Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Hoosiers
Getty
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
The 2026 NFL Draft is right around the corner at the end of April, and the Las Vegas Raiders are doing the final preparation work to determine who they’ll take with the No. 1 pick. Many expect the Silver and Black to take former Indiana Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza with the top pick.
After not having a franchise QB since the departure of Derek Carr, the Raiders could be on the verge of having a guy who can be their face of the franchise should they decide that Mendoza is their guy.
Moreover, ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. gave an NFL quarterback comparison for Mendoza, and if he is accurate, it would allow Las Vegas to have a guy who can help them challenge for Super Bowls in the future.
“I think what you look at with Fernando is a cross between Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan,”Kiper said during an April 7 appearance on ESPN Radio. “I’m not a comp guy, because we always comp them to the great guys, but yeah, I see a little Peyton in him. I see a little Matt Ryan in him.
“And keep in mind, people think he’s a one-year wonder. He’s not. At Cal, he was a really good quarterback behind a bad offensive line. That’s why he was sacked 41 times. He knew he had to get the ball out quicker, and he improved on that number dramatically at Indiana when he got a little bit more help.”
Fernando Mendoza Isn’t One-Year Wonder Heading Into NFL
Moreover, Kiper stresses that while Mendoza jumped onto the scene with Indiana as the QB won the Heisman Trophy and national title, he already had a first-round grade heading into the 2025 college football season. As a result, the 22-year-old shouldn’tbe seen as a one-year wonder.
“People back in August, guys who only had Cal tape to go on, that’s all I was looking at, had him as a first-rounder,” Kiper added. “In fact, some had him as a mid-first-rounder. So that was going into the year. So this notion that Indiana made him what he is, yes, they made him the No. 1 pick, but this notion he was a third- or fourth-round pick is garbage.”
Raiders Get Big Fernando Mendoza Update as Draft Nears
There are some questions about how Mendoza will handle the jump from Indiana’s RPO-heavy system to a more traditional NFL offense.
Still, he’s not ignoring those concerns. Like most players who understand their weaknesses, Mendoza has already started working on that transition and preparing himself for a pro-style system, even before hearing his name called on draft night.
On April 6, ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick shared an update on Mendoza, noting that the QB is working with a former player and QB coach to help him start adjusting to the current version of the West Coast offense.
“Fernando Mendoza is working with an ex-QB/QB coach who played in and very recently coached the current version of the ‘West Coast’ offense that Fernando would be running in Las Vegas, and from what I am told he is picking it up rapidly, and he is well aware of where he needs to get to in order to be the best version he can be within that system come September,”Riddick wrote on X.