The 1 Potentially Alarming Concern for Mendoza, Raiders

The Las Vegas Raiders are determined to turn their franchise around. They believe Klint Kubiak is the head coach who will help him to do so. However, for that to happen, the Raiders will need to significantly improve what is currently one of the worst rosters in the National Football League.

Potential Concern for Mendoza

Las Vegas is widely expected to select quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, finally addressing what has been years of subpar play from their quarterbacks. Mendoza is the best player in the draft and addresses Las Vegas' biggest need.

Still, the Raiders has several other concerns they must address. If they do not do so adequately, Mendoza is all but sure to suffer the same fate as the seven different quarterbacks the Raiders have started since the 2023 season. Colin Cowherd recently raised a few red flags.

“I don't worry about Fernando Mendoza. I worry about the Raiders as his parent in this league. Bad O-line. Even if Klint Kubiak’s a good coach, he'll be, probably, the fourth-best coach in his division," Cowherd said.

"Ownership is impulsive; it’s ridiculously impatient. I don't have a Mendoza issue. I have a Mendoza to the Raiders issue. Who picks you matters a lot," Cowherd said. "I think it's an interesting red flag. Here's the thing, Caleb (Williams) may have struggled, but Caleb is an insane athlete. Mendoza is not even an Andrew Luck athlete."

Cowherd noted a statistic that Mendoza struggles with, which directly correlates with the Raiders' most significant struggle aside from their quarterback position.

“There’s an NFL analyst who calls something ‘pressure‑to‑sack rate. How many negative plays do you have? How long do you hold the ball? If you look at last year in the NFL, who had a really high pressure‑to‑sack rate, it was Geno Smith, J.J. McCarthy, Shedeur Sanders, and Cam Ward," Cowherd said on The Herd.

“He has Fernando Mendoza’s pressure‑to‑sack rate the same as Justin Fields. What have we said about Justin Fields? He doesn’t see the field very well. He holds the ball too long. Now, Justin Fields is hyper athletic, and he still has negative plays."

Although it is fair to note the Raiders had arguably the worst offensive line in the league this season, it must also be noted that they have nine additional draft picks after they presumably select Mendoza No. 1 overall. They also have the money to add multiple veteran free agent offensive linemen.

Earlier this offseason, Raiders General Manager John Spytek gave insight into his approach to fixing Las Vegas' offensive line.

"We're going to attack this entire offseason with an extremely open mind. And anybody that can help bolster that offensive line and do the job required will be considered,” Spytek said.

“We have a lot of cap space; we've got some elite draft picks and maybe adding a veteran presence in there or two would be helpful but not necessarily an absolute necessity. We're not going to begin with the end in mind."

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