{"id":872383,"date":"2026-04-23T02:57:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/872383\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T02:57:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T02:57:21","slug":"how-fernando-mendoza-specifically-makes-sense-for-the-las-vegas-raiders-with-no-1-draft-pick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/872383\/","title":{"rendered":"How Fernando Mendoza specifically makes sense for the Las Vegas Raiders with No. 1 draft pick"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fernando Mendoza would’ve likely gone with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft no matter who was picking in that spot, either for a QB-needy team or a trade up into that place to get the quarterback.<\/p>\n

It’s not just a pick by default for the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> to go with the Indiana superstar, though.<\/p>\n

Mendoza also makes perfect sense for the Raiders. Sports Illustrated’s<\/a> Albert Breer makes the case in multiple ways in a new article on Wednesday, the day before the first round.<\/p>\n

“The more I\u2019ve dug into Fernando Mendoza with coaches and scouts, the more\u00a0the fit with the Raiders really makes sense,” Breer writes. “You have the work ethic and maniacal drive and all that stuff, which will appeal to minority owner Tom Brady.”<\/p>\n

MORE:\u00a0Shedeur Sanders sets the bar for NFL Draft craziness<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s about more than that, though. A team also wants to see its new QB succeed within the offense, and there’s reason to believe Mendoza will do that, too.<\/p>\n

“More specifically, his discipline with his footwork and his three-level accuracy should make him ideal for Klint Kubiak\u2019s offense, which puts a premium on timing and rhythm,” Breer writes.<\/p>\n

Add in a quality veteran backup QB for good measure.<\/p>\n

“Also, beyond just what Kubiak and his staff bring to the table, Kirk Cousins should be a pretty good teacher for Mendoza as he adjusts to the NFL,” Breer writes.<\/p>\n

The reality is that it would’ve been tough for the Raiders to be convinced to go in any other direction here. There’s clearly only one player they could take.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And that player, Mendoza, actually fits the Raiders incredibly well, too.<\/p>\n

More NFL news:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza would’ve likely gone with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft no matter…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":814827,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2065],"tags":[7,1744,393,2455,2454,6,525],"class_list":{"0":"post-872383","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\/116451779753790713","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872383","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=872383"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872383\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}