The Las Vegas Raiders have lacked stability at the quarterback position since moving on from Derek Carr. Since he was benched in Week 17 of the 2022 season, the franchise has had eight different quarterbacks make at least one start.
After a 3-14 season, which landed them the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the Raiders have the opportunity to change that. The overwhelming consensus is that the front office will draft Fernando Mendoza with the hopes that he can turn things around and give Las Vegas a clear sense of direction.
There have been plenty of people weighing in, suggesting that the Raiders should go in a different direction. Carr recently shared that he is against his former team selecting a quarterback in this year's draft.
Derek Carr claims the Raiders should not draft Fernando Mendoza
There have been plenty of pundits floating the idea that the Raiders should pass on Mendoza due to the fact that the rest of the roster is not ready to compete. While Las Vegas' roster is flawed, the team will have plenty of cap space and draft capital to build around the 2025 Heisman Trophy winner.
Despite having multiple routes to improve the roster, Carr claimed that the franchise should not select Mendoza during a recent episode of his Home Grown podcast.
"I'm all against that. I am all against it. I don't know if they're ready for that. There are so many holes. There is no young quarterback that you are just going to insert, unless they fix other things. If you just go out there and say the quarterback's coming, he's going to fix it. Geno (Smith) can read coverage. Geno knows where to go with the ball. Aidan (O'Connell) knows coverage. There is no young guy that's going to know more ball than them right now."
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Carr added that he believes Mendoza is good enough to be the No. 1 overall pick, while claiming that he is trying to protect the Hoosiers' star. He, instead, suggested that the Raiders should focus on building in the trenches.
Las Vegas clearly needs upgrades across its offensive line, which was, arguably, the worst positional room in the entire NFL last season. The front office, however, has plenty of cap space and the rest of the draft to improve the unit. Furthermore, the return of Kolton Miller and Jackson Powers-Johnson should also provide a boost.
Either way, if the Raiders agree with Carr that Mendoza is talented enough to be selected at the top of the draft, there is no way that they should consider passing on him. The two most important positions in football are the quarterback and head coach.
There is no guarantee that Las Vegas will be in a spot to draft a quarterback next season, so they must strike while they can, even if they aren't just a quarterback away. While Carr isn't wrong that the rest of the team needs to improve, if general manager John Spytek believes Mendoza is the guy, there should be no second-guessing what they do at the top of the draft.