Back in March, it looked like the Raiders would enter their next era under head coach Klint Kubiak with a new quarterback but without their top edge rusher.
But then the Ravens backed out of the trade for Maxx Crosby.
Now Crosby and No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza are poised to lead Las Vegas together, on opposite sides of the ball.
Crosby, who is still rehabbing his left knee after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus, told reporters on Wednesday that his first impressions of Mendoza have been very positive.
“He’s an awesome kid,” Crosby said, via transcript from the team. “Everyone knows his ability, what they’ve seen, especially this past season at Indiana. It couldn’t have been a greater year for an individual player at a college level, winning the Heisman, winning the Natty, not losing a game, having a game-winning touchdown in the national championship. Like, he checked every single box and some, but now you come to the NFL and you’re on ground zero.
I think that’s what the most important thing is when you’re a young guy coming in the league, is realizing that.
“It’s like, listen you don’t just come in and say, OK now you just start where you left off in college — that’s not the reality. You come here and you have to earn your respect all over again and build up trust within your teammates, your coaches and the whole nine. So, Fernando has been awesome. He’s a great kid. He has great work ethic. I had a lot of the young guys over at the house, we watched Game 7 [of the NBA Western Conference Finals], and Fernando was unfortunately behind me in a game of horse, and I destroyed him. I got him out of there quick. So, he’s got to work on the jump shot, but ultimately he’s a competitor and he’s learning and getting better every single day. So, I’m really excited for what he’s going to bring to this team, and you can already feel just his energy on a daily basis has been extremely consistent.”
Fortunately for the Raiders, the club isn’t counting on Mendoza to excel at basketball.
With veteran Kirk Cousins around, it remains to be seen when Mendoza will ascend to QB1. But Mendoza is undoubtedly going to be a big part of Las Vegas’ future.