{"id":701386,"date":"2026-01-24T12:00:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T12:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/701386\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T12:00:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T12:00:18","slug":"raiders-tom-brady-evaluates-indiana-qb-fernando-mendoza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/701386\/","title":{"rendered":"Raiders\u2019 Tom Brady Evaluates Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Rams<\/p>\n

Fox broadcaster and former NFL quarterback Tom Brady gives a thumbs up before an NFL football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Los Angeles Rams, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025, in Baltimore. (AP Photo\/Terrance Williams)<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady attended Monday\u2019s CFP National Championship Game, a 27\u201321 Indiana Hoosiers victory over the Miami Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

The Raiders, who hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, were keeping a keen eye on Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. In a conversation with Colin Cowherd, Brady spoke about Mendoza.<\/p>\n

What Tom Brady Said About Fernando Mendoza<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s played tremendous all season, 16-0, leading his team,\u201d Brady said<\/a>. \u201cAnd again, he\u2019s another guy that, you know, when you hear him speak, I always kind of judge quarterbacks. I go, \u2018How would I have answered that?\u2019 And he\u2019s just a very mature young man, and he\u2019s got a bright future, and everybody coming to the league. There\u2019s still so much room for development. Nobody\u2019s a finished product.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy this season and finished the season with 3,535 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, six interceptions and 72% completion rate. The 6-foot-5 Mendoza can pick up yards with his legs as well, rushing for 276 yards and seven scores. <\/p>\n

While Mendoza\u2019s 2025 season was impressive, Brady\u2019s more focused on what Mendoza can do at the next level. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t care whether you\u2019ve won the Heisman or you\u2019re the 199th pick in the draft. It\u2019s what do you do when you get there,” Brady explained. \u201cHow important is this to you? Are you obsessed with your job? Are you obsessed with being the best you can be? These young men, whether it\u2019s Fernando or a lot of other players that were on the field the other night, they have a great opportunity to do something in their life, to enhance their family\u2019s life, to go impact a community in a positive way by playing great football and bringing joy to the fan base. And that\u2019s a job you take very seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brady, who was drafted by the New England Patriots with pick No. 199 in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft, went on to win six Super Bowls with the team who drafted him. The questions Brady will soon be asking Mendoza and other NFL prospects seem to be a good foreshadowing of the traits he wants the Raiders franchise to instill. <\/p>\n

\u201cI found a great environment, it was all about football,\u201d Brady said. “It was about, you know, like you mentioned earlier, about how can you be the best teammate? How can you work hard? How can you play smart? How can you play tough? How can you play well under pressure? How well can you play in tough conditions? And then, ultimately, how well can you play in championship games? And all those things remain to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Will The Las Vegas Raiders Draft Fernando Mendoza With The No. 1 Overall Pick?<\/p>\n

The Raiders, coming off a 3\u201314 season, are currently without a head coach after firing Pete Carroll following his first season on the job. While there\u2019s uncertainty as to who will be the next head coach in Las Vegas, Mendoza being drafted by the Raiders seems highly likely. <\/p>\n

NFL Draft analyst Dane Brugler of The Athletic<\/a> believes \u201cMendoza is going No. 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThough Mendoza isn\u2019t on the level of Caleb Williams or Drake Maye as a prospect, he has the talent to be a productive NFL starter for a long time,\u201d Brugler said. \u201cIt would be shocking if Tom Brady and the Raiders don\u2019t select him with the top pick.\u201d<\/p>\n

If the Raiders do indeed draft Mendoza, they\u2019ll be choosing a quarterback who is already expressing admiration for the franchise. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Raiders have a great culture, have a great coaching staff, great ownership group,\u201d Mendoza said this week. \u201cIt\u2019s all around. Those are legit guys. I\u2019d be happy to end anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fox broadcaster and former NFL quarterback Tom Brady gives a thumbs up before an NFL football game between…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701387,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[3619,7,26781,4725,1744,393,2455,2454,6,15,525,1369],"class_list":{"0":"post-701386","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-fernando-mendoza","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-indiana-football","11":"tag-indiana-hoosiers","12":"tag-las-vegas","13":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","14":"tag-lasvegas","15":"tag-lasvegasraiders","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-nfl-draft","18":"tag-raiders","19":"tag-tom-brady"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115949970522015382","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701386","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=701386"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701386\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}