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From now until the 2026 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders will be receiving several takes on what they should do with the No. 1 pick. All signs point to them taking former Indiana Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza.
Nonetheless, with this offseason being short on QBs and several teams needing a signal-caller, the Raiders are in a prime position to either take the top guy in the draft or potentially trade the pick for a king’s ransom.
For FS1’s Danny Parkins, the choice is obvious: he would like for the Silver and Black to trade the pick, since he isn’t a fan of the comps Mendoza is receiving from experts.
“Given how many holes the Raiders have, and given that the comp for Mendoza seems to be a Jared Goff type who’s a little faster, but a little worse arm, well, that can miss,” Parkins said on the Feb. 17 edition of “First Things First.” “That’s not what the quarterbacks look like in the NFL today…
“If you can put up the rights to Mendoza for the Jets and the Steelers and the Dolphins, and anybody who needs a quarterback to go up and get him, have four or five teams, you could get a heist for him. But I’m saying that this is what I would do. But I think this kid is so clearly what they’re going to do because it seems like Tom Brady would want to mold this kid.”
Raiders Urged to Follow the Path of the Bears
Moreover, Parkins cites the Chicago Bears, who traded away the top pick in the 2023 NFL Draft for a haul of draft picks and D. J. Moore. Then, a year later, Chicago got the top pick again to take Caleb Williams. As a result, Parkins would want to see the Raiders follow this path.
“I’m a fan of the team that last traded the rights to the No. 1 overall pick,“ Parkins added. “That was in a draft where it was Bryce Young or C.J. Stroud, who went No. 1 and No. 2. This draft, there might be more demand than there is supply because a lot of teams need a quarterback.
“Look at what the Bears got when they traded the No. 1 overall pick for the draft rights to Bryce Young. [Chicago] got a Pro Bowl/All‑Pro caliber right tackle. They got a starting corner. They ended up getting the first pick in the draft in Caleb Williams and Luther Burden III, who looks like he could be a No. 1 wide receiver. It was a legitimate heist for the Bears.
Colin Cowherd Shows Concern for Fernando Mendoza
Moreover, fellow FS1’s Colin Cowherd is 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 said on the Feb. 16 edition of “The Herd.” “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.”
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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