{"id":849356,"date":"2026-04-02T14:06:22","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849356\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T14:06:22","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:06:22","slug":"fernando-mendoza-did-something-espn-analyst-never-saw-before-at-electric-pro-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849356\/","title":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza did something ESPN analyst &#8216;never saw&#8217; before at electric Pro Day"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Fernando Mendoza wasn\u2019t fooling around at his Pro Day.<\/p>\n<p>Indiana\u2019s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, who is expected to be the No. 1 overall draft pick by the Las Vegas Raiders later this month, wowed scouts and this ESPN analyst at his Pro Day on Wednesday. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cNever saw a QB during his pro day \u2026.call out each receiver by name and announce what the route would be before he ran it during the entire workout like Mendoza did,\u201d Louis Riddick posted to X.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38969233\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/indiana-quarterback-fernando-mendoza-looks-124879936.jpg\" alt=\"Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza looks to throw a pass during the school's NFL football pro day.\" class=\"wp-image-38969233\"  \/>Fernando Mendoza wowed bystanders at his NFL Pro Day.  AP<\/p>\n<p>Riddick is a former scout and Director of Player Personnel for the Eagles from 2010-13. Riddick <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2017\/12\/21\/giants-gm-hopeful-would-think-big-saban-or-mcdaniels-big\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">interviewed for the Giants general manager opening in 2017<\/a>, but ultimately remained with ESPN.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery route. WR\u2019s, TE, RB\u2019s. Seems insignificant, but it\u2019s not. It was his show, in collaboration with his pass catchers,\u201d Riddick wrorte on X.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA certain GM was paying attention and noticed. One that is going to pick him. Everything matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Riddick\u2019s line about the executive who will \u201cpick\u201d Mendoza seemingly references Raiders general manager John Spytek making the trip to Bloomington, Ind. for the showcase.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/04\/02\/sports\/fernando-mendoza-wows-during-pro-day-weeks-before-nfl-draft\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Mendoza wowed at the Pro Day<\/a>, according to all accounts, completing 53 of his 56 throws and his first 23.<\/p>\n<p>His likely future head coach, Klint Kubiak, was also in attendance to see the signal caller work his magic, and it appears he made a significant statement.<\/p>\n<p>Mendoza skipped the NFL Combine, so this is the first time we\u2019ve really seen him in public since he helped lead Indiana to its first national title by besting Miami in the championship game.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38969236\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/louis-riddick.jpg\" alt=\"A man in a dark overcoat and tie watches the Dallas Cowboys v Philadelphia Eagles game.\" class=\"wp-image-38969236\"  \/>Lous Riddick is a former scout and once interviewed to be the Giants general manager. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The Raiders will be on the clock first come April 23, where they won\u2019t have much thinking to do when they submit the first card with Mendoza\u2019s name on it.<\/p>\n<p>The Raiders hope to take major steps forward in 2025 after firing Pete Carroll after just one season and <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/09\/sports\/raiders-to-sign-ravens-c-tyler-linderbaum-in-nfl-free-agency\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">spending big on their offensive line<\/a> to give Mendoza the help he needs to succeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza wasn\u2019t fooling around at his Pro Day. Indiana\u2019s Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, who is expected to be&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849357,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2026],"tags":[331,12,3619,7,393,6,15,15729,9,203],"class_list":{"0":"post-849356","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-college-football","9":"tag-espn","10":"tag-fernando-mendoza","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-las-vegas-raiders","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nfl-draft","15":"tag-nfl-draft-2026","16":"tag-sports","17":"tag-sports-media"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116335503984977645","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849356","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=849356"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849356\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}