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The Las Vegas Raiders are projected to select former Indiana Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick at the 2026 NFL Draft. With this signal-caller draft class not being deep, there have been comments over whether Mendoza is truly a talent worthy of going first overall.
Nonetheless, FS1’s Colin Cowherd isn’t buying into the notion that Mendoza shouldn’t be going No. 1. Still, he did provide one concerning stat that the reigning Heisman Trophy winner will need to improve on in the NFL.
“There’s an NFL analyst who calls something ‘pressure‑to‑sack rate,’” Cowherd said on the Feb. 16 edition of “The Herd.” “How many negative plays do you have? How long do you hold the ball? If you look at last year in the NFL, who had a really high pressure‑to‑sack rate, it was Geno Smith, J.J. McCarthy, Shedeur Sanders, and Cam Ward.
“He has Fernando Mendoza’s pressure‑to‑sack rate the same as Justin Fields. What have we said about Justin Fields? He doesn’t see the field very well. He holds the ball too long. Now, Justin Fields is hyper athletic, and he still has negative plays.”
Despite this stat, Cowherd’s more concerned about whether the Raiders will put the right pieces around him to succeed at the NFL level.
“I look at Caleb Williams, his first year, hit all sorts of sacks and negative plays,” Cowherd added. “Why would that be? Because his coach stunk. I don’t worry about Fernando Mendoza. I worry about the Raiders as his parent in this league.
“Bad offensive line. Even if Klint Kubiak is a good coach, he’ll probably be the fourth‑best coach in his division. Ownership is impulsive and ridiculously impatient. I don’t have a Mendoza issue. I have a Mendoza‑to‑the‑Raiders issue.”
Rich Gannon Gets Blunt on Fernando Mendoza
Meanwhile, former Raiders QB Rich Gannon didn’t hold back on his thoughts regarding Mendoza should Las Vegas decide he’s their franchise signal-caller.
“I still think it’s early in the process,“ Gannon told reporters on Feb. 10 (h/t Vegas Sports Today). “I mean, there’s a lot to like there when you look at his body of work. He’s got a lot of the qualities and tangibles you love with that position: Toughness, accuracy, competitiveness, and leadership skills.
“It’s just a matter of sorting through all the tape, just like these guys are going to do, and really trying to figure out who’s the best player for the Raiders in 2026.”
Raiders Should Be Patient With Fernando Mendoza
Furthermore, Gannon also spoke on the Raiders’ broadcast after the Kubiak press conference on Feb. 10 and noted that if Las Vegas does select Mendoza, he supports letting the young QB sit and watch until he’s ready.
“That’s the ideal situation,“ Gannon said. “I know with Aaron [Rodgers], he was not happy sitting for three years, but as it turned out, it was a pretty good deal for him.
“Nobody who comes from the college game is ready to play right away. There’s nobody. There’s so much of a learning curve, and so if you can go somewhere and have a veteran quarterback, get a chance to play, get your feet wet.”
Eduardo Razo Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo
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