Fernando Mendoza was the most celebrated player in college football as he won the Heisman Trophy and he led Indiana to the national championship. He continued to ride the crest of that wave as the Las Vegas Raiders made him the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
The quarterback was overjoyed to be selected in the top spot by the Raiders, but he continued to show off a humble attitude and there was no bragging by the quarterback. “I’m still the underdog,” Mendoza said. “I’m not 1 out of 32 quarterbacks at this moment.”
Mendoza was able to play a huge role for the Hoosiers as they had long been an average or below average team in the Big Ten before the arrival of head coach Curt Cignetti and Mendoza. They rose to playoff level in 2024 before winning the national crown last year.
If that was a huge task at the college level, it will be an even greater task in the NFL. The Raiders have been struggling badly for years and they finished last in the AFC West in 2025 with a 3-14 record. The Raiders have not been to the playoffs since the 2021 season when they were a Wild Card team. The Raiders have failed to make the postseason in seven of the last eight seasons.
The Raiders have not won a division title since the 2002 season when they captured the AFC West crown for the third consecutive season. Mendoza and new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak will try to turn things around and do it quickly, but it will likely take multiple seasons to turn Las Vegas into a winning team.
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