The door is certainly somewhat open for him to win the starting job during training camp, but Las Vegas Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza likely won't make his first NFL start in Week 1. Exactly when it will happen is the big question, with a wide range of predictions and possibilities.
But the trick will be, assuming things go as expected, balancing Mendoza's readiness with how well Kirk Cousins is or isn't playing. And the team's record at whatever point Mendoza is deemed ready to take over is a layer of the equation too.
The team's progress won't (and shouldn't) be measured strictly by wins and losses in Klint Kubiak's first season at the helm. But winning more games than expected early in the season, while Cousins is playing well, would be a notable development to say the least.
It could also complicate things to some extent, if it's allowed to.
Las Vegas Raiders reporter outlines what the top priority should be for 2026
On a recent episode of Raider Nation Radio's Morning Tailgate, on the hypothetical topic of the team winning seven or nine games in 2026, Vincent Bonsignore of The California Post outlined what the priority has to be for the Raiders this season.
"I'd rather take seven wins with Fernando Mendoza and kinda getting that ship righted, and building off that kind of momentum," Bonsignore said. "Because now I've got, alright, you got seven wins with Fernando Mendoza, he played a full season, or close to a full season. He got a lot of the transition, the learning curve, he got that taken care of.
"They won some games, they improved by four wins over last year. Now we kind of know exactly what we need going into next year, this is what we need to improve around Fernando Mendoza, we kind of saw it in real time with him being the quarterback. What can we do now to help him a little bit? You have all of that information at your fingertips now, having played him."
Bonsignore would willingly trade two fewer wins this season for getting Mendoza on the field as much as possible. And using the terms of that exercise, he's right, since the difference between seven and nine wins is not very likely to be the difference between making the playoffs and not in a deep AFC.
In a broader, less specific sense, wins in Year 1 under Kubiak should easily be traded for getting Mendoza the kind of experience that can't be replicated. As long as it's benefical experience, of course, not David Carr-circa 2002.
Mendoza's development is the No. 1 priority for the Raiders' organization right now, and nothing else is particularly close in importance. Yes, even wins and losses this season are in the background of getting the No. 1 overall pick a notable level of action during his rookie season.
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