Nobody seems to be doubting whether or not the Las Vegas Raiders will select Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. But some doubt starts to creep in when certain analysts or experts are asked to project how the Indiana quarterback will fare at the next level.
The narrative that he'll struggle because he ran too many RPOs in college has been debunked, even by Mendoza himself. But just to be sure, the Raiders' future franchise player recently began working with a quarterback guru in Brian Griese, who is also a confidant of the Shanahan/Kubiak tree.
And while that seems like a great step in the right direction to learn more "NFL concepts," and there is no pressure for Mendoza to be ready right away anyway, he still has to actually take those steps. Mendoza showed that he made improvements at his Pro Day, but how are things actually going?
Fernando Mendoza's pre-draft prep in West Coast offense hsould pay dividends for Las Vegas Raiders
Mendoza made the rounds with the media on Monday. When host Kay Adams asked Mendoza on the Up & Adams Show about how much he has improved playing under center and in West Coast concepts, which is what he'll do under Klint Kubiak in Las Vegas, Mendoza outlined his progress.
"I think that will be tested when it's in rookie mini-camp to whatever offense I go to, or in OTAs" Mendoza said. "But I think it was very important that I reached out to Brian Griese because ... My goal is to be the best quarterback come September. And with Brian, I was able to work a lot of under center, and a lot of concepts that'll be run in every offense, whether it's the West Coast offense or not."
Obviously, he'll be working in a West Coast offense in Las Vegas, because Kubiak and John Spytek aren't letting him out of their grasp. But Mendoza's reasoning for reaching out to Griese (which is quite interesting and perhaps not incidental) is both sound and emblematic of who he is.
"So Day 1 I'm comfortable going under center, saying a cadence, calling the play in the huddle," Mendoza explained. "And those learning curves that might take the first week or week and a half for rookie quarterbacks, (I'm) trying to eliminate that so I can be best fitted to the system I'm in."
Again, he knows just as well as I and everyone reading this does that he'll be a Raider in just a few days, so Mendoza has surely tilted his preparation in that direction. That said, the young quarterback isn't going to blow smoke. He gave an honest answer about just how far he has to go still.
"I have a lot to improve," Mendoza assured Adams. "It's a different game, however, having that under-center work and trying to make the run actions look the same as the pass actions is very important in fooling the offense and for the West Coast offense. So, I'm just trying to do the best I can in that sense, and it's going to take a while. I am very far from a finished product."
That is just fine for right now. Mendoza will get there.
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