Fernando Mendoza Welcome To Las Vegas

[Sold My Soul]

Call your shot....or add your own.

Dante Moore:

https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Dante-Moore-QB-UCLA

Fernando Mendoza:

https://www.nfldraftbuzz.com/Player/Fer ... California

May the football godz look kindly down upon the feeble and inept.

[Attyla]

We can not overlook the QB position any longer. The chance of getting a franchise QB on a rookie deal is the best way to take a team out from the scrap heap. You are 100% right about building the trenches, but what good is it without a QB. A QB is where it all starts. If we trade the pick, we deserve eternal failure. I would rather swing and miss trying to draft a QB than doing nothing at all.

And I am more than happy if I am wrong to say I got it wrong. Simply put, we don't know how he will do at the next level. But we have to go all in with the best possible player and the gap between his game and the number two guy is huge and we saw that in the Alabama game

[RickRyb]

I also don't understand the notion of 2027 being a better QB class. Is the suggestion to endure another losing season to hopefully get a top 5 pick? Or get enough draft capital to trade up? I say take what's right in front of The Raiders right now and start the process of moving forward.

[Amish Cabal]

But you assume it will be just Mendoza. That is the huge error Raider fans make. Chambliss is raw and is not worth even a low day 1 pick.

That's your opinion, as well as the opinion of talking heads who are wrong every year, about damn near everything. I trust my own eyes. I think he's better than Mendoza. Agree to disagree.

And here is the problem. You would have to spend a day 1 pick to get him. That means you overdraft him. And why do you have to spend a day 1 pick you might ask? Because someone is going to spend a day 2 pick on him.

If you can land a good trade, maybe Jets, - #2, #16 and #33. Cleveland - #6, #24 and #39. You can now get your QB plus maulers in the 1st and 2nd rounds. "Overdraft" is a matter of opinion. The bulk of our 10 picks are in the 4th and 6th... mid-tier. We've got plenty of those on the team, which contributes to our suck (exception Crosby). The best in the trenches 1st and 2nd rounds will be gone. Could try to trade up, but no guarantees.

Chambliss is not 6'1. He may clock in at 6' even but I am not entirely sure.

Not sure how you know this, maybe you're right, but every draft board I've seen has him 6'1". Height doesn't matter as much if he moves well in and out of the pocket and can see his lanes. Skill means more to me than height.

He did not throw TDs at the rate Mendoza did. While he runs better than Mendoza, I do not want a RPO guy. They either figure it out at the next level or they fade away. Mendoza is a spread QB but can play under center. He has ideal size and is accurate as hell.

Chambliss didn't have the o-line or run game Mendoza enjoyed either. Chambliss is accurate too. His TD/INT ratio is impressive. I judge a QB on what he does with what he's presented. Chambliss made something out of nothing more often than not. Mendoza was much less impressive at Cal. Went to Indy with a line, a run game, a defense and superb coaching, and blossomed. Bryce Young comes to mind, a product of an excellent program - can't miss NFL prospect. Picked #1. Went to a struggling team and didn't do much.

So here is the deal. We have 10 picks this year. That is enough to do some serious work fixing other areas. We have the second most cap space as of right now so we can fix other areas quickly.

We've got 3 picks in the 4th, and 2 in the 6th. Mid to late. We could use those picks to trade up perhaps, but no guarantees like I said. I'd rather have another 1st or two (even after "reaching" for Chambliss) and more in the 2nd. Some legit studs to be had there.

So yea, Raider fans not wanting to draft the future of the franchise puzzles me. Especially after years of waiting. You guys who do not want Mendoza puzzle me as well. Those passes he makes? He is a fcking stud. His intelligence? Off the charts smart. His work ethic? Unbelievable. So he is gangly when he runs. Who the fck cares? On the design run plays he gets it done. Does he have a cannon? No but he can throw 40 yards on a rope. Does he take more sacks than he should? Not really, but every QB out there takes sacks.

It is simply a fact that if we don't take the QB at #1 it is likely we don't get a QB worth a damn this year. Because we simply risk too much competing with 31 other teams if we give up the number one spot. And no other QB since Burrow is as NFL ready as Mendoza is right now.

Future of the franchise is again your opinion. I never said I don't want Mendoza, he is a good QB, I just think TC + studs in the trenches would do more for the team. And the bottom line is, we disagree on Mendoza vs Chambliss. Not too many agree with me, I'll give you that. Not gonna get upset over it, we'll know who's right/wrong in a few years. Definitely a crap shoot when it comes to QBs and their success depends heavily upon where they go.

[NoThanksSir]

Has there been a good example of a bad QB needy team passing on a QB and it working out? The only examples I can think of they almost all signed or traded for a veteran QB. Saints/Brees, 49ers/Garropolo. Passing on Mendoza to draft a QB in the middle rounds would be an unmitigated disaster.

[Amish Cabal]

We can not overlook the QB position any longer. The chance of getting a franchise QB on a rookie deal is the best way to take a team out from the scrap heap. You are 100% right about building the trenches, but what good is it without a QB. A QB is where it all starts. If we trade the pick, we deserve eternal failure. I would rather swing and miss trying to draft a QB than doing nothing at all.

I agree. I never said to overlook QB position. I said who I think is the best of '26. To my eye, Chambliss is the best. You all disagree and that's fine.

[Amish Cabal]

Has there been a good example of a bad QB needy team passing on a QB and it working out? The only examples I can think of they almost all signed or traded for a veteran QB. Saints/Brees, 49ers/Garropolo. Passing on Mendoza to draft a QB in the middle rounds would be an unmitigated disaster.

Unless of course the QB you take is better than the consensus #1.

[NoThanksSir]

Unless of course the QB you take is better than the consensus #1.

The same logic you applied to Attyla applies to you, that's just your opinion. I'm talking about historical precedent. Do you have an example of what you're suggesting ever having worked out before? Genuine question. Because it's such a wild suggestion I'm genuinely curious if you're just being a contrarian or you're basing this on something other than a hunch.

[Amish Cabal]

The same logic you applied to Attyla applies to you, that's just your opinion. I'm talking about historical precedent. Do you have an example of what you're suggesting ever having worked out before? Genuine question. Because it's such a wild suggestion I'm genuinely curious if you're just being a contrarian or you're basing this on something other than a hunch.

Exactly. It IS just my opinion.

Without posting all his games, my opinion is based on watching him play. He's got all the tools we need. Transferred to Ole Miss from a nobody school in 2025, and by game 3 he was leading that team. 415 total yards and three touchdowns his first game. To think we could get him, + more top picks, is a no-brainer to me.

[BotesBoats]

Raider fans: 2018-2024-"We need to invest a high pick on a QB this draft, we are tired of bringing in aged washed up vets"
Raider fans: Beginning of 2025-"This has to be the year we invest our first round pick on a QB"
Raider fans: Mendoza comes out of nowhere, wins the Heisman, wins the most games ever beating five highly ranked teams and the national championship-"We should trade the pick and draft an offensive lineman"

I've run into this way more than I thought would happen. It makes no sense to me.

It's like you said, we have the #1 pick, 10 total picks and over 100 million in cap space. Does passing on a potential franchise QB for another 2 firsts REALLY put us in a better spot? I just don't see any reason why the latter is the better decision.

[Attyla]

The same logic you applied to Attyla applies to you, that's just your opinion. I'm talking about historical precedent. Do you have an example of what you're suggesting ever having worked out before? Genuine question. Because it's such a wild suggestion I'm genuinely curious if you're just being a contrarian or you're basing this on something other than a hunch.

Yea, I got told it was just my opinion in a rather dismissive fashion and then got his opinion as if that was the determining view. Like I said, if I am wrong I am all about saying so. But Drafting Chambliss with certainty requires picking him high, way higher than I want to do so. Don't get me wrong, he may be a solid starter in the league, but the roll out guys who do so all the time expose themselves to way more punishment at the next level. The pocket guys tend to last a lot longer. Think Wilson.

[Opoponax50]

I get the sentiment, and I won't be pissed if we take Mendoza at 1. I do like the kid.

However, we need to build those trenches. Trading out would give us likely another 1st, a 2nd or two, enough to grab some stud fat guys we desperately need (both sides of the ball). Otherwise, we're digging thru the scrap heap of FA and paying a PREMIUM for anyone decent. I still believe the game is won and lost in the trenches, and our o-line is by far and away the worst. Like others have said, Mendoza's escapability is only slightly better than AOC. Somebody breaks through the line (as they currently do every passing down), it's turtle vs cheetah. We also need a run game or we'll ruin a QB no matter how good he is. A top o-line would unlock Jeanty, and we know a run game is a QB's best friend. We need a lot more than just QB. I won't be pissed if we go that route either.

Due to Pete's kid running the O-line and running game, we don't know what we have in terms of talent/capability. Maybe some of those guys are good. They were having to get together and practice with each other because Brennan Caroll had them so thoroughly confused. We may actually have some good interior linemen who suffered from 4th rate coaching.

I'm no big fan of Chip Kelly but it's entirely possible that his scheme failed so spectacularly due to Brennan's incompetence. It didn't get any better when he got fired.

Thanks Pete for getting us the #1 pick, but at the same time f*** you for hiring your son so that now have to reevaluate the entire O-line.

[haji81872]

I am old and still have a full head of hair. Just gloating lol

My luscious locks flow down to the middle of my back. Think Fabio on the cover of a romance novel. Except in his 50's and morbidly obese.

[Raidernation1979]

Other than running Chambliss does nothing better than Mendoza. He can outrun him. That’s it.

[haji81872]

I absolutely love that!!!

[NoThanksSir]

Exactly. It IS just my opinion.

Without posting all his games, my opinion is based on watching him play. He's got all the tools we need. Transferred to Ole Miss from a nobody school in 2025, and by game 3 he was leading that team. 415 total yards and three touchdowns his first game. To think we could get him, + more top picks, is a no-brainer to me.

You're welcome to your opinion, I'm just confused because you replied to me without addressing the criticism of your position. I wasn't really coming at it from a subjective lens, I actually posted previously I like Chambliss's talent but one year wonders are risky picks. I asked for any compelling reason for what you were suggesting but all you had to offer was, "My eye test analysis tells me I'm right." Which wasn't convincing, I like to corroborate my eyes with facts...so I guess I'm not going to see eye to eye with you.