Heading into April 23 and the start of the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh, it has become a lead-pipe lock the Las Vegas Raiders will be taking Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza No. 1 overall. Not that any other confirmation was necessary, but Kirk Cousins has essentially confirmed that with all he has said since he signed with the Raiders to be Mendoza's veteran mentor.
Mendoza has also apparently been working with former San Francisco 49ers quarterbacks coach Brian Griese to learn the Raiders' offense, which further locks in that his arrival in Las Vegas is a mere formality.
Rooted in Mark Davis' willingness to fully empower Jon Gruden when he came back to be the head coach, Mike Mayock's tenure as Raiders' general manager did not go well. But he remains a well-respected analyst, even if his time as a big part of NFL Network's draft coverage was quite a while ago now.
Mike Mayock joins the bandwagon to praise Fernando Mendoza
During a recent appearance on Sirius XM NFL Radio with Lindsay Rhodes and Sam Bruchhaus of Sumer Sports, Mayock offered praise for Mendoza.
"Got a good arm, can drive it back-shoulder at a high level, accurate at all three levels", Mayock said.
"This is the key to me. He's at his best when his best is necessary. I call it a quarterback's nervous system. When I'm watching quarterback tape...once I get done (with) three or four or five full games, then I go to the situations like third down, red zone, goal line, fourth quarter. You wanna see what that nervous system looks like, especially in big games."
Mayock said the more he watched Mendoza, the more he liked him, the more he respected him and the more the presumed No. 1 overall pick reminded him of a common comp.
"He reminds me of a young Matt Ryan. A young Matt Ryan to me is a baby-faced assassin, with great intangibles, football IQ, work ethic."
Mayock did note a couple common concerns with Mendoza, which are common to a lot of incoming rookie quarterbacks. He took too many sacks in college on a per pass attempt basis, and he generally needs to learn to get the ball out of his hands faster.
But otherwise the former Raiders' general manager said he's "all in" on the team's all-but officially anointed quarterback of the future, as a lot of people are.
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