{"id":768736,"date":"2026-02-22T10:58:27","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T10:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768736\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T10:58:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T10:58:27","slug":"fernando-mendoza-to-skip-out-throwing-at-nfl-combine-in-favor-of-indianas-pro-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/768736\/","title":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza to skip out throwing at NFL combine in favor of Indiana\u2019s pro day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fernando Mendoza wants to share his talents to his fellow Indiana teammates.<\/p>\n

Mendoza, who is the consensus No. 1 selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, will not be throwing at the combine this upcoming week, ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter reported on Saturday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Rather than throwing at the combine, Mendoza will be throwing at Indiana\u2019s pro day on April 1 because the school has receivers that the 2025 Heisman winner wants to help showcase, according to Schefter.<\/p>\n

\"Hoosiers<\/p>\n

Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza smiles after their Indiana\u2019s win over Miami in the College Football Playoff national championship on Jan. 19, 2026. AP<\/p>\n

Mendoza has previously expressed his preference to his own offense at Indiana\u2019s pro day compared to the random receivers quarterbacks get at the combine, saying on \u201cThe Pat McAfee Show\u201d earlier this month that he wants to be \u201cwith the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the combine, you\u2019re throwing to different receivers, it\u2019s a whole different thing,\u201d Mendoza said<\/a>. \u201cAnd I want to make sure I give my guys the best chance.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI want to throw at pro day with my guys, with my running backs and be there with the boys.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the projected No. 1 pick in this year\u2019s draft, Mendoza is expected to be selected by the Raiders, with the 22-year-old saying on Monday that he would be \u201cblessed\u201d to play for them.<\/p>\n

\"Fernando<\/p>\n

Fernando Mendoza (15) celebrates with his teammates after rushing for a touchdown during Indiana\u2019s win over Miami in the national championship. Grace Hollars\/IndyStar \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d be blessed and honored to play for the Raiders, or I\u2019d be blessed to play for any team,\u201d he told reporters while receiving Davey O\u2019Brien Award as the country\u2019s top college quarterback, according to FOX Sports<\/a>. \u201cAny NFL team that drafts me, I\u2019d be ecstatic.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know at the draft, I\u2019ll probably shed a tear or two just because it\u2019s such a full-circle moment for me. \u2026 The goal of transferring to Indiana was to make the NFL. It wasn\u2019t to be a great college player. It was to try to develop into being an NFL quarterback one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Mendoza proved to be the top college quarterback in a magical run for Indiana this past season, throwing for 3,535 passing yards \u2014 on a 72.0 percent completion percentage \u2014 along with a NCAA-leading 41 touchdowns while helping lead the Hoosiers to an undefeated season and the College Football Playoff National Championship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza wants to share his talents to his fellow Indiana teammates. Mendoza, who is the consensus No.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768737,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4191,332,3619,7,932,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-768736","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-adam-schefter","9":"tag-college-football-playoff","10":"tag-fernando-mendoza","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-indiana","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116113934108948808","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768736","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=768736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}