Last year, the Las Vegas Raiders seemingly had no suitable options to play quarterback for them. This offseason, they appear to have the opposite problem: An abundance of players who could theoretically get the job done for the Silver and Black during the 2026 NFL season.
Fernando Mendoza is undeniably the future under center, and despite getting off to a slow start, Raider Nation would have the utmost confidence in him starting. Kirk Cousins is taking early command of the starting job, and even Aidan O'Connell has been reborn under Klint Kubiak.
Suffice it to say, it will be an interesting training camp in Las Vegas, and nobody quite knows what the Raiders will do, even if Cousins seems like the favorite right now. Franchise legend Tim Brown, however, has his take on what Las Vegas will do, and it is hard to argue with the logic he presented.
Legend Tim Brown has sensible outlook on Las Vegas Raiders' QB situation
Brown was a guest on The Jim Rome Show, and the Hall of Fame wide receiver was talking all things Silver and Black. Of course, Mendoza came up, and Brown revealed that he sees a lot of himself in the young quarterback. Brown also said, though, that he believes Cousins gets the nod in Week 1.
"I really believe they're going to start with Kirk and really ease this kid into it, which I think is a great plan," Brown said. "You don't have to play [Mendoza] because you have a guy like Kirk Cousins, who is obviously able to get this thing done. But I think once [Mendoza] gets in there, he's going to be the dynamic for this Raider organization."
Nobody is going to argue too much with Brown's viewpoint here. Yes, Las Vegas changed its original messaging to "the best player will play" from "we want a rookie to sit behind an adult and learn," but since signing him, it has always felt like the Raiders would start Cousins in the short term.
How does Mendoza break his way into the starting lineup, then, if he's on the sidelines to begin the year and probably getting minimal first-team reps? Brown's prediction of how all this will go down is logical and as good as any other projection out there.
"I just really believe that the way this thing is going to work, there's going to come a game where Kirk is not going to play as well, and they're going to put this kid in, maybe at the end of the game, and he's going to play well, and that's going to be the way this thing turns over," Brown said. "I don't think that it's going to be a day one thing, for sure, unless something happens with Kirk that we don't know about. But I think they brought Kirk in so they can ease Fernando into this situation ... Who knows what can happen in training camp, right? But right now, I think he's running third-team. Certainly, he'll be the backup by the time we get to game one, and we'll go from there."
Cousins playing poorly in a game or two certainly isn't out of the question. In fact, to most of Raider Nation, it is a given. And it isn't far-fetched, either, to think that Mendoza could work his magic and continue his storybook year by making a strong initial impression once thrown into action.
Everyone is trying to reason their way through this quarterback situation, thinking of aspects like the bye week, who Las Vegas is playing that game, how many days Mendoza would have to prepare, or how the rushing attack or offensive line is coming along. The list goes on.
But perhaps it is as simple as Cousins starting the year and getting benched when, what seems inevitably, he starts playing poorly. At that point, the Raiders give the team and fanbase a shot in the arm by putting Mendoza into the lineup, and the rookie takes the reins from there, win or lose.
This may not be the answer. In fact, Brown could end up being way off. But so could anyone else, and Browns' prediction makes as much sense as any. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out; only time will tell.
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