What is your realistic expectation for Mendoza?

I would say if the Raiders "hit" on him, he's probably a top 10 NFL QB, right? he's probably not going to pass Allen/Lamar/Burrow/Mahomes/etc

Then you got guys like Maye, Daniels, Baker, Stafford, Dak, Herbert, Goff, Love, Purdy, Caleb all out there in the top 10 as well.

So that's like 15 names right there. He might be better than some but probably not all/most.

The top 5 QBs in the NFL didn't make the Super Bowl this year, heck, at least 4 of them missed the playoffs entirely on talented/good teams. Which just proves how much a good QB alone isn't even close to enough to win a Championship.

Meanwhile, Sam Darnold, who led the NFL this season in turnovers and only had 25 TDs to offset leading the league in turnovers, did win the Super Bowl.

Which tells you all you need to know. You need great teams in order to win a Super Bowl, a QB alone isn't going to do it and you still might miss the playoff with a top 5 QB like Chiefs/Bengals/Ravens/etc did even on good teams because the team has to be GREAT around your QB.

The Seahawks turned a lot of draft picks off the Russell Wilson trade where they robbed the Broncos into a lot of talented players including CB Witherspoon, LT Cross and pass-rushers like Mafe and Hall among others – that is *why* they won, not the QB, he just helped not screw it up.

So bottom line, what is your real expectation of using the #1 to draft Mendoza?

19 comments

  3. Three-peat Super Bowl champion starting next year. 5x league MVP, first ballot HOF, fucks my wife, I think we’re getting the whole shebang with this kid.

  4. He’s got the tenacity and work ethic that you don’t see in most top picks. His passion for football oozes out of him. He’s got the juice you just don’t see with most other QBs.

  5. Long term starter (10 years) is about the best we can hope for. That sort of stability will do wonders for the team, even if he isn’t a top 5 QB.

    Offenses have regressed across the league these past few years. Defense is back. Having an elite one will cover up for a ton of mistakes. Mendoza is the most important piece, but he’s not the only one.

    Spytek is going to decide the fate of this team.

  6. Real real? I think he may follow a JD trajectory. I do think he will be good/decent right away but have a bit of a sophomore slump after teams get tape on him. BUT I 100% believe in his potential to take us to the promised land. I freakin love his mental traits and his traditional QB strengths (size, processing, toughness). I think he will last much longer than the mobile QBs everyone compares him to. I think he will absolutely model himself after TB and even in his interviews during the Super Bowl, he mentioned how he would want to know Brady’s secrets on pliability and longevity. What other 23 year old is thinking that? And as someone who likes Jaxson dart and Cam Ward and how mobile they are and how fun that is to watch, the reality is that age will always catch up to you and durability is way too important. I think Mendoza can be the guy for a long long time. 

  7. Wins 12 straight super bowls and rides off into the sunset as the first day one hall of famer.

  8. My year 1 for him is- Rookie of the year, Super Bowl MVP, and breaks the single season passing and rush touchdown records!

  9. I’m not expecting him to be a top-10 QB in Year 1 if that’s what you’re asking. I’m assuming his Year 1 stats will rank closer to top-20 than top-10.

  11. Zero judgement for me rookie season.

    I don’t care if he goes full Peyton Manning and throws 28 INTs year one.

    I could care less if he struggles his ass off.

    I’m going to start judging his ability year two.

    My floor expectation for him is top 20 QB. I believe he’ll grow into a top 10 but I’m not expecting that year one like a lot of people are

  12. The football intelligence of Peyton Manning, the competitiveness of Tom Brady, the arm strength of Josh Allen, and the rugged good looks of a young Joseph Stalin.

    The Cuban Missile Crisis is already locked in as the goat, conservatively.

  13. The off-season is the only time I get to enjoy thinking about football. I refuse to deal with reality now when I can deal with it during the season.
    We’re going 18 and -1, Mendoza wins mvp, and Crosby is going to teabag mahomes at some point during the season during primetime.

  14. We draft him and he becomes a top half of the league QB in 3 years. We just have to not shit the bed on the rest of the draft and FAs for the next two years, even if we’re half successful there we’re in the playoffs.

  16. What ?!? Are telling me it’s a team game ? And the quarterbacks don’t actually play against each other ?!?

  18. Short answer, I would be fine if he sat a few games. Our schedule next year is brutal and we shouldn’t expect immediate success. The floor is 6-11 and the ceiling is 8-9 in my opinion.

    Long answer, as you pointed out our situation isn’t really comparable with teams like KC or Denver. Both of those teams already had a lot of talent. Specifically they already had extremely good defenses. We are looking at pretty much a complete rebuild on defense. There’s simply not a lot of talent on that side of the ball.

    The positive in all of this is we have really strong cornerstones for an explosive offense with Jeanty and Bowers. A couple upgrades on the offensive line and a receiver who can blow the top off the defense and the offense is there assuming Mendoza works out.

    I expect a playoff run. In the 2028 season. New coach, rookie quarterback, gotta be patient.

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