The Jets are exhausting all their options at quarterback this offseason. They own the No. 2 overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, but Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza likely won’t be an option when the Green & White go on the clock early in Round 1 on April 23 in Pittsburgh.
“Whatever team drafts me, I’m extremely grateful,” Mendoza told reporters Friday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “Whether it’s the No. 1 pick of whether it’s the last pick in the draft — I’d be blessed and honored to be drafted by any team. I’m going to give it my all.”
All signs point to Mendoza wearing silver and black next season for the Las Vegas Raiders. The Raiders own the No. 1 pick, and Mendoza is coming off a season in which he won a Heisman Trophy and led the Indiana Hoosiers to a most improbable national championship. IU went 16-0 as Mendoza hit on 72% of his passes for 3,535 yards with 41 TDs and just 6 INTs.
“I believe with an NFL franchise, to lead it, you need equity, and then you need two things to build equity,” Mendoza said. “You need, one, to play well. And that’s where all my focus goes in — football, football, football,” Mendoza said. “If you want to lead, you first have to play well. And then second, it’s having the respect of your teammates. Through work ethic, through your leadership, through your tenacity — the way you respond to mistakes. And so those are all things I’m looking to work on.”
Mendoza (6-5, 225), a Miami, FL, native who attended Christopher Columbus high school, started his college journey at California and was redshirted in 2022. He played 20 games for the Golden Bears, connecting on 66.5% of his passes for 4,712 yards with 30 TDs and 16 INTs. Then he transferred to Indiana and joined his younger brother, Alberto Mendoza, and took over the offensive reins for HC Curt Cignetti.