{"id":679100,"date":"2026-01-15T11:36:13","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T11:36:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/679100\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T11:36:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T11:36:13","slug":"mel-kiper-jr-crowns-fernando-mendoza-top-prospect-in-2026-nfl-draft-no-question-about-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/679100\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel Kiper Jr. crowns Fernando Mendoza top prospect in 2026 NFL Draft: \u2018No question about it\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The meteoric rise of Fernando Mendoza<\/a> has shifted the conversation around the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a>. According to ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.<\/a>, there is little doubt about where the Indiana<\/a> star quarterback currently stands among his peers.<\/p>\n

Speaking Wednesday on Get Up, Kiper made it clear that Mendoza has separated himself at the top of the board, even when stacked next to elite competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo question about it,\u201d Kiper stated. \u201cWhen you\u2019re on the same field with the Oregon Ducks<\/a> and Dante Moore<\/a> and you play the way he did. He did it all year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendoza\u2019s r\u00e9sum\u00e9 is difficult to poke holes in. The reigning 2025 Heisman Trophy winner led the FBS with 41 passing touchdowns while completing 73 percent of his passes, ranking third nationally.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He has also guided the Hoosiers to the doorstep of the program\u2019s first-ever national championship, capping off one of the most remarkable quarterback seasons in recent college football history.<\/p>\n

Kiper emphasized that Mendoza\u2019s development, both physically and mentally, has been central to his draft stock explosion: \u201cKeep in mind, he\u2019s 22. He\u2019ll be 23 in October,\u201d Kiper added. \u201cTalk about cracking the code, he did. He gets an A-plus for the courses he took in college. A-plus gets you ready for the NFL.\u201d<\/p>\n

That growth was especially evident when comparing Mendoza\u2019s lone season at Indiana to his previous stop at Cal<\/a>. According to Kiper, the improvements were dramatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cTouchdowns went way up this year from what it was at Cal. Sacks went way, way down,\u201d he explained. \u201cSo, he used this year in Indiana to improve on the areas he needed to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Continuing, Kiper also contrasted Mendoza\u2019s trajectory with that of Dante Moore, suggesting Moore could benefit from additional development time at Oregon, while Mendoza\u2019s extra year proved invaluable: \u201cHe used that year to improve his stock and improve his performance immensely,\u201d Kiper elaborated.<\/p>\n

Former Alabama<\/a> quarterback and ESPN analyst Greg McElroy<\/a> echoed that sentiment during a recent episode of Always College Football, delivering one of the boldest evaluations of Mendoza to date.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not traditional Indiana football,\u201d McElroy stated. \u201cThis is a Madden simulation that\u2019s set on rookie difficulty. Fernando Mendoza at the center of it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

McElroy even placed Mendoza\u2019s season in rare historical company: \u201cI know there\u2019ve been some great quarterbacks in the last five years, like Caleb Williams<\/a>, Bryce Young<\/a>,\u201d McElroy added. \u201cBut this feels like one of, if not the best quarterbacks we\u2019ve seen in college football since Joe Burrow<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

With production and postseason success aligning, Mendoza is no longer just a Heisman winner. He\u2019s firmly positioned as the quarterback every NFL franchise will be chasing in April, beginning with the Las Vegas Raiders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The meteoric rise of Fernando Mendoza has shifted the conversation around the 2026 NFL Draft. According to ESPN…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679101,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26735,7,6,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-679100","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-fernando-mendoza-22-columbus","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-nfl-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679100","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=679100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679100\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}