Fernando Mendoza has 'fantastic' meeting with Raiders at combine

Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal on Feb 27, 2026

Published in Football

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INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza lauded his first formal meeting with the Las Vegas Raiders at the NFL scouting combine.

“It was a fantastic interview,” Mendoza said Friday morning. “The coaching staff was in there, and we went through some of my previous plays and drew some plays on the board. I thought it was a great meeting.”

Mendoza was able to sit down with members of the organization that included new head coach Klint Kubiak and general manager John Spytek. Minority owner Tom Brady, Mendoza’s idol, called him on the phone.

“I was able to say a brief hello to Brady on the phone when I walked in, and that was really special to me,” he said. “I look forward to meeting him in person, hopefully one day, and learning from him.

“Tom Brady, I believe, is the greatest quarterback of all time by a wide margin and to be able to be mentored by him would mean so much. I’m all about learning. So from Day 1, I’ve got to learn a lot. It’s a long journey and to have — potentially — a mentor like that would be pretty impressive and pretty meaningful.”

Not all fun and games

The meeting wasn’t all about introductions. Kubiak and his staff put Mendoza to an early test.

“I would say they are very football-savvy, which is great to see,” he said. “They taught me a play and had their whole progression of how they teach their quarterbacks the play. It was very similar to how my Indiana progression was. I’m a very Type A guy and they had all the details of each play. What to do if you have a problem with each play. What’s your drop? What’s your progression? And that’s something I really enjoy.”

While it largely appears to be a foregone conclusion that he will be selected by the Raiders with the top pick, Mendoza understands plenty can change between now and April 23 in Pittsburgh.

“I know they have the prospective No. 1 pick, but anything can happen in the draft,” he said. “I’m just excited for the opportunity and whatever team drafts me, I’m going to give everything I’ve got to them.”

Building equity

If he’s somehow not picked first despite the overwhelming odds pointing in that direction, Mendoza said it would be just fine with him. He knows there are great players throughout this draft class and he insists he’s honored to just be part of it.

But once he finds out which team he is going to, most likely the one that calls Allegiant Stadium home, he vows to go to work on becoming the kind of positive influence he was on a college national championship team at Indiana.

“I believe with an NFL franchise, to lead it you need equity,” he said. “And you need two things to build equity. One, you need to play well. And that’s where all my focus goes. Football, football, football. If you want to lead, first you’ve got to play well. Second is having the respect of your teammates. Through your work ethic, through your leadership, through your tenacity, how you respond to mistakes. Those are all things I’m going to work on.”

Wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. saw that first-hand this year with the Hoosiers.

“The team that drafts Fernando is getting a great leader and a down-to-earth guy,” said Cooper, a borderline first-round prospect who could really help his draft stock with good speed testing on Saturday. “He’s someone who loves football and is going to do whatever it takes to help his team win. He showcased that this year. He’s going to put his body on the line because of how much he loves football and loves his teammates.”

Both of them said they hope to play with each other again, though the Raiders have not met with Cooper at the draft despite being in the market for wide receiver help.

From 134th to first

Mendoza is obviously a different story. There was never a doubt the Raiders were going to take advantage of the opportunity to sit down with him in a formal setting for the first time.

He hopes he made a good impression.

“Right now I’m unemployed,” he said. “I have no job. So this is my job interview right now. Like everyone says, it’s the most important job interview of your life. Right now I’m just trying to do everything to hopefully get employed April 23.”

That night will be the culmination of a long and meticulous journey for Mendoza from unheralded prospect to likely No. 1 pick in the draft.

“You can’t really listen to social media, but in the national rankings I was like the 134th quarterback coming out of my class in high school,” he said. “I was raw. That was a true ranking, like I was a raw prospect. I was terrible. So it’s all about the small wins every day and all about discipline.”