{"id":700472,"date":"2026-01-24T03:04:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T03:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/700472\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T03:04:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T03:04:15","slug":"id-be-blessed-fernando-mendoza-breaks-silence-on-raiders-future-fuels-belief-las-vegas-found-its-long-term-franchise-qb-nfl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/700472\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI\u2019d be blessed&#8221;: Fernando Mendoza breaks silence on Raiders future, fuels belief Las Vegas found its long-term franchise QB | NFL News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769223855_290_fernando-mendoza.jpg\" alt=\"\u201cI\u2019d be blessed&quot;: Fernando Mendoza breaks silence on Raiders future, fuels belief Las Vegas found its long-term franchise QB\" title=\"Presumed No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza shares candid Raiders thoughts (Imagn Images)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/>Presumed No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza shares candid Raiders thoughts (Imagn Images) Fernando Mendoza did not just lift Indiana to its first national championship. He rewrote his own football story in the process. On Monday night, the Hoosiers stunned the college football world, and by the end of the week, their quarterback stood at the center of the sport\u2019s biggest conversation. With a title secured and his college chapter closed, Mendoza officially declared for the NFL Draft, setting the stage for what many believe is an inevitable rise to the top pick.The timing could not be sharper. Fresh off the championship glow, Mendoza has stepped into the national spotlight, balancing humility with quiet confidence. His recent media appearances were less about celebrating personal accolades and more about signaling readiness for the next challenge. That next step, increasingly, appears to be Las Vegas.<\/p>\n<p>Fernando Mendoza and the Raiders connection<\/p>\n<p>As draft chatter grows louder, Mendoza has addressed the possibility of being selected No. 1 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders with calm perspective. \u201cI\u2019d be blessed to play anywhere, and the No. 1 pick is a great blessing, but any pick is a fantastic blessing,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cYou only need one team to believe in you, and any team that believes in me, I\u2019m going to give them my all.&#8221;He did not stop there. \u201cThe Raiders have a great culture, a great coaching staff, and a great ownership group. It\u2019s all around. Those are legit guys. I\u2019d be happy to end up anywhere.\u201dThose words matter, especially from a quarterback who understands the value of belief. Mendoza began his journey as a lightly recruited prospect at California before transferring to Indiana. From two star labels to Heisman glory, his rise was built on resilience, preparation, and leadership rather than hype.For Las Vegas, the appeal is obvious. The Raiders are searching for stability at the most important position in sports. Pairing Mendoza with weapons like Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers could accelerate a long overdue reset. The caveat, of course, is protection. Building a stronger offensive line will be essential if the franchise wants its rookie quarterback to thrive.The league remains driven by quarterbacks, and the Raiders appear poised to finally secure one who fits their timeline. With cap space, draft capital, and a pivotal coaching hire ahead, Las Vegas controls its own narrative. Mendoza, meanwhile, has already shown he can change a program\u2019s direction. Soon, he may be asked to do the same for an entire franchise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Presumed No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza shares candid Raiders thoughts (Imagn Images) Fernando Mendoza did not just lift&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":700473,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[3619,7,1744,393,2455,2454,6,15,24575,525,102085,1369],"class_list":["post-700472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-las-vegas-raiders","tag-fernando-mendoza","tag-football","tag-las-vegas","tag-las-vegas-raiders","tag-lasvegas","tag-lasvegasraiders","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-nfl-quarterbacks","tag-raiders","tag-raiders-quarterback","tag-tom-brady"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115947862914687366","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700472","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=700472"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/700472\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=700472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=700472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=700472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}