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The “Mendoza Meter” hit 10 after Sunday’s 38-17 loss by the Las Vegas Raiders to the San Francisco 49ers, a game in which veteran starting quarterback Kirk Cousins threw three interceptions.
FanSided‘s Brad Berreman tracks one question with the “Mendoza Meter.” How close is No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza to his first NFL start? A reading of 1 means he’s not close. A 10 means the rookie starts next week — or at least, that he should, in Berreman’s view. Cousins’ play, the team’s results and Cousins’ health feed the number.
The reading peaked at 9 after the Week 7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, recovered somewhat after a Week 8 win over the New York Jets, then maxed out at 10 yesterday when Las Vegas lost for the fifth time in six games. The Raiders fell behind 14-0 after one quarter, Cousins threw a pick-six to open the second half, and he could not even pad his stats in garbage time. But even with the game effectively out of reach, Mendoza never took a snap.
Week 10 at home against the Seattle Seahawks gives Raiders coach Klint Kubiak an opening to make the change, according to Berreman, with Seattle quarterbacks Sam Darnold (rib, quad) and Drew Lock (elbow, oblique) both nursing injuries.
“It is time for the Raiders to hand the reins to the young gun,” Berreman wrote on FanSided, urging the decision on Klint Kubiak.
CBS Sports columnist Pete Prisco argued that the Raiders are not making the playoffs, so benching Mendoza all season makes no sense.
“It is officially Fernando Mendoza time for the Raiders,” Prisco said on Sunday after the Raiders debacle in Santa Clara.
The people making the call are not as convinced. Owner Mark Davis feels “absolutely no pressure whatsoever” to rush Mendoza onto the field, he told CNBC last week. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday that the Raiders have no interest in trading Cousins, and Newsweek noted that Cousins appears set to start against Seattle.
Kubiak has said Mendoza will play at some point while repeatedly dismissing any quarterback controversy.
Kirk Cousins’ Season for the Las Vegas Raiders
Cousins opened 3-0 as the advertised bridge quarterback, then went 1-5 over the subsequent six weeks. Through nine games he has completed 202 of 315 passes for 2,340 yards, with 20 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 97.1 passer rating. That puts him second in the NFL in touchdown passes.
Sunday, he went 22 of 32 for 216 yards with one touchdown, three interceptions and a 58.9 rating.
Can he improve? The trend says no. His passer rating has slid from 107.2 after three games, then hit 100.7 through five games, before settling at 97.1. He threw four interceptions in his first five games and four more in his last four.
At 38, he still outpaces his Atlanta line from last year, which ended at 10 touchdowns, five interceptions and an 84.8 rating.
Fernando Mendoza’s Odds of Starting for the Raiders
Mendoza, a Miami native, was a Christopher Columbus High School two-star recruit who committed to Yale before California swooped in. He redshirted in 2022, then started at quarterback in 2023 and 2024 before transferring to Indiana.
In 2025, he passed for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions, led the Hoosiers to a 16-0 record and the national championship, and became the first Indiana player to win the Heisman Trophy. The Raiders made him the No. 1 overall pick.
His NFL résumé consists so far of one mop-up series, six of eight passes for 48 yards in a Week 5 loss to the New England Patriots.
So what are the chances he starts against Seattle? Slim. Davis wants no rush, and Schefter reports no Cousins trade. A Mendoza start this season is almost certain, according to NBC Sports. That start coming in Week 10 is a longer shot, no matter what the “Mendoza Meter” reads.
Will Fernando Mendoza Start vs. Seahawks After Raiders’ Loss to 49ers?