Raiders Name Kirk Cousins Week 1 Starter: Fantasy Football Impact On Fernando Mendoza And Brock Bowers

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak has officially named Kirk Cousins as the team's Week 1 starter. Cousins will be under center when the team faces off with the Miami Dolphins in their season opener.

Raiders HC Klint Kubiak on the expected selection of Kirk Cousins as his opening day starting QB: “He played really good football. I’m really happy with all three of our quarterbacks. Kirk’s had a really good offseason, very good camp and he's earned it.” pic.twitter.com/wE1Sq1gDhF
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 2, 2026

This was expected as we got closer to the season, but first-overall pick Fernando Mendoza will continue to loom over Cousins if he does not play well and the team begins to lose games.

Fantasy Impact

QB Kirk Cousins, Las Vegas Raiders

Despite Cousins now being locked in as the starter, he is not a fantasy option as anything more than a DFS flier. Even against a Miami Dolphins team that is projected to be among the worst in the league, you should not consider starting him.

In 10 games last season with the Atlanta Falcons, Cousins threw for just 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns, and five interceptions. Only twice was he able to top 200 yards in a game, and the vast majority of production came in one game against a terrible Bucs pass defense when he threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns.

Cousins is now in Vegas and throwing to arguably the worst WR corps in the NFL. This is also one of the rare games that the Raiders will be favored to win this season, so you probably won't even get the benefit of garbage time points with the team airing it out late in the game.

Not only should you not be starting Cousins, but he should be left on waiver wires. He should be considered a bottom-five quarterback in Week 1.

QB Fernando Mendoza, Las Vegas Raiders

Fantasy football owners want to see Mendoza get on the field, but we are going to have to wait. Still, it feels like just a matter of time until he's out there. While this is disappointing, you can still keep him stashed on your bench depending on how many bench spots you have if you believe in his talent.

If the Raiders do end up losing to the Dolphins in Week 1, especially if Cousins has a few turnovers, which has become an issue later in his career, the calls for Mendoza to take over as the starter are going to be loud and overwhelming.

TE Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders

This move is great news for Brock Bowers. Cousins tends to lean on his tight ends, which led to Kyle Pitts having a career year in 2025.

Bowers is in a very similar situation to Pitts, who thrived when Drake London was injured. Like Pitts, Bowers will be the alpha pass-catcher in an offense with no true threat on the outside.

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