It can be hard to see the forest through the trees for the Las Vegas Raiders, who have endured more losing over the last two decades than any team or fanbase should have to. But the No. 1 overall pick and the right, perhaps privilege, to draft Fernando Mendoza serves as a gleaming beacon of hope.
And yet the franchise, smartly, isn't just giving him the job and throwing him to the wolves, asking him to save the team from destruction. John Spytek and Klint Kubiak said frequently that they wanted a veteran for a young quarterback to learn from, and they put their money where their mouth is.
Kirk Cousins is now a member of the Silver and Black, and although he is far from the player that he was when he last played with Kubiak and offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko, he may have enough gas in the tank to start the Raiders off on a good foot to begin the 2026 NFL season.
Although I am firmly in the camp of letting Mendoza start right away and learn on the job, let's do a Devil's advocate exercise where we go through some reasons that may sway fans to be a little more patient, or at least not heartbroken, if Mendoza begins his rookie season riding the pine in Las Vegas.
An argument for the Las Vegas Raiders sitting Fernando Mendoza to begin the 2026 NFL season
It should be noted, first, that the last No. 1 overall pick quarterback not to start in Week 1 is JaMarcus Russell, way back in 2007. Not only is that pretty bad company to be in, but it is a harsh reminder for the Raiders of how badly they botched their last chance at a face-of-the-franchise-type quarterback.
But that should have no bearing on what Las Vegas does with Mendoza. It seems like, when looking at the very best quarterbacks in today's game or in recent memory, almost no correlation exists between success and either being an instant starter or sitting and learning for a period of time.
What that means is that the Raiders don't have to be bound to conventional wisdom when making a decision and feel like they are bucking a trend or not heeding warnings. In a sense, there is more than one way to peel an orange. Let's look at when some of the best quarterbacks started their first game.
Tom Brady - Week 3 of Year 2
Peyton Manning - Week 1 of Year 1
Patrick Mahomes - Week 17 of Year 1
Josh Allen - Week 1 of Year 1
Lamar Jackson - Week 11 of Year 1
Joe Burrow - Week 1 of Year 1
Aaron Rodgers - Week 1 of Year 4
Matthew Stafford - Week 1 of Year 1
Dak Prescott - Week 1 of Year 1
Drake Maye - Week 6 of Year 1
Justin Herbert - Week 2 of Year 1
Jordan Love - Week 9 of Year 2 (but not again until Week 1 of Year 4)
Trevor Lawrence - Week 1 of Year 1
Brock Purdy - Week 14 of Year 1
Are you guys seeing a correlation? Any firm patterns? I'm sure not.
Yes, every situation is different and no, not all of these players were the No. 1 pick. But hardly any of them also had a Kirk Cousins-type player in the building. And this is not to say that Mendoza shouldn't start if he wins the job in camp; he absolutely should, and that is what both I and the fans want.
But benefits certainly exist to letting Mendoza learn a bit before he takes the reins. One is that he can approach the offseason and practices through the lens of a player who can make mistakes because he is learning and not feel the weight of the team's success, or lack thereof, coming down on him.
Mendoza is seemingly a mentally tough and strong player, but the NFL is a different beast. Any way that the Raiders can flatten his learning curve is probably a good thing. And given the structure of Cousins' contract in Las Vegas, it wouldn't be the worst thing for him to put out some great tape.
If Cousins plays well before Mendoza relieves him, or even if he plays the entire season and looks good, then Spytek may be able to find a trade partner. Heck, he did for Geno Smith. And trading Cousins would wipe his $10 million off the books in 2027, which could turn into another starter.
Now, that is probably too many layers to peel back when simply making a decision about who should start at quarterback. But if the offensive line isn't as improved as everyone thinks it is, or nobody steps up in the wide receiver room, fans should rather Cousins work through that than Mendoza.
Asking a young player to be Superman is irresponsible, and feels like the perfect example of a quote that keeps circulating, "Teams fail young quarterbacks more often than young quarterbacks fail teams."
Plus, if Mendoza starts the year and struggles, the Raiders and their fanbase have nothing to look forward to, no ace in the hole, per se. But if Cousins starts the year and struggles, calling Mendoza in from the bullpen could be the thing to get Raider Nation and the team rejuvenated.
Albeit on a different scale, fans saw this back in 2023, when Las Vegas pulled the card of firing Josh McDaniels and replacing Jimmy Garoppolo with Aidan O'Connell to rally the troops at the end of the year. And look at the results.
Kubiak isn't getting fired halfway through this season, but the Raiders could look at Mendoza as a trick up their sleeves to give the team and fanbase a shot in the arm if things don't go swimmingly to begin the 2026 NFL season with Cousins at quarterback.
Again, the dream scenario is that Mendoza is a quick study and finds instant success with the Silver and Black. But it's not a doomsday situation if Cousins trots out there to open up the year. I'd still like to see the young gun under center in Week 1, but I don't make the decisions. Kubiak does.
And we know what his preference is, so prepare yourself, Raider Nation.