Raiders already have Fernando Mendoza working on the one thing he didn’t do in college, and rookie minicamp just started
The Las Vegas Raiders now have their franchise quarterback, but they have to get Mendoza ready for the NFL.
The Las Vegas Raiders drafted Fernando Mendoza with the idea that one day he would be the franchise quarterback. Maybe that’s Week 1, maybe it’s Week 7, maybe it’s Week 1 of the 2027 season.
However, before he can start a game, he must first learn Klint Kubiak’s offensive scheme. And to do that means Mendoza will have to learn how to play under center more, something he very rarely did in college. The Raiders are already working with Mendoza on that aspect of his game tremendously. Several clips from practice have come in, and it’s an obvious focus. Even Mendoza knows he has to improve that.
“Offensive line here in rookie minicamp has been phenomenal. Everyone really wants to work. The other QBs are in tune, but I need more work under center. I still have a long way to go,” Mendoza told reporters after practice on Saturday.
Kubiak’s system requires you to go under center a ton. We saw Sam Darnold operate that at a high level, and it helped having Kenneth Walker in the backfield with a good backup RB to assist.
The Raiders have the star RB and the great backup RB. But, will they have the QB to run it? Kirk Cousins can, as he did in Minnesota. But Mendoza needs to be able to do that as well.
When you run under center plays, you have to have a good run game. You also have to be able to sell the run and operate well in play action. The play-action part is not anything Mendoza will struggle with.
Fernando Menddoza was elite in play action last season
At Indiana, Mendoza may not have run a ton of plays under center, but they did run the ball a lot. They were an RPO-based offense that heavily relied on the run. In return, they also ran play-action often, which set up plays downfield and big chunks against the defense.
When running play-action, which is important because a lot of under-center plays will be play-action, Mendoza has eight passing touchdowns and one interception. He was 75 for 107 for 815 yards with two big-time plays, per Pro Football Focus.
Fernando Mendoza’s 2025 stats at Indiana
- 2,758 passing yards
- 32 passing TDs
- 5 passing TDs
- 9.4 yards Average Depth of Target
The play-action side of things won’t be an issue for Mendoza when it comes to these rollouts out of the under-center concept. The part he will have to work on is the drop-back itself and the footwork.
But if the Raiders didn’t believe he could do it, they wouldn’t have taken Mendoza No. 1 overall. It was good to see clips of him working on it Saturday, and it appears the Raiders will remain heavy on him about getting that down. Everything else will come naturally.
