The Las Vegas Raiders have the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft after finishing the 2025 NFL season with a 3-14 record. Now, the question will be whether they decide to use the pick to draft Indiana Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza to be their franchise signal-caller.
Las Vegas have a few months until they need to make that decision, with the draft not until April. Moreover, free agency is right around the corner, and the Silver and Black can fix several issues given the cap space they have.
Nonetheless, the Raiders can use free agency to fix the offensive line and possibly bolster their wideout group for their potential franchise QB.
If minority owner Tom Brady and general manager John Spytek need any convincing that Mendoza is their guy, former NFL head coach Bruce Arians didn’t hold back on his thoughts regarding the Indiana star.
“I think he’s got all the traits, man, and drinking beer is one of them, especially with the offensive line,” Arians said on the Jan. 6 edition of the “Pat McAfee Show.”
“Every quarterback gotta to take care of his offensive line and maybe a top receiver or two. But he’s got all the measurables. The guy can spin it. He’s athletic. Reminds me a lot of Drake Maye coming out—same height, same speed. But yeah, he could place the ball anywhere he wants to put it.”
Fernando Mendoza Has Mental Traits to Succeed In NFL
Moreover, Arians continued his praise of Mendoza, noting that the quarterback has the mental side of the game down to succeed at the NFL level, whether with the Raiders or another organization.
“I think the volume of defense that young quarterbacks see is just so huge,” Arians added. “They might see four coverages in college, and maybe five blitzes, versus eight or nine different variations of coverage and twenty different blitzes in a game.
“Mendoza looks like he can handle the pressure extremely well. He seems very bright. Haven’t sat down with him; I’d love to sit down with him, put him on the board, and get to know him a little better. But he just looks like he’s got the cerebral part down bad.”
Raiders Minority Owner Tom Brady Faces Pressure
Whether it’s Mendoza or Dante Moore and whoever they hire as the head coach, there’s pressure on the Raiders and, to an extent, Brady, to get it right. As a result, NBC Sports’ NFL insider Mike Florio believes more people in the football media need to call out Brady for how the situation has played out in Las Vegas over the last year.
“He was brought in to stabilize the organization,” Florio said on the Jan. 5 edition of “PFT PM.” “Owner Mark Davis said so himself. Brady got a slice of the team at a below-market rate, in part because Davis is buying Tom’s expertise. Remember, last year, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that this is Tom’s show now. That was a year ago.
“If it was really a show, it would be cancelled. It was a mess. Brady somehow has avoided the blame for it. Not many. I know I’m one of them. We have to call it like we see it. This is partially Brady’s fault. He’s the one who’s pressing buttons, and he’s the one who’s choosing not to go all in. I’ve said for weeks now, Brady’s got to go all in or all out. You can’t do this job halfway. We’ll see how much time he spends on it going forward.”
Raiders Get Compelling QB Take on Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza