Raiders making Fernando Mendoza earn every rep despite impressive start

HENDERSON, Nev. — On a day when Fernando Mendoza flexed some of that Indiana magic at Raiders’ minicamp, including a sharp touchdown throw to Malik Benson during a red zone period, and by attacking the middle of the field on a 25-yard dart to Dont’e Thornton, it was important to remember the top overall pick in the NFL draft was mostly working with the third-team offense.

The depth-chart status is by no means a reflection of Mendoza’s skill set.

The Heisman Trophy winner and national champion has quickly won over Raiders decision-makers and teammates through his talent, work ethic and a level of curiosity indicative of a young quarterback driven to be nothing short of great.

All arrows are pointing up.

“He’s doing a great job, working hard, asking questions, learning the system, doing everything he should be doing,” said veteran Kirk Cousins, whom the Raiders brought in to help mentor Mendoza and potentially serve as the bridge quarterback until Mendoza is ready to take the reins.

There is a strong belief within the Raiders’ building that it’s merely a matter of time before Mendoza is ready to do just that. Perhaps even as soon as the regular-season opener.

But the Raiders aren’t just determined to make Mendoza earn it, every step of the way; they are committed to doing their part by developing him the right way, too.

Part of that means establishing a starting line for him behind Cousins and Aidan O’Connell, and being meticulous in how they teach and build the quarterback they believe capable of leading them back to Super Bowl prominence.

“You’re installing a system for the long haul,” said Mike McCoy, the Raiders’ assistant head coach. “It’s not just this year, but it’s for the future.”

It would be a mistake to assume they are just easing Mendoza into the fray, though. Or any of his teammates, for that matter, as new coach Klint Kubiak continues to upload his scheme, culture and environment in Las Vegas.

The new level of urgency, work ethic and attention to detail being cultivated by Kubiak can be felt throughout the building. And it’s been welcomed with open arms by holdovers accustomed to the permissiveness of past regimes.

Some of it made for some great soundbites and video clips. Like players puffing on cigars after a win, with the music blasting in the background. Or teammates dunking on each other on the miniature basketball hoop that showed up one day in the middle of the locker room.

The problem is the wins were so few and far between, that the fun and shenanigans felt forced and contrived rather than earned.

Or, as Cousins put it: “The last two months, it’s not a picnic. We’re not out here just kind of having fun, like it’s work, and you feel that in the locker room, pre-practice, the way guys’ mindset is, and just guys are really focused, are going over their stuff two or three times, because they don’t want to be the guy who made the mental error. So, I think that’s a really positive thing, but it’s not a country club.”

Into that new world order lands Mendoza, the most important Raiders asset in decades. To say a lot is riding on his success would be an understatement. Fact is, the Raiders’ only hope of returning to prominence is inextricably connected to Mendoza reaching his full potential.

The Raiders will be careful with him to be sure. They will responsibly graduate him from Point A to Point B and Point C, and so on, when he firmly proves he is ready for those advancements. But the parenting and instruction will be tough and demanding.

Even if it creates some difficult moments along the way.

It might not expedite the situation. But it will prepare Mendoza for the trials and tribulations he will inevitably face in the future.

And that is fine by Mendoza.

“It’s having those positive stressors and that growing period,” Mendoza said. “And there’s going to be some growing pains.”

It’s still early, but Mendoza has already noticed that some of his most difficult moments have been fundamentally based rather than a lack of understanding of the offense. He’s getting through his progressions, making the right reads and generally getting the ball to the correct option.

“Luckily I feel confident that I’m able to see the field well, and that my growing pains are coming from, ‘Hey, I’ve got to time up my footwork a little better with the routes,’ and intricacies here and there,” Mendoza said. “And I’m really working hard with a coaching staff who’s pushing me and have done a phenomenal job of relaying and communicating the information needed, and it’s up to me to take full advantage of that, and I feel like I’ve been growing every day from the first day of OTAs, then today in minicamp, I feel like I’m leaps and bounds ahead of where I was.”

In some ways it’s reminiscent of the transition he went through transferring from Cal, where he had played two seasons, to Indiana last year. The Hoosiers felt they were a quarterback away from legitimately competing for a national championship and tabbed Mendoza to get them over the hump.

The immediate aftermath of that high-profile transfer portal addition wasn’t exactly smooth. In fact, an NFL executive who observed some Indiana practices last spring told The California Post recently that Alberto Mendoza, Fernando’s younger brother, looked like the better prospect.

“At that point, it was difficult to see what eventually happened with Fernando, how high he rose,” the NFL executive said. “When we watched him last spring, he was struggling.”

Mendoza, of course, carried the Hoosiers to the national championship and established himself as the best quarterback in the draft. The lessons he learned from the initial growing pains in Bloomington are serving him well now with the Raiders.

“I think having that experience of coming from Cal to then go to Indiana, and honestly having a really rough spring in Indiana of learning, there’s a big learning curve to now,” Mendoza said. “Now, with more experience and having dealt with that transition already, it has been smoother in the fact of learning a new offense, getting new information, learning new teammates, receivers, offensive linemen, and being able to take that experience and have a neutral mindset of ‘Hey, I’m learning, I’m growing, this isn’t the Super Bowl today. This day I’m trying to become the best version of myself, so I can best serve my teammates down the road.'”

That road is not as far off as some might think.

But the Raiders and Mendoza will make a careful drive to get there.