Fernando Mendoza Is Ready to Start for the Raiders

Let's start with the number one overall pick then because you had a chance to be around him a bunch, right?

Like because you guys for big new were around Indiana, um, so I'm, you know, I'm assuming you got a chance to, to, to know him a little bit, um, and, you know, I don't think that there's any question, you know, Fernando Fernick Mendoza has now got his place in college football history.

Heisman winner, uh, did something at Indiana that I don't think anybody ever thought was possible at that school and winning a national championship there.

Um, I guess where I wanna start with you is just some historical context because You know, he goes first overall here, and I think there was a feeling like, yeah, he's a really good prospect, but, you know, he's not the type of quarterback who would have gone number one in, in, in every draft.

So, I, I guess just from a top-line perspective, how do you view him as a quarterback prospect going into the NFL?

Well, I, I love everything about him.

I mean, it is.

Single season in Indiana.

I think he showed the nation what he's capable of.

What's interesting to me is when I went back to prepare for this past season and watched some of his Cal tape, uh, he was a tough kid, an accurate passer.

He had a sense and feel for the timing and rhythm of plays.

And I think sometimes when you play on a team, That doesn't have as many talented guys you're throwing to like an Omar Cooper, for example, like he had in Indiana.

Uh, oftentimes you see those tighter window throws or you see some of the, the thoughts that he had as far as what he was trying to do in the passing game.

And it doesn't always, like, you kind of have to project a little bit.

You know, watching him, I was like, OK, and, and I, we don't, you know, we don't get a ton of exposure on the West Coast for our pregame show.

Um, but, but just kind of combing through in some of the games, I was like, OK, like I can see why Frank Signetti, you know, or excuse me, Kurt Signnetti, sorry, I'm thinking of his brother, uh, why he really, why we really liked him, uh, because there was this sense of grittiness, toughness, command, and you could, you could see that in the way in which he played at Cal.

What I didn't know was that he was gonna be as poised and as tough in the big moments.

You know, whether it's the Big 10 championship game where he got knocked right to start the game, and he comes away with a huge throw down the stretch in the 4th quarter, kind of seal the game, or any of the games you kind of want to talk about, talk about throughout the course of the playoffs, or, or even the drive at Penn State, you know, regardless of the season that Penn State had, uh, look how many guys got drafted from that team, from that defense.

That's still a talented team.

Uh, just those moments.

Like he just, he had this sense of, of kind of clutch savvy confidence about him that it's hard to see that when you're at Cal.

And once you see him be able to accomplish that in Indiana, it gives you hope and a reason for optimism of why he can then try to turn the tide for everything in Las Vegas.

My biggest concern with what he's gonna be asked to do is Clint Kubiak's offense is drastically different.

Than what he was asked to do at Indiana, at least in my opinion.

All right, I mean, obviously they had a great defense, they had a solid running game.

Uh, there's a, a fair amount of RPOs.

And when you watched his tape compared to guys like Ty Simpson, compared to a guy like Dante Moore who was draft eligible but decided to come back, you just didn't see quite as many layered throws like you kind of have to do at the NFL level.

Um, you, you saw, you know, not as many times he was getting through progressions as maybe a Ty Simpson was, uh, who really carried that Alabama offense.

So, I, I actually thought those two were much closer as far as prospects than maybe some people gave them credit just purely because of the resume that Mendoza had.

Uh, but, you know, you could see why he went #1 overall, uh, because he checks every single box, uh, that you could ask for in a quarterback, which like, I mean, what you're talking about, like, you're not blaming him, right, for stuff he's not being asked to do.

Um, well, and I, and I would go a step further.

Like, this gets us into like the Brock Purdy conversation where people are like, oh, he's a game manager.

It's like, well, he's one hell of a game manager because he, he seems to be able to manage that game and win a lot of football games and, and be able to put up the stats and do what his team needs him to do.

So, you know, when, when people throwing on that tag game manager, I, I always look at it.

Say, well, all right, like that, it's a pretty solid compliment for a guy who just won the Heisman national championship game, right?

Yeah, like, like, isn't that the point?

It's like, hey, that point guard in basketball manages the game well.

It's like, all right, like that's what he's supposed to do.

So, uh, I, I, it's weird how it's got a negative connotation to it.

All right, but like, you know, you're saying like, so like there's this stuff he wasn't asked to do.

Um, and I like, you hear a lot about how like RPO heavy Indiana's offense is.

He's playing from the shotgun a lot, you know.

Um, how big an adjustment is that for a quarterback, like where, you know, you don't know that they can't do it, but they don't have the reps having done it.

And obviously, at the NFL level, they're gonna have to be adjusting to do these, do these new things with the game moving like at a really, really high speed.

Yeah, I mean, I, it, it's as simple as things like taking a snap from under center.

You know, a lot of people take that sort of stuff for granted, but when, when you have traditionally or primarily been in shotgun, Um, you have to retrain yourself.

I mean, that's what ultimately it is.

It's, as a quarterback, you have a protocol.

There's a checklist like you're a, you're a, a pilot, right?

You're a fighter, you know, a fighter pilot, and you're going through this checklist of things, you know, pre-snap, etc.

but, but you don't want to be thinking once you get under center.

But the reality is, if you don't have those thousands and thousands of reps to kind of train you to not look down.

That's one of the first things that guys tend to do when they don't have experience going to our center.

I'll never forget my rookie season.

It's week 17.

Finally got a little bit of burn time and I remember Chris Winky.

We're playing the San Francisco Forty-Niners and this game always stood out to me because I was a huge Bryan Young fan.

It's his last game as a Forty-Niner.

He's a legend at Notre Dame, San Francisco played forever, and I remember when I got in, I mean, you've never seen a guy that old giving that sort of effort.

I mean, honestly, it reminds me a little bit of what Claus Campbell's doing right now for being honest about it, but, um, anyway, I, I'll never forget telling our defense.

What he's giving you a key.

Every time Winky would take a snap, he'd look down.

And I remember, like, once his head goes down to look for it, like fire, like the, the ball's coming .

So those are little things that like, even at the professional level, people take for granted, like, it, it changes everything with your mechanics.

Like, you know, in shotgun, you're already back 5 yards.

So yeah, your eyes drop down for a second, you get it back on the defense, and then you get back into the rhythm rhythm of the play.

But for quarterbacks when you're under center, you got to get back.

I mean, you're, you're as close as you can be to those guys who want to tear your face off.

So the 3, 5-step, 7-step training that, training the depth of that, training, the timing of that, you know, there, there's some guys who, when you're out there throwing routes to them.

If, if it's a 5-plant throw like that 5 steps might be shorter because he's so fast.

There's other guys where they take a little longer strides, they tend to be a little slower out of the cut.

So you have to know your personnel as well.

It's just very nuanced as far as how you go about preparing and that's not even including that he's probably gonna be running a different offense.

That's like learning a new language.

Well, he's play action a lot too in that offense, right?

So like your back's gonna be the ball.

So it's like the, as a young player, the kind of shock factor of when the ball snapped, I'm looking at one thing and then the next time I look at the defense, it could be something else, right?

Like which happens a lot in the NFL.

And that's one of the biggest things that I think when you, when you look at and you talk about the success of a quarterback and people are always like, well, Does he fit the scheme or system?

It's like, well, hopefully now, and I think we're seeing more examples of this, you know, offensive-minded head coaches in particular too are working with their quarterback to do the things that he does well.

And not trying to just say, I need you to drop like this, read like this, throw like this, do everything the way we do it in our system.

Like that, that very rarely works out cause you need time to develop into that.

And if you don't get those thousands of reps, it, it usually never works out cause the guy gets thrust in there before he's ready.

Fortunately for Fernando, he's got Kirk Cousins there.

If they want to start Cousins, if they feel like that's what makes the most sense, they don't have to rush him in , but I, I do feel like it's, it's hard to think that a #1 overall pick is not gonna play at some point this season, especially if they don't get off to a good start.

So, um, that's the hard part about trying to just fit him into whatever the system is.

Hopefully, Clint Kubiak can do some of the things that maybe he, he's either sees a practice that he's doing well as well halfway or, or maybe more than halfway depending on what you're asking to do.

I mean, finding concepts that he feels comfortable seeing, reading, you know, throwing, uh, those are all things that you'd like to do with the rookie quarterback.

So, I mean, look, football is always football.

You just, you call it something a little bit different.

The, the biggest difference and why I'm making a big deal about the RPO is you can't have as wide of a of an array of RPOs in the NFL like you do in college.

You know, the 3 yards downfield in college versus 1 yard in the NFL, it changes everything.

So, you know, whether you're under center, which you can always have kind of a pass option off that on a run play.

But even back in shotgun, everything tends to be either on like short yardage or, or goal line or it has to be wide.

because then your offensive line can run, you know, horizontal and it sells that a little bit better or, or actually cause you're blocking the run, you're actually blocking your normal technique.

You can still read and still make a throw off that, but it's really hard to sell some of the other things.

Like we would differentiate by saying there's run action and play action.

And so play action, you'd have guys who would maybe come out of whatever their responsibility was on play fake, you know, for a blitzer, for the protection for something else.

If it's run action, your protection as a quarterback is the fake.

Everyone's selling out on the run, and the linemen know not to go downfield past the yard, but on the run action, it should look just like a run.

And again, different than than college football where that is a run and you're reading off someone who's gonna trigger or not.

So it's just it's, it's very nuanced.

It's much more difficult people realize that's crazy like the rules like make that big a difference, so I hadn't even thought about that.

But yeah, yeah, that's interesting, um.

Would you play him?

I would play him.

Now, again, I, I, I'm, I'm of, I'm of the opinion that from everything I've said.

I, I sat, but I also feel like I, I wish I would have gotten more chances just to play and to learn and go through those growing pains.

I, I think we, we tend to be somewhat more patient.

I mean, you look at the Carolina Panthers right now with Bryce Young.

They picked up his 5th-year option.

If you look at where he was.

Year 1 to now year 3, it's drastically different.

And he got better and better and better to the point where they're like, yeah, he earned that.

Like he earned us picking up his 5th-year option.

He's played enough now where we've seen the improvement.

Our team's improved, and you're seeing a better version of him.

Uh, I, I'm just, I'm a huge believer in that there's no substitute for quarterback experience.

And it's one of the reasons why Tua is a little higher on Fernando than, than Ty Simpson because obviously he played more at the college level anyway.

But I do feel like if your plan is to, and I, I think he'll be mentally prepared.

I think he'll know how to protect himself, because that's part of it too, right?

Like this is a man's game, and, and these guys are coming out there with violent intentions and even with the protections we have now for the quarterback, you can get yourself hurt.

Um, the only thing I'd say where I'd be a little bit hesitant is if I feel like he's struggling a bit.

I do have a guy that he'd be great to learn from.

Like, I do have a guy in Kirk Cousins who is one of the best probably ever to learn from in regards to his preparation, how pragmatic he is, the career he's had, like, it's not the worst thing in the world to let him take those 1st 4 or 5 games, and even see how he goes about preparing for it, right?

Like, cause Kirk's not, I mean, he's, he's just his own, his own, his own guy with that.

And, and I, and it'd be helpful, I think for any rookie, any quarterback to watch that and say, OK, this is how he does it.

Maybe I tweak it a little bit, but this is equated to a guy making over what, $300 million whatever Cousins has done in his career.

So I'm sure it's easy to follow suit in that.

And, and, and they have that, not like, like when Cam Ward played last year, they really didn't have to be the veteran to, to help him out in that situation.

They were playing him right from day one.

And I, and I think that that's, that's like a point like sometimes people, I don't know, like.

I like people don't wrap their heads around.

It's like, it's also important what's, what's in the quarterback room, right?

Like who's in there with them, you know, it's like Josh McCown, I know, like probably made $30 or $40 million being the other guy like because he was so good.

He was such a good guy to have your young quarterback around.

And there's probably something that like another player like a Kirk can give you that a coach can't, right?

Like, well, and, and, and the coaches are limited in how much time they can spend with you, right, because they're game planning, they're breaking down film, they're doing other things, you know, typically in the offensive, um, staff, you know, you're designated with some sort of situational install, you know, so when you get there in the mornings on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, however they schedule out the week.

Your quarterback coach is gonna be probably responsible for a 3rd down red zone.

He might have his hand in multiple things, right?

You're gonna have other coaches who are up there presenting typically talking about the scheme that you're going up against, talking about the personnel you're going up against, and saying, hey, we like these plays versus these sorts of concepts.

We ran this the last time he played against some divisional opponent.

We're running it.

Different this way, but this is how we're gonna package it, or this is the personnel we're gonna use.

Um, they're, they're busy tied down with that.

I mean, I know things have gotten more efficient as far as how they can break down film, but that doesn't mean they're not, you know, burning the candle at both ends.

Uh, and so that having that veteran, and even if he's a starter or a third string.

Having that guy in there to spend time and cut through stuff or even say, hey, how about this?

Let's go take 45 minutes and watch Patrick Mahomes.

Let's go take 45 minutes and watch Matthew Stafford.

Let's go watch Josh Allen, go watch Lamar Jackson.

There there's, there's those moments where they're gonna pick out things that they see those teams doing.

Either scheme-wise or the quarterbacks doing and saying, hey, why on Tuesday on our off day, which is never off for quarterbacks, why don't we go in and work on this in the indoor?

Like, there's no limit of time in the CBA that you can spend with your quarter, like another quarterback.

So that's where they become invaluable.

For sure, um.

How good do you think he can be?

Like, and, and do you think like, I, one thing, you know, it's interesting, I was talking to a quarterbacks coach about this a couple of weeks ago, and he said like what he sees with Fernando is like such great discipline with his footwork, right?

And such great, like you can tell.

Like this quarterback's coach said to me, like, you can tell how hard he works and just how detailed the way he plays is, and you can see the detail in his footwork and his delivery and his eyes.

You can see, you can see a lot of detail in his play.

And the point this coach was making to me was, he's gonna be a really good fit for Clint because that offense requires detail, right?

Like you, you have your feet have to be tied to your eyes and you have to be, and everything has to be on time and And that even though Fernando's not doing what like they wasn't doing what they're gonna ask him to do in Clint's offense, like that's like the sort of like toolbox, right, that you need to play in that offense, um.

Do you think it's about the fit and where do you think the ceiling is?

I, I do think it's a good fit, and I think not only just from Clint's standpoint, but from having Tom Brady as a limit partner, right?

Like it's having him as being around and, and you look at the fieriness, you look at how focused he is.

I mean, I, I still think the thing that people tend to miss about Tom Brady , it's, it's not like he had the arm of some of these guys, the athleticism of, of some of the guys.

To me, it was his ability to sacrifice and focus.

Like, his entire life was devoted to, to being the greatest of all time at the quarterback position.

And he sacrificed, it wasn't just during the season, it was the offseason.

It was his lifestyle.

You literally turned that into TB12, a brand, but like, that to me is where I think Fernando relates so well, right?

Like you hear some of the stories about him and, you know, some people probably are like, he doesn't seem relatable.

That's OK because, you know, it, it probably wasn't relatable for other people when You know, Tom Brady was eating avocado ice cream or whatever else he was doing, right?

And we're not taking a day off.

Like, that's not relatable either.

So, I, I think he's a perfect pairing for the scheme, the coaching staff, uh, honestly, with Cousins.

Like I think those two are gonna get along extremely well, which is important.

But also with Tom Brady, with a guy who's, you know, got an invest.

Vested interest in this and, and understands how to, you know, probably get him dialed into how he needs to operate both on and off the field and, and conduct himself and prepare him.

So when you ask me like what could he be, well, I don't know, Tom Brady is a sixth-round pick, and I don't know that Fernando Mendoza, he's not definitely not worse of an athlete.

He's, he's probably a better athlete.

Um, I'd say he's got all the same tools and intangibles.

He's bigger.

He probably is a little faster.

Uh, my, my guess would be that again, now he might be more reliant on what's around him within the organization, right?

I mean, when you look at New England's run, there are some things that worked for them.

You know, they had a great defense when Tom Brady first got there.

They had a coaching staff, they had all these head coaches that left from there.

You know, we gave each division, which, which kind of helped put them in a position to always be able to do what they did.

But, you know, the reality is, um, he had some, he had some help there too.

And I think if, if the Raiders can turn this thing around and give him more help, yeah, I don't think there's any limit on what he can become.

He turned around the, the worst, you know, one of the worst, uh, uh, universities or football programs in, in in the history.

Like it's, it's the greatest turnaround sports in my opinion.

So why would you want to put a cap on what he can do for the Las Vegas Raiders?

OK, last thing on him, like, uh, and I just think it's like a fascinating case.

Um, do you have any story or anecdote or something from, from you and the crew getting to spend time around him during the year that kind of sums up who he is?

Um, I, I don't know.

I probably have more about Coach Signetti, because I'd sat down a lot more with him, um.

Probably I've sat down a lot more with him than Fernando, um.

So do you think Kurt's program is gonna prepare like that was the other thing that came up is like.

Somebody said to me, like, I, another coach had said to me, he's like, I don't know Kurt, but I know Nick, and I know anybody who comes from Nick's program.

If you go through that program and he heard Kurt's program was similar, like, you're gonna be ready for the NFL.

Would you agree with that?

Yeah, without a doubt, I mean, they are, they are so dialed in, laser focused.

I mean, I'll still never forget the, the big completion, uh, towards a Becker, uh, on the, which I, I, and I know you know which one I'm talking about down the right sideline, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So one of my old teammates happens to be the D-line coach there.

And, you know, I was excited for him.

You know, he's, he's, he's one of those like one of the greatest teammates ever.

He, I'm sure he's pouring into the, the, you know, D-line there in Indiana.

And, and I kind of, I look over to give him a look, and he's, you know, he's excited.

He's, you know, they're all getting going.

And then I look a little bit further down the sideline, I see Signetti kind of look back and kind of scan the sideline.

And I just see him turn his head and say something into the mic, and all of a sudden, everyone went right back to what they were doing.

Like, like they, they started dialing back in because Ohio State was gonna have a chance to get the ball again.

And so it was like end of game scenarios, like everyone went back and like, like it was like it never happened.

It was a miracle, but they were still.

There was game left, but I'm just saying again, but they, they, they wiped their memory .

It was like it never happened and they all went right back to what they were doing.

And I was like, it was, it was pretty ridiculously awesome to see the control that he had.

And so yes, I, I feel like he'll be prepared for what's next.