{"id":778178,"date":"2026-02-26T19:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/778178\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T19:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:12:15","slug":"raiders-let-geno-smith-know-their-plans-on-qb1-amid-fernando-mendozas-draft-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/778178\/","title":{"rendered":"Raiders let Geno Smith know their plans on QB1 amid Fernando Mendoza&#8217;s draft rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The 2026 NFL Draft is approaching, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/las-vegas-raiders\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" title=\"Las Vegas Raiders\">Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> are at the center of attention. Holding the No. 1 overall pick, many believe they will select Fernando Mendoza. Amid that speculation, the organization has reportedly informed <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/geno-smith\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" title=\"Geno Smith\">Geno Smith<\/a> of its plans regarding the future of the starting quarterback role.<\/p>\n<p>It appears increasingly likely that Mendoza could soon be wearing black and silver. With the first overall selection, the Raiders are in position to draft the top quarterback prospect in the class \u2014 and <a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/topic\/fernando-mendoza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" title=\"Mendoza\">Mendoza<\/a> is widely viewed as that player.<\/p>\n<p>That scenario would not bode well for Geno Smith. The veteran joined Las Vegas in 2025, but after a disappointing campaign, speculation has intensified that the franchise could transition to Mendoza as QB1.<\/p>\n<p>    Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak gets honest about QB situation <\/p>\n<p>The Raiders are expected to look significantly different in 2026. With Klint Kubiak now leading the team as head coach, the focus has shifted toward fixing the offensive struggles that plagued the club last season \u2014 and the quarterback position is at the center of that conversation.<\/p>\n<p>Smith failed to replicate the level of play he showed during his tenure with the Seattle Seahawks, raising legitimate questions about the team\u2019s long-term direction. Amid the growing buzz surrounding Mendoza, Kubiak has addressed the uncertainty at the position, signaling that the organization is evaluating every option carefully.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooking at all options right now,\u201d Klint Kubiak told reporters this week at the scouting combine. \u201cWatching Geno play last year, obviously very familiar with what he had done before. We\u2019re just kind of putting it all on the table right now, trying to see every possible avenue we can go right now at quarterback. He\u2019s definitely one of those options we\u2019re considering.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>  Raiders aware of the pressure that comes with No. 1 pick <\/p>\n<p>Las Vegas understands the responsibility that comes with holding the first overall selection. The franchise has struggled to find stability at quarterback since Derek Carr\u2019s departure, and this draft presents a prime opportunity to secure a long-term solution.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/bolavip.com\/en\/nfl\/fernando-mendoza-received-huge-compliment-from-raiders-hc-klint-kubiak-ahead-of-2026-nfl-draft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\" title=\"Mendoza\u2019s talent has not gone unnoticed, and even Kubiak has publicly praised his potential ahead of the draft\">Mendoza\u2019s talent has not gone unnoticed, and even Kubiak has publicly praised his potential ahead of the draft<\/a>. If the Raiders decide to move forward with the young prospect, it could mark the beginning of a new era \u2014 and potentially the end of Geno Smith\u2019s time as the team\u2019s starting quarterback.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 NFL Draft is approaching, and the Las Vegas Raiders are at the center of attention. Holding&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":778179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[3619,7,1507,1744,393,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-778178","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-geno-smith","11":"tag-las-vegas","12":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","13":"tag-lasvegas","14":"tag-lasvegasraiders","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116138524320789146","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778178","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=778178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}