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 disagree. He ran backwards and then heaved a Hail Mary pass. The lack of coverage was the skill? That ball should have never been competed and if it was against us everyone would be blaming the coverage. The dude is not a good quarterback. He will make some highlight reel plays but he can’t sit in the pocket and beat the defense routinely.

Anyway this thread is about Mendoza who thankfully is the anti Caleb. Back to our regularly scheduled programming

Well, I am no fan of his game but that play was unreal. Back pedaling, about to get hit, he dropped a dime to the receiver. He had defenders near him but nobody thought he was going to make that throw so they had stopped covering the receiver. Damn good arm strength on the play because his mechanics were taken away because he was retreating when he threw it. It was all arm. And Caleb was able to extend the play for a full 5 seconds before throwing the ball, not bad.

[BoKnows81]

We can disagree. He ran backwards and then heaved a Hail Mary pass. The lack of coverage was the skill? That ball should have never been competed and if it was against us everyone would be blaming the coverage. The dude is not a good quarterback. He will make some highlight reel plays but he can’t sit in the pocket and beat the defense routinely.

Anyway this thread is about Mendoza who thankfully is the anti Caleb. Back to our regularly scheduled programming

You say he will make highlight reel plays but you think that play was all luck? C'mon, at least give credit where its due. My thing with Caleb is that the talent is there but the consistency isn't. But he's still a top 16 QB at this very moment, and you can argue he's in the top 12.

[Raidernation1979]

Bringing this back to Mendoza the reason I like him and wild pick him 10/10 times over Williams is he plays from the pocket with intelligence, timing, anticipation and accuracy.

I’m just not a fan of the style of quarterback play that people get an enamored with today. Mahomes is maybe the best combo of doing both by extending plays when needed but primarily playing in the pocket. Allen is right there but he regressed this year and it hurt it them in some bad spots. I would take Allen and Mahomes. I wouldn’t take Caleb

[raider_kin]

...is he plays from the picket..

I know that is a typo but it's funny because the O line of a football team is literally a 'picket line.' (one definition anyway)
Well done

[Attyla]

Bringing this back to Mendoza the reason I like him and wild pick him 10/10 times over Williams is he plays from the picket with intelligence, timing, anticipation and accuracy.

I’m just not a fan of the style of quarterback play that people get an enamored with today. Mahomes is maybe the best combo of doing both by extending plays when needed but primarily playing in the pocket. Allen is right there but he regressed this year and it hurt it them in some bad spots. I would take Allen and Mahomes. I wouldn’t take Caleb

Allen did not regress, the weapons they gave him were horrible.

As for Mendoza, he is going to need to learn to be under center more. That is the big flaw in his game. I know he can do it, he is just not good at it. And I would like to see about 10 pounds added to his frame so he can take the pounding at the next level. Finally, he will need some coaching for his deep ball. He can back shoulder like nobody else and his throws while leading a player are pretty spot on. That is great, but practice what you don't do well. That will be the difference between a good player and a great player.

As I have said, Ward got better once McCoy started coaching him. I would give McCoy a crack at Mendoza along side whoever we bring in as QB coach.

[Raidernation1979]

Allen did not regress, the weapons they gave him were horrible.

As for Mendoza, he is going to need to learn to be under center more. That is the big flaw in his game. I know he can do it, he is just not good at it. And I would like to see about 10 pounds added to his frame so he can take the pounding at the next level. Finally, he will need some coaching for his deep ball. He can back shoulder like nobody else and his throws while leading a player are pretty spot on. That is great, but practice what you don't do well. That will be the difference between a good player and a great player.

As I have said, Ward got better once McCoy started coaching him. I would give McCoy a crack at Mendoza along side whoever we bring in as QB coach.

Naturally, he has things he has to work on. Based on what we know about this kid though work ethic won’t be a problem. He will work tirelessly to work on correcting these things. Brady being his idol I think he will continually want to be better through the 10th 15th 20th year of his career. Not saying he will play 20 years, just commenting that he will work throughout his career. One thing Brady preached was, he could always improved and was continually working on stuff throughout his entire career.

[Raidernation1979]

I know that is a typo but it's funny because the O line of a football team is literally a 'picket line.' (one definition anyway)
Well done

Good catch. Speak text or AutoCorrect or a combination of both of them got me.

[Goodtimes333]

I think some Caleb Williams/whatever top draft pick QB conversation is warranted. It's the off-season and you're talking about a prospect in comparison to other prospects. Some quarterbacks absolutely struggle with a rhythm of an offense and they try to turn every other play into backyard ball. Caleb Williams is one of those guys. He'll take sacks and negative plays but he'll make some amazing plays because he does have unique talent. How many times does he simply just not plant his feet with proper footwork and make an accurate throw when it's there? Quite often. Why? Because he's conditioned to play the "backyard ball". I'll take the pocket passer who can run for a 1st down any day of the week over that type of guy.

When you look at Mendoza in his ability to run, it's optimal IMO. He's so efficient when he does run. He may look awkward but he's damn affective when he wants to run. He has a very good eye for diagnosing a front & deciding to run or pass, in the sense of a run play or pass. I think Klint will appreciate that. He truly reminds me of a mobile Tom Brady in a lot of ways

[raider_kin]

Good catch. Speak text or AutoCorrect or a combination of both of them got me.

There are so many good memes/jokes about autocorrect. Clearly a tool of the devil.

[Reno Hightower]

I'm not a huge Caleb fan yet but there's not many QBs that have that ability to escape like that and make that throw. That he deserves credit for and is absolutely skill based. Calling that play pure luck is a lazy argument.

Regardless of the blown coverage downfield-not many right handed QB's running backwards while fading left make that throw. He never even got his feet set. The reason he was open to begin is that the Ram's secondary didn't think he was getting the ball off. But that's just me. Maybe I have a soft spot for football in the upper midwest that time of year.

Not much of a Caleb Williams fan either.

[Southshield]

I agree Caleb has elite physical traits that Mendoza just doesn't have. I seriously doubt Mendoza can do that hail Mary play. However, Mendoza's elite trait is he doesn't have to make that play.

Mendoza's elite trait is breaking the huddle and walking to the center seeing the coverage and instead of the progression tree being 1, 2, 3, 4 he sees that in this coverage it's 3, 2, 1, 4. Then when he hikes the ball and is in his drop back or shotgun he sees the coverage change and now the progression tree is 2, 4, 1, 3.

A half second extra time for a qb can be everything.

[GoodTimeCharlie]

Ex-Raiders GM Mike Mayock Delivers Strong Statement on Fernando Mendoza

’ On paper, there are a lot of things to like about Mendoza. He’s big at 6-foot-5, and while he’s thin, he’s certainly thicker than a player like JJ McCarthy. He’s also highly intelligent and has displayed high-level leadership qualities.

On the field, Mayock described what stands out to him about Mendoza.

“I love that his eyes are up. He wants to beat you with his arm, which is what an NFL quarterback should be thinking first and foremost,” Mayock said. “Also, I like that he protects the football. … Here’s the key to me: Nervous system. What makes you tick in the most important games and times within the games?”

https://heavy.com/sports/nfl/las-vegas- ... ke-mayock/

[SkullCrusher]

We can disagree. He ran backwards and then heaved a Hail Mary pass. The lack of coverage was the skill? That ball should have never been competed and if it was against us everyone would be blaming the coverage. The dude is not a good quarterback. He will make some highlight reel plays but he can’t sit in the pocket and beat the defense routinely.

Anyway this thread is about Mendoza who thankfully is the anti Caleb. Back to our regularly scheduled programming

It's the same doubts people had with Mahomes. But most likely we'll see he has a knack for this as well in the NFL and when you pull it off often, then you become a show. He was a show at USC until the 2nd half of his SR season where something happened or a combination of things where he sort of checked out. This dude for most of his time at USC was very Mahomes like. Most likely he'll continue to improve under Johnson and be better play in and play out and still have that uncanny big play ability.

Mendoza is a different beast.

[GoodTimeCharlie]

Williams MIGHT be the next Mahomes. Which means a possible 4 Super Bowls before that helter-skelter gunslinging showmanship begins to dim due to injury.

Mahomes though had the good fortune to only play Tom Brady in one Super Bowl before Brady retired. Mahomes lost of course.

Williams though has the bad fortune of his career gettin’ goin’ right when the guy who COULD be the next Brady comes out of college to play for the Raiders.

Yeah that’s right.

LET’S GO MENDO!!!

[Raider727]