![\"Fernando](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fernando-mendoza-indiana-hoosiers.jpg\")
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The 2026 NFL<\/a> Draft is right around the corner at the end of April, and the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> are doing the final preparation work to determine who they\u2019ll take with the No. 1 pick. Many expect the Silver and Black to take former Indiana Hoosiers<\/a> QB Fernando Mendoza with the top pick. <\/p>\n After not having a franchise QB since the departure of Derek Carr, the Raiders could be on the verge of having a guy who can be their face of the franchise should they decide that Mendoza is their guy.<\/p>\n Moreover, ESPN NFL Draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. gave an NFL quarterback comparison for Mendoza, and if he is accurate, it would allow Las Vegas to have a guy who can help them challenge for Super Bowls in the future. <\/p>\n \u201cI think what you look at with Fernando is a cross between Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan,\u201d Kiper said during an April 7 appearance on ESPN Radio<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019m not a comp guy, because we always comp them to the great guys, but yeah, I see a little Peyton in him. I see a little Matt Ryan in him.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd keep in mind, people think he\u2019s a one-year wonder. He\u2019s not. At Cal, he was a really good quarterback behind a bad offensive line. That\u2019s why he was sacked 41 times. He knew he had to get the ball out quicker, and he improved on that number dramatically at Indiana when he got a little bit more help.\u201d<\/p>\n Fernando Mendoza Isn\u2019t One-Year Wonder Heading Into NFL<\/p>\n Moreover, Kiper stresses that while Mendoza jumped onto the scene with Indiana as the QB won the Heisman Trophy and national title, he already had a first-round grade heading into the 2025 college football season. As a result, the 22-year-old shouldn\u2019t be seen as a one-year wonder. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople back in August, guys who only had Cal tape to go on, that\u2019s all I was looking at, had him as a first-rounder,\u201d Kiper added. \u201cIn fact, some had him as a mid-first-rounder. So that was going into the year. So this notion that Indiana made him what he is, yes, they made him the No. 1 pick, but this notion he was a third- or fourth-round pick is garbage.\u201d<\/p>\n Raiders Get Big Fernando Mendoza Update as Draft Nears<\/p>\n There are some questions about how Mendoza will handle the jump from Indiana\u2019s RPO-heavy system to a more traditional NFL offense.<\/p>\n Still, he\u2019s not ignoring those concerns. Like most players who understand their weaknesses, Mendoza has already started working on that transition and preparing himself for a pro-style system, even before hearing his name called on draft night.<\/p>\n On April 6, ESPN NFL analyst Louis Riddick shared an update on Mendoza, noting that the QB is working with a former player and QB coach to help him start adjusting to the current version of the West Coast offense.<\/p>\n \u201cFernando Mendoza is working with an ex-QB\/QB coach who played in and very recently coached the current version of the \u2018West Coast\u2019 offense that Fernando would be running in Las Vegas, and from what I am told he is picking it up rapidly, and he is well aware of where he needs to get to in order to be the best version he can be within that system come September,\u201d\u00a0Riddick wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tEduardo Razo<\/a> Eduardo Razo is a sports writer for Heavy.com, covering the NFL, MLB, and college football. He has previously covered the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB for NBC Sports Washington and NBC Sports Bay Area & California, and has freelanced for PSG Talk, covering Paris Saint-Germain. He also worked as an editor at Athlon Sports, focusing on MLB and the NFL. More about Eduardo Razo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Raiders\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty (Photo by Michael Reaves\/Getty Images) The 2026 NFL Draft is right around the corner at the end…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":698412,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-860621","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-lasvegas","12":"tag-lasvegasraiders","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-raiders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116368439367500969","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860621","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=860621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}