NEW YORK — Indiana football quarterback Fernando Mendoza was asked about his future on Friday afternoon while visiting a city with an NFL team in desperate need of a franchise quarterback.

Mendoza has been a consensus top-five pick in NFL mock drafts for nearly as long as he’s been a front-runner for the Heisman.

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The New York media seized on the opportunity with Mendoza in town to ask for his thoughts about possibly playing for a Jets team that’s likely destined to have a top pick and the draft capital to possibly trade up even higher thanks to the Sauce Gardner trade.

“Football aside, I love New York City, I’m focused on celebrating this weekend, and I’m also focused on the rest of the College Football Playoffs,” Mendoza said with a smile. “We think we have three games left. That’s where all my focus is right now, to be in the present in the moment and give my full attention to the Indiana Hoosiers.”

More: Where would IU football’s Fernando Mendoza keep the Heisman Trophy?

Mendoza has generated draft buzz by leading the Hoosiers to a No. 1 seed in the CFP with an undefeated record. He threw for 2,980 yards and 33 touchdowns while completing 71.5% of his pass attempts. He led the FBS with 39 total touchdowns and had the country’s second-best QB rating (181.4).

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While Mendoza has deleted all social media (except for LinkedIn) from his phone, he admitted to having seen some mock drafts showing him as a potential No. 1 pick.

“Naturally, a couple of my friends will send me (them), and say, ‘Look how this is,'” Mendoza said. “It’s similar to the Heisman award, in Week 4 with Illinois when they posted Fernando Mendoza was a frontrunner or could be one of the Heisman finalists, it was still so far.”

Mendoza was flattered by the recognition, but he’s sticking to the same strategy he deployed to navigate the spotlight he was under during the regular season by shutting out all the noise and focusing on the task at hand.

“Hopefully, that’s a reality, but at this point I’m going to keep on doing what’s been working for me and keep each game at a time, especially the College Football Playoff,” Mendoza said. “You play against great teams and those have so much to do with draft, and how people position themselves with the draft. Right now, I’m committed to the Indiana Hoosiers. I want to play the last three games, and I want to put my heart into those games.”

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Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Fernando Mendoza, Indiana quarterback, on the NFL Draft, New York Jets