than Simpson. It wouldn’t make any sense for the Raiders to pivot now.