The Las Vegas Raiders hopefully just landed their franchise quarterback with the number one overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Fernando Mendoza was the undisputed top pick in this year's draft after winning a National Championship at Indiana and coming home with the Heisman Trophy.
And while the future is incredibly bright, some questions still remain in the interim. The biggest one being: When will the keys to the car be officially handed off to Mendoza? Or rather, when should he get the keys to the car that is this Raiders offense?
Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, who had to do some waiting himself during his NFL career, gave Klint Kubiak and the rest of the Raiders front office some indirect but excellent advice that hopefully they follow.
Kurt Warner's advice is something Raiders need to follow
Warner posted on social media last Thursday about what NFL teams should do with young quarterbacks. It is safe to say that Warner is passionate about development at the position and, if he were on the Raiders' coaching staff, he'd be more patient than most with playing Mendoza.
"I can’t say this enough - don’t just start a drafted QB bc you drafted him or bc you don’t have a great QB on your roster… start the drafted QB WHEN HE’S READY!!!" Warner wrote. "Not every QB is ready day one & if they are not ready the league will swallow them up and spit them out, bc they are trying to survive instead of being in a position to thrive!"
Warner's post also dove into how he believed Sam Darnold and Justin Fields were thrown to the wolves far too quickly, and it hurt their development. It's worth noting that this post wasn't directed squarely at the Raiders, but let's keep our fingers crossed that they got the message loud and clear.
The good news is that the Raiders signed Kirk Cousins ahead of the draft and will have him to lean on while Mendoza learns from the sidelines. That's the perfect blueprint to follow, and, as much as it's painful to admit, the Chiefs executed this to a tee in 2017 after they drafted Patrick Mahomes and let him learn from Alex Smith that season.
The Raiders can follow suit with Mendoza and Cousins. If Mendoza isn't ready to start right away, there's no need to rush him out there. Las Vegas drafted Mendoza to be the franchise quarterback of the Silver and Black, and if he's not ready, then rushing him is not the answer.
Be patient and give him time to learn. It could be the difference in him taking snaps for this team for the foreseeable future or being another quarterback bust.
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