Every indication is that the Raiders are going to draft Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, and according to multiple reports, Mendoza has already begun the process of learning the Raiders’ new offense under Klint Kubiak.
Last week, ESPN’s Louis Riddick said Mendoza has been working with former NFL quarterback Brian Griese and is rapidly picking up the West Coast offense.
This week, Riddick discussed Mendoza’s offseason program with podcast host Kay Adams and shared some of the details the Heisman winning quarterback has been working on with Griese.
“[Mendoza is working on] everything from… how are your feet are supposed to be positioned so you can best get out from underneath center with efficiency and timing… It’s something that’s repeatable, something you realize you can really depend upon,” Riddick said on the Up and Adams Show on Thursday.
“The emphasis of the play fakes, when you’re doing play action, because everyone says, ‘Fernando didn’t play under center. He doesn’t know how to execute play action. The ball handling is going to be weird to him.’ These are all the things that Brian [Griese] is drumming into his head, the timing and the footwork and how it’s supposed to match up with how the routes are run, and when the ball is supposed to come out of your hand,” Riddick continued.
“Brian was a technician. That’s what allowed him to survive in the NFL… For Fernando, obviously, it’s a lot of new learning. He talked to me about that when I went out there for his pro day. But he’s already way ahead of the game. He’s already on it. Brian has already texted me and said, ‘Look, he’s way ahead of where maybe people think he is at this point, in terms of learning what the West Coast system is all about, the kind that he’s going to run under Klint [Kubiak] out there in Vegas.’”
In a week, Mendoza’s boss in Las Vegas is going to be Raiders minority owner Tom Brady, and it should come as no surprise that Brady is such a fan of Mendoza.
Brady has always emphasized the mental side of playing quarterback and the importance of preparation. Mendoza is already preparing at a level plenty of NFL quarterbacks aren’t matching.
During the college football playoff, ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit talked about Mendoza’s preparation and the work he puts into the mental aspect of playing the quarterback position.
“He would tell you a big part of his success this year has been the prep. He feels like he has the answers,” Herbstreit told ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe.
“He’s been working with a sports psychologist all year,” Rowe added.
“And he’s really worked lately on ‘I have the answers to the puzzle. I know where the puzzle pieces need to go.’ His preparation is legendary. Before he even got to Indiana, he asked for a sheet of every player’s name and a picture of them so that by the time he got to his very first meeting and his very first practice, he had memorized every single kid. So he stepped into the building knowing his teammates, being able to call them by their first names and the preparation is legendary, just like you said.”
x: @raidersbeat
