{"id":308233,"date":"2025-08-22T09:39:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T09:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/308233\/"},"modified":"2025-08-22T09:39:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T09:39:08","slug":"indiana-quarterback-fernando-mendoza-pick-in-2026-nfl-mock-drafts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/308233\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza pick in 2026 NFL mock drafts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Indiana football<\/a> plans on returning to the College Football Playoff<\/a> behind quarterback Fernando Mendoza<\/a>. Last season’s starter at California is excited to play in coach Curt Cignetti<\/a>‘s system.<\/p>\n

Mendoza is among almost a dozen quarterbacks considered potential first-round NFL<\/a> Draft picks next April. Where does he stack up in the latest way-too-early mock drafts? He’s anywhere from the top 10 to out of the first round.<\/p>\n

Where will Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza be picked in the NFL Draft? Where IU QB Fernando Mendoza will be picked in 2026 draft<\/p>\n

AtoZSports<\/a>: 12th to the Los Angeles Rams<\/p>\n

Fifth quarterback taken<\/p>\n

“Los Angeles is playing it year by year with Matthew Stafford, and there is a good chance that the 2025 season could be his last with the Rams. With the Rams likely in the market for a quarterback, head coach Sean McVay takes a swing at the talented passer from Indiana. Mendoza is a natural thrower of the football, showcasing excellent accuracy, touch, and instincts.”<\/p>\n

Daniel Flick, Sports Illustrated<\/a>: 7th to the Indianapolis Colts<\/p>\n

Third quarterback taken<\/p>\n

“If the Colts are picking in the top 10, it\u2019s certainly possible that coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard won\u2019t be turning in the card. It also means Indianapolis\u2019s quarterback battle between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones likely proved futile. Mendoza, who transferred to Indiana from Cal after the 2024 season, has generated steady buzz throughout the summer. The 6-5, 225-pounder has prototypical size, a strong arm and the athleticism to extend plays. Mendoza is in line for a strong season under quarterback ace Curt Cignetti, and there\u2019s plenty of value in the Colts staying local.”<\/p>\n

Dame Parson, Bleacher Report<\/a>: 3rd to the New York Jets<\/p>\n

Second quarterback taken<\/p>\n

“Justin Fields signed a two-year deal this offseason, but the Jets can get out of the contract after the upcoming campaign if everything goes poorly.<\/p>\n

“Mendoza, meanwhile, checks a lot of NFL boxes. He possesses prototypical size (6-5, 225 pounds) for the quarterback position. His tape displays a variety of NFL throws and plenty of arm strength. He is hard to rattle and handles pressure\/free running defenders like a pro. The 21-year-old has the physical ability and passing skill set to thrive in the NFL.”<\/p>\n

Tarringo Basile-Vaughan, NFL Mocks<\/a>: 17th to the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/p>\n

Sixth quarterback taken<\/p>\n

“If Fernando Mendoza lights up the Big Ten, he could easily be a top 10 pick. The Steelers will get him at No. 17 as the successor to Aaron Rodgers. If the Steelers are selecting in the middle of the first round, it will probably mean Rodgers was able to lead them as more than a middle of the pack team challenging for a wild card spot. In Mendoza, they will at least have a young quarterback of the future to get excited about.”<\/p>\n

A lot of options: What quarterbacks will be available to the Colts in the 2026 NFL Draft?<\/a><\/p>\n

Why did Fernando Mendoza leave Cal? Where did Cal QB Mendoza transfer to?<\/p>\n

Mendoza was interested in a more offensive-focused coaching staff, and he chose Indiana.<\/p>\n

Fernando Mendoza stats at CaliforniaYearComp. %YardsTD\/INT202363.01,70814\/10202468.73,00416\/6Is Fernando Mendoza mobile?<\/p>\n

He has 197 career rushing yards and 4 touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Zach Osterman<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Michael Niziolek<\/a>\u00a0have our Indiana Hoosiers<\/a> sports coverage, and get more on\u00a0IndyStar TV<\/a>\u00a0and with\u00a0IndyStar’s IU sports newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indiana football plans on returning to the College Football Playoff behind quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Last season’s starter at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[323,247,265,322,20844,62,318,332,339,324,321,19,864,3203,7,1134,2638,20842,932,2643,49770,49771,3198,3310,32,3687,248,267,88,6,15,245,537,3197,319,530,3686,3307,325,9,266,3177,1223,3199],"class_list":{"0":"post-308233","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-323","9":"tag-american","10":"tag-american-football","11":"tag-big","12":"tag-big-10-hub","13":"tag-big-ten-conference-football","14":"tag-college","15":"tag-college-football-playoff","16":"tag-college-sports","17":"tag-conference","18":"tag-content","19":"tag-draft","20":"tag-exclude","21":"tag-exclude-from-paywall-logic-testing","22":"tag-football","23":"tag-from","24":"tag-hoosiers","25":"tag-hub","26":"tag-indiana","27":"tag-indiana-hoosiers-football","28":"tag-iu","29":"tag-iu-sports-content-sharing","30":"tag-logic","31":"tag-matthew","32":"tag-matthew-stafford","33":"tag-mcvay","34":"tag-national","35":"tag-national-sports","36":"tag-news","37":"tag-nfl","38":"tag-nfl-draft","39":"tag-overall","40":"tag-overall-positive","41":"tag-paywall","42":"tag-playoff","43":"tag-positive","44":"tag-sean","45":"tag-sean-mcvay","46":"tag-sharing","47":"tag-sports","48":"tag-sports-news","49":"tag-stafford","50":"tag-ten","51":"tag-testing"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}