The Seattle Seahawks defense has an opportunity to give Las Vegas Raiders rookie QB Fernando Mendoza a baptism by fire as the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft makes his first regular-season start in the Week 10 game.
After trading veteran QB Kirk Cousins hours before the 4 pm ET trade deadline on Nov. 10, the Silver and Black are starting the Mendoza era. Nonetheless, when it comes to preparing to face the former Indiana Hoosiers star, there’s not much tape to lean on.
As a result, Seahawks LB Patrick O’Connell spoke about how the team is approaching facing a QB that has little to no tape at the NFL level.
“You kind of just got to go off who they are right now in their last, however many games,” O’Connell said in a Nov. 14 video from Seattle Sports. “We have seen stuff from him in preseason and a couple of those regular season games that he’s been in. That’s more kind of just looking at his mechanics and the stuff that he does when he’s back there, when he’s under center, his cadence and stuff like that.
“We’re going to keep studying their offense and what they do. They’re not going to just go out there and completely change. They’re going to probably stick to who they are, but they’re going to put him at the head of it.”
Seahawks Defense on Preparing to Face Klint Kubiak’s Offense
The Seahawks defense is familiar with Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak, as he was the team’s offensive coordinator last season. While they have seen Kubiak’s offense, O’Connell notes that there will be differences, given that the Raiders coach has to adapt to the players he has.
“He was here all day and night,” O’Connell added. “We talk about that a little bit, but [the offense is] not exactly the same. They have different players, and he’s trying to scheme for the guys that they have.
“Obviously, when he was here, he was scheming for what we had, so it’s not exactly the same stuff. They’re running some different stuff, different personnel groups, and things like that too. He’s working with what they’ve got, and I think he’s doing.”
Raiders’ Fernando Mendoza Might See Stuff He’s Never Seen
Meanwhile, Seattle Sports’ Michael Bumpus shared the positives for the Seahawks’ defense in facing a rookie QB, given that the Raiders rookie won’t have much experience seeing what the Seahawks defense will be throwing at him on Nov. 15. As a result, the Seahawks might have the upper hand in this matchup to start the game.
“The positive for the Seahawks is that they’re playing against a rookie, and they’re one of the best defenses in the league,” Bumpus said in a Nov. 10 video from Seattle Sports. “There are things he just doesn’t know because he’s never been that guy.
“… You are familiar with [Klint] Kubiak’s offense, so you can try to figure out how you think you’re going to use him. I think Kirk Cousins and Fernando Mendoza are similar quarterbacks. Obviously, Mendoza is more mobile and younger. He can run, but it’s going to be hard on that rookie.”
Seahawks Reveal Blunt Approach to Facing Raiders’ Fernando Mendoza