Cleveland Browns have obvious connection to Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza

As another Cleveland Browns season plummets towards disaster, fans can hold out hope that the team will play their way into a favorable draft position.

If the NFL Draft were to be held ahead of NFL Week 7, the Browns would own the No. 2 overall selection. Last draft, Browns general manager Andrew Berry traded out of the No. 2 overall pick and added an extra first rounder from the Jacksonville Jaguars which is currently slated to be No. 21 overall.

It’s no secret that the Browns need a quarterback after missing out on Miami’s Cam Ward and waiting until No. 94 and No. 144 overall to select Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders.

Through eight weeks of college football, not many draft eligible quarterbacks have separated themselves quite like Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who already has a clear connection to the Browns.

Mendoza played for Browns quarterback coach Bill Musgrave, who was the offensive coordinator at Cal.

Mendoza was born in Florida and originally committed to play college football at Yale, which was considered his safety school.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Mendoza spends his summers interning at investment firms. He enrolled in college early and was fully committed to playing in the Ivy League when a Cal quarterback commit Robert McDaniel flipped to UCLA at the last minute.

That’s when Musgrave, who was Cal’s offensive coordinator, paid a visit to Mendoza and offered him a scholarship on the spot.Musgrave reportedly heard about Mendoza through the grapevine and convinced the six-foot-five quarterback to transfer.

“It was kind of a no-brainer,” Mendoza said. “I can get my school paid for and Berkley has better football.”

After a successful two seasons at Cal, Mendoza transferred to Indiana. The Hoosiers are one of the best college football teams in the nation and Mendoza has emerged as one of the favorites to win the Heisman trophy.

The Browns hired Musgrave as their quarterback coach this offseason after spending last season with the team as an offensive advisor. He coached the Cal quarterbacks and was their offensive coordinator from 2020-2022.

This offseason, Musgrave’s promotion was the center of attention in the Cleveland football universe because of his relationship with Deion Sanders, the Pro Football Hall of Fame father and coach of Shedeur Sanders.

Many had speculated that Musgrave was hired as an individual with a trusted relationship to the Sanders family and the connection would land the talented Colorado quarterback in Cleveland.

As history would have it, that theory came to fruition as the Browns selected Sanders in the fifth round, putting an end to one of the most dramatic draft slides in history.

ESPN’s latest mock draft has the Browns selecting Mendoza with their first selection. Because of his proven college success, off the field intellect and physically imposing frame, Mendoza fits the mold of what the Browns would like to accomplish offensively.

Maybe another Musgrave quarterback connection will find his way to Cleveland in April.