Raiders' Presumed Pick Fernando Mendoza Receives Resounding Comparison

The Las Vegas Raiders have started nearly 10 quarterbacks over the past three seasons. Las Vegas has struggled mightily at the most critical position on the field. They hope their 3-14 campaign and No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft will help end those shortcomings at quarterback once and for all.

Minus a king's ransom of an offer from another quarterback-needy team, the Raiders are likely to select Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza from Indiana. He is by far the best quarterback in this year's NFL Draft and has earned the right to be drafted No. 1 overall.

Raiders' Main Man

The Raiders, like many, probably do not have many doubts about Mendoza. They will be in South Florida to watch Mendoza play in the National Championship, but one game is unlikely to undo the body of work Mendoza has put together in totality this season. The Raiders need Mendoza.

Las Vegas may not have many doubts, but every draft pick comes with at least some doubt. No draft pick is a sure bet in this league. No need for the Raiders to fear, though. Chris Fowler believes Mendoza compares to a former quarterback that was drafted No. 1 overall.

“I mean, Andrew Luck was pretty accurate, He’s one of the most accurate guys that I saw, and his cerebral sense of what to do pre-snap, Mendoza’s lines up with that… Mendoza [has] burst on the scene as a guy [who] didn’t beat a ranked team at Cal. No disgrace. He didn’t have great teammates around him," Fowler said on the Dan Le Batard Show.

“So his rise has been meteoric in one season. That’s why I think there’s still people who are waiting for him to come crashing down to Earth. And they thought it was going to be at Oregon or the last drive against Penn State, Ohio State or Alabama. He’s just passed every test with an A.”

As Las Vegas continues searching for its head coach and doing research on its presumed first pick in the draft, Raiders General Manager acknowledged that those are the two most important positions on any team. Spytek knows the Raiders must get it right or risk another reset next offseason.

"The league is littered with when you get the top pick right, those guys are franchise altering players. There's probably no more important hire in an NFL organization than the head coach. They're the daily guy. They set the vision, they set the cadence. They are what touches the players every day and demand excellence from players. And the players are the ones that have to go out there and do it,” Spytek said.

“And the more good players you have, and the better person at the helm that you have steering that ship, my experiences is, the more successful you are. And you look at, are there two more important hires in an organization than a quarterback and a head coach? I think we probably all would agree that those two men usually steer the ship, and that's out in front of us right now."

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