It doesn't take a genius to connect the dots and realize that Fernando Mendoza will be the Las Vegas Raiders' next quarterback, barring something cataclysmic. The front office isn't even acting like they're doing their due dilligence on any other prospects near the very top of this year's draft board.
Plus, reports have been circulating that Mendoza is already working with Brian Griese ahead of the draft. Griese played for Mike Shanahan, the father of the Klint Kubiak offense, coached under Kyle Shanahan, who also employed Kubiak, and was a college teammate of Tom Brady's at Michigan.
The Raiders are practically (and I mean this metaphorically) giving Mendoza the playbook. While abiding by NFL rules, Las Vegas is handing Mendoza every tool that they can so he'll hit the ground running when he reports to camp. But the groundwork for taking Mendoza was laid even longer ago.
Las Vegas Raiders did more than their share of homework on Fernando Mendoza
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer dove deep into the Raiders' process with Mendoza just weeks before he's set to hear his name called first in the 2026 NFL Draft. It sounds like the selection of Mendoza has been a long time coming for Las Vegas and, as a result, every fan of the Silver and Black.
According to Breer, even when the Raiders traded for Geno Smith last offseason, they knew that they needed to find their quarterback of the future in this April's draft. That led to high-ranking executives hitting the road all fall to watch some of the top quarterbacks in college football.
They watched Oregon's Dante Moore, Oklahoma's John Mateer, Cincinnati's Brendan Sorsby, and Alabama's Ty Simpson. The former three all returned to school, with Simpson being the lone one to declare for the ddraft. But Spytek started to hone in on Mendoza toward the end of the year.
"As the season wound down, Spytek himself got shots to hone in on Mendoza, seeing him live on a frigid night at Purdue on Nov. 28, then again against Oregon in the Peach Bowl on Jan. 9 (where he saw Moore, too), and a third time in the national title game (with minority owner Tom Brady alongside him) against Miami," Breer noted.
That's a lot more homework on Mendoza than fans were privvy to. Everyone in the world knew about the team's large presence at the National Championship, but it flew under the radar that Spytek himself was on hand to watch Mendoza twice prior to that. And Kubiak dove right in when he arrived.
"During Indiana’s run, the Raiders moved on from Pete Carroll and hired Klint Kubiak, who dove right into the quarterback-vetting process, one that would have Spytek, his scouts and Kubiak and his coaches at the point now, two months later, where those in the inner circle have all watched every snap Mendoza played both at Cal and Indiana," Breer explained. "What they saw was a player who consistently got better—maybe best evidenced this past year by the drop in his sack numbers, a result of being on a better team, yes, but also a quarterback playing faster."
Since then, Las Vegas has met with Mendoza formally at the NFL Combine and spoken with him for an hour via Zoom. They'll have a large group at Indiana's Pro Day on April 1, then they'll have a "whiteboard meeting" with Mendoza and take him out to dinner. (Add 1 to the reservation, please?)
Breer even seems to think that "these sorts of get-togethers can double as de facto offensive installations," which no Raiders fan is opposed to. They'll also have the chance to meet with Mendoza twice more in April via Zoom for a total of two hours, where they can install even more of the offense.
Raider Nation has long been fixated on Mendoza as their team's next franchise quarterback, and it hasn't been difficult to read the tea leaves in the pre-draft process. But the framework for his selection has seemingly been coming together since the college football season.
Not only is that a sign of a great, young general manager in Spytek, but it is a testament to the entire front office, and specifically, the scouting department. And the Raiders kept things under wraps, because this happened months ago, and fans hadn't heard a peep about it until now.
Mendoza coming to Las Vegas has been a long time coming. The Raiders have and will continue to wine and dine him over the next few weeks until the clock starts for the NFL Draft. But nothing will be decided in those 10 minutes; Mendoza wearing the Silver and Black has already long been written.