{"id":766144,"date":"2026-02-21T05:33:20","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T05:33:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/766144\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T05:33:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T05:33:20","slug":"las-vegas-raiders-draft-fernando-mendozas-deep-passing-fits-klint-kubiak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/766144\/","title":{"rendered":"Las Vegas Raiders draft: Fernando Mendoza\u2019s deep passing fits Klint Kubiak"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">With the Las Vegas Raiders starting to build their coaching staff, they will begin preparing for the 2026 NFL draft next week at the NFL Combine. While they try to build up their draft boards, the number one pick in the draft is uneventful. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverandblackpride.com\/nfl-draft\/119469\/las-vegas-raiders-nfl-draft-indiana-quarterback-fernando-mendoza-film-breakdown?utm_campaign=dhtwitter&amp;utm_content=%3Cmedia_url%3E&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza<\/a> is the likely pick and will be able to grow with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverandblackpride.com\/las-vegas-raiders-news\/122490\/las-vegas-raiders-news-head-coach-search-klint-kubiak\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Klint Kubiak as the head coach<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">One of the reasons Mendoza will be the pick is his ability to throw the ball downfield accurately. Kubiak is known for explosive plays, with the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JakeLiscow\/status\/2023481302885036260?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">Seattle Seahawks ranking 3rd in explosive play rate<\/a>. Whether in the run game or through the air, the team is always finding a way to get chunk plays on offense.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">This could allow Mendoza to thrive with his skill set and with the addition of play-action. Check out Mendoza\u2019s deep stats below. He has been consistent when throwing the ball down the field, ranking 5th in completion percentage according to PFF in 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">In the play above, you see how Mendoza\u2019s throwing downfield is a plus for his game. Just a beautifully placed football on the post route allows the receiver to run right under the football.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">With players who can win downfield, such as Tre Tucker, already on the roster, the Raiders\u2019 offense can finally get the boost it needs with the combo of Mendoza and Kubiak.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the Las Vegas Raiders starting to build their coaching staff, they will begin preparing for the 2026&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,86540,2492,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-766144","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-las-vegas-raiders","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-las-vegas","10":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","11":"tag-las-vegas-raiders-coaching-staff","12":"tag-las-vegas-raiders-draft","13":"tag-lasvegas","14":"tag-lasvegasraiders","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116106992587243432","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766144","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=766144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}