Las Vegas Raiders fans so badly want to know how rookie Fernando Mendoza is progressing early in the offseason program. After all, he's the franchise quarterback, and the organization and fanbase haven't had a player of his magnitude in quite some time. It's a big, big deal for the Silver and Black.
And when it comes to talking about players of his stature, fans will scrutinize every syllable of a given statement about him. That's why coaching staffs, front offices and players try to keep it strictly positive when facing the media. They'll smother him with praise and say only what needs to be said.
But the Raiders clearly aren't giving the starting quarterback position to Mendoza.
Yes, Klint Kubiak said he was "as advertised," Andrew Janocko talked about his improvement already, and leaders like Maxx Crosby and Tre Tucker are sharing what has impressed them about the young player thus far. He's still running with the third team in OTA practices, though, which says a whole lot.
Quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan gave an honest and fairly modest review of Mendoza in the early going, though, and his truthfulness was refreshing. Fans now have a deeper understanding of the situation and can trust that when Sullivan or the staff says Mendoza is ready, he's really ready.
Las Vegas Raiders QB coach Mike Sullivan shares truth of how Fernando Mendoza is progressing
Sullivan spoke with local reporters on Tuesday, and of course, a majority of the questions concerned the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. One thing that he touched on was how the current state of college football isn't really doing these young signal-callers, like Mendoza, any favors.
"I think there's a few things when you look at the landscape of college football now that are different," Sullivan explained. "Most college quarterbacks aren't in a huddle calling a play. They don't necessarily have the type of extended cadences that they have at the professional level. The operation at the line of scrimmage and having plays that can be canned to another play and some of those things, they just don't have that experience because of the way the systems most of them are set up in college."
Learning an NFL playbook in all of its complexity and adjusting to the speed of the game isn't the only difficult thing about transitioning to the professional ranks for a rookie signal-caller. Many elements that have been etched out of the college game are suddenly of the utmost importance.
Mendoza, then, for as great as he was for the California Golden Bears and Indiana Hoosiers, has a lot to work on now that he's in Las Vegas. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Mendoza needs to abandon what made him great in college; he just needs to keep working as hard as he can.
"As far as the under center, there's no shortcut to that. There's no instant fix," Sullivan said. "It just takes time and repetition and doing it over and over and over again to get more comfortable with it, to make it more second-nature. Because the skills and the ability to be accurate with the football, the ability to make good decisions, those are things that we hope all young quarterbacks continue to grow and develop and get better at. Some of the things that made them successful in college, you certainly expect and want them to translate in the professional level. But those details, which add up, are so significant and so critical. There's no way to get to them faster than just grinding it out every single day."
It was also made clear to reporters by Sullivan that, while this process isn't an overnight thing, the Raiders' young player still has a lot of time.
"Well, it is a long process, and there's no shortcut to it," Sullivan admitted. "There's no magic wand where a guy instantly can develop the type of skills necessary to be successful in the offense. And particularly, you're talking under center-type work or getting into a consistent rhythm and timing with his footwork. And so, right now, we've gone through the installation, we still have the minicamp. There's a long road ahead. He's still in the knowing what to do, making sure he knows his job (phase). And then we can start to take some of the next steps and so forth. But it's a long road, a lot of work to do. But we're pleased with the work that he's been putting in to this point."
None of this is to say that Sullivan hasn't been impressed with Mendoza, though. He has been. But he's clearly not ready to anoint the young player yet, and it is absolutely not his job to do so. Let the media and fanbase do that.
"Everything about the young man, he's, I think it's been said, maybe Klint [Kubiak] may have said it, or Andrew [Janocko], it's as advertised," Sullivan stated. "This is someone that loves the game, that is passionate about it, that is really consumed with it, and consumed in the right way. It's not about the accolades that come with being the number one pick or notoriety or anything other than just a humility to know that he has a lot of areas he's got to improve upon, and he is taking them on one by one, and we're systematically trying to do everything we can to encourage that growth and development. (It) starts with his attitude, and it's been tremendous so far."
In particular, Sullivan is impressed with Mendoza's ability to do one crucial thing, even if the process hasn't been perfect thus far.
"I think he has a way of finding completions," Sullivan said. "Sometimes, the footwork might not be right or maybe his progression, he didn't start in the right spot, but he's done a good job of keeping his poise, not panicking and finding an open target. And so we'll continue to work and get him to grow and develop. Pleased with where he's at right now."
Toward the end of his media availability, Sullivan was asked what effectively translates to a slate of million-dollar questions: What about the external pressure to start Mendoza? Aren't the optics bad if the team uses the No. 1 overall pick on a player and he doesn't start? What if it hurts his confidence?
"I think it starts with his approach as a player, (which) makes all of that go so much more smoothly," Sullivan noted. "He is focused just on the process. He's not concerned with anything outside of how can he push off and not pivot on his first step? How can he have consistent timing in a certain pass concept? All of those things, that's where his focus is centered upon. And I think that makes it easier. This is not a young man that is is focused on anything other than getting better each and every day."
While Sullivan's words prove that Mendoza still has quite a way to go at this very early juncture of his career, his greatness will come, even if it takes longer than expected or anyone wants.
If all Mendoza cares about is getting better each and every day, then he and the Raiders will be just fine.
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