Fernando Mendoza Details Critical Advice Shared by Peyton Manning

The Las Vegas Raiders have things in line to find their next franchise quarterback. The Raiders will look to draft that quarterback with the first overall pick.

The Silver and Black are high on Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Mendoza is the pick that everyone has on their mock drafts, getting picked by the Raiders at the top spot. The Raiders have the chance to find their next quarterback, and they will not skip their chance to get the quarterback position right for once.

It is never an easy thing for a rookie quarterback to come in and play right away in the NFL. There is a learning curve, and there are huge adjustments that every rookie has to make once they get into the league, especially at the quarterback position

Mendoza has addressed that and he knows the adjustments are going to be tough, be he is going to put himself in the best position to be ready to make them and learn from everything that the NFL will have to offer.

kml — Indiana's Fernando Mendoza (15) gets loose before the College Football Playoff National Championship college football game at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on Monday, Jan. 19, 2026. | Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Mendoza on learning from the Manning's

Mendoza has been doing that his whole football career. And that is how he got to where he is now, at the top of the college game as a Heisman Trophy and as a National Champion. Those are two great things to have under your belt, and it is more than that, that the Raiders like when they have been looking at Mendoza. Mendoza is coachable and is looking to take all the advice from the past quarterbacks, and he got some when he went to a certain camp.

"Some advice I got from Peyton Manning at the Manning Passing Academy was that it was not all fluff and good advice. It was the first day we were there, we were doing play-action drills, and I was under center at that point. I did not know of the air raid offense, except in middle school when I played in a Wing-T," said Fernando Mendoza. I am under center, and we are throwing a hole shot, which is generally a pretty tough throw."

mkl — Jan 9, 2026; Atlanta, GA, USA; Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) reacts after the 2025 Peach Bowl and semifinal game of the College Football Playoff at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

"I took my drop, did my fake, I threw it, strike. All the quarterbacks are like, Let's go, good throw, Fernando. And I am just feeling good, I am like I just threw a great ball in front of Peyton Manning. And he [Manning] rips into me, says, This is the wrong footwork. I think the advice, especially with the play action, on how it translates to the NFL and how that translates to the Indiana offense. It really stuck with me.

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