Alberto Mendoza May Not be Getting Much Offseason Hype Nationally, But He Will Have a Chance To Show He Belongs

Georgia Tech is going to enter the 2026 season with a unique quarterback situation.

The Yellow Jackets have one of the least experienced QB rooms in the country and this is coming after having one of the best starter and backup combos in the country in Haynes King and Aaron Philo.

King is now on the Carolina Panthers, while Philo followed offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner to Florida, where he is widely expected to be the starting quarterback of the Gators.

That left the Yellow Jackets without much experience at the most important position.

Georgia Tech waited patiently to get its next starting quarterback. After Indiana defeated Miami in the national championship, Hoosiers backup quarterback Alberto Mendoza made his way down to The Flats and after a strong spring, he is expected to be the starting quarterback.

While Mendoza might have more playing experience than the QB's he is competing against, he is still relatively inexperienced compared to other quarterbacks in the power four conferences.

This was highlighted by ESPN analyst David Hale, who ranked all 138 QB situations in the country into 25 different tiers. The Yellow Jackets ranked in Tier 11, which he described as "waiting is the hardest part" and said, “Georgia Tech's quarterbacks have a combined total of 25 career pass attempts -- 24 of which belong to Mendoza.”

What does it mean?

Alberto Mendoza Georgia Tech — Alberto Mendoza is the likely starting QB for Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech Athletic

The Yellow Jackets are still being underrated when it comes to their quarterback position, and a lot of the analysts who cover the sport are looking at the limited snaps that Mendoza has played in his career as a barometer for evaluation. Even in the limited snaps, Mendoza graded well in his limited snaps last season with an 85.5 offensive grade and an 83.3 run grade in 106 snaps.

Mendoza also had a stellar spring, performing at a high level. He continued to improve each day and played well in the spring game. He went 12-16 for 148 yards and a passing touchdown. He operated the offense at a high level and didn’t make any mistakes in the spring game.

Unfortunately, Mendoza hasn’t gotten the respect so far in the offseason, and from the spring, especially with the CBS Sports Ranking and even the tier list he is in with ESPN. However, Mendoza doesn’t care about what is said in the media and has his head down, getting better. He could be the key piece in getting the Yellow Jackets to where they want to go, and he has harped on the culture of the program being at a high level and one of the reasons why he wanted to be in Atlanta:

“Obviously, Coach Key has the culture he harps, the way he runs his program is top-notch, I mean, it's one of the top cultures that I've been around so far. I mean, I would put it up there with a national championship program. Just that really stood out how Coach Weinke recruited me and how the players, it was a quick process, so you're kind of betting, but being here for the last couple of months, I've embraced it, and it's been just like that. If everyone wants to be great. Everyone wants to be better. Everyone's supporting each other. We're really a family, a close-knit team. That's what the best teams do. They're very close, they're very, like, just very close,” said Mendoza.

At the end of the day, Mendoza will be fine and should have the Yellow Jackets as a major player in not only the ACC but in the country. Now, they just have to get the chemistry right, and Georgia Tech should be dangerous.

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