The Las Vegas Raiders haven’t officially entered the Fernando Mendoza — yet.
Mendoza was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and is coming off of one of the finest seasons in college football history, winning the Heisman Trophy while leading the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers to a national championship.
The Raiders obviously selected Mendoza with the intention that he’ll one day take over as the franchise quarterback. However, they haven’t immediately gone in that direction as they signed four-time Pro Bowl veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to a multi-year deal in the offeseason.
Cousins has looked solid in his debut season in Las Vegas and led the Raiders to a 3-0 start before the team lost three consecutive games against playoff contenders in the New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs.
It doesn’t look like the Raiders will turn to Mendoza any time soon unless Cousins suffers an injury, drastically declines in play or Las Vegas is out of playoff contention. In other words, the earliest that could happen is towards the end of the regular season.
Marcel Reese is a former four-time Pro Bowl fullback of the Raiders who actually worked in the Las Vegas front office as a senior adviser to the owner and senior vice president/Chief of staff between the 2020 and 2022 seasons. Reece — while speaking on behalf of Players Time reports — said that he doesn’t want to compare Mendoza to any previous or current quarterback, but said the rookie quarterback is the real deal and said his best trait is his “leadership” abilities.
Marcel Reese on Fernando Mendoza’s Best Trait: Leadership
Reece isn’t affiliated with the Raiders in an executive position any longer but he is very familiar with Mendoza having worked recently as a Big Ten analyst.
“The biggest thing that I enjoyed and was impressed with Fernando Mendoza was his leadership capabilities,” said Reece in a one-on-one interview with Heavy Sports. “The leader that he was is something that doesn’t show up on the stat line, but it helps your team and impacts your team in the greatest of ways. Fernando is going to be a fantastic football player when his time comes in this quarterback position. You have to be able to absorb as much as humanly possible, as fast as humanly possible.”
Marcel Reece Raves About Fernando Mendoza’s Processing Speed
For as much is made about Mendoza’s physical traits, such as his 6-foot-5 frame and his athletic ability to prolong a play, his teammates give major praise to his ability to lead a team. That was evidenced by Mendoza’s national championship win when he helped a historically losing program win their first title in program history.
Reece plays up Mendoza’s processing speed and compared that part of his game to the likes of Tom Brady and Carson Palmer.
“I learned that from some of the greatest quarterbacks that I’ve ever played with that this league has ever seen,” said Reece. “Whether it’s Tom Brady, who’s one of my best friends in the world, and and Carson Palmer, who I played with, you have to you have to understand a lot really really fast at the quarterback position. This time that he’s waiting right now is is going to pay dividends for him in the long run.”
Ex-Raiders Star Doesn’t Hold Back on His Opinion of Fernando Mendoza