Raiderstation

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.

raidersince63 wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 6:40 am For me, just as important as athleticism, leadership, and maturity, is something that I always look for, which is intelligence. That is a trait that Brady, Montana, Unitas, and other greats also possessed.

Mendoza certainly appears to be a very cerebral individual as well, and if/when he gets acclimated with the speed of the NFL game, he has the other tools to make us all proud.

The processing speed will be telling. That is where the intelligence really shows up

Ill eat a shoe if Mendoza is a bust. He may not be Manning or Brady but he is going to at least be a competent nfl starting qb.

Mendoza's transition to the NFL won't be seamless - it won't be as RPO heavy as the Indiana offense. He has the work ethic and intelligence and the coach to get through that transition to the other side.

chucker wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 7:03 am Mendoza's transition to the NFL won't be seamless - it won't be as RPO heavy as the Indiana offense. He has the work ethic and intelligence and the coach to get through that transition to the other side.

Very rare that a rookie comes out and makes it happen. Just too much to process that first year.

chucker wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 7:03 am Mendoza's transition to the NFL won't be seamless - it won't be as RPO heavy as the Indiana offense. He has the work ethic and intelligence and the coach to get through that transition to the other side.

This offseason was dedicated to setting the table for Mendoza. Like anything there is a chance of failure. But Mendoza’s humility and recognition that he needs to put in work to be successful make him ideal for this situation. He is going to be a sponge the first year under a tremendous coaching staff. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s already working on being under center. Hoping for the best.

I have no doubt that Mendoza will put in the work and have no doubt that he has the intelligence to get it done. There is also more than one way for a coaching staff to approach developing a young QB. Do they chuck the whole playbook at him and immediately ask him to operate the offense that they ultimately want to run? That will lead to early struggles but might pay off later. Or do they tailor an offense more towards what he did in college so he has an easier transition but a bigger additional learning curve next year or the year after? Teams have done it both ways with success, and failure.

The transition that Mahomes made from rookie to starter was ideal. While the Chief's enjoyed many advantages that we don't with where their team was at that juncture plus Andy Reid. Having a veteran presence of Alex Smith's caliber cannot be overstated in a young QB's professional development.

chucker wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 8:25 am

Now that would be sweet to have Brady start for the Raiders to ease Mendoza's transition into the NFL. But are his rights owned by the Bucs if he were to come back?

ELCAraiderfan wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 8:26 pm Now that would be sweet to have Brady start for the Raiders to ease Mendoza's transition into the NFL. But are his rights owned by the Bucs if he were to come back?

I'd love for Brady to be the daily mentor for Mendoza, but I think the NFL is right in not wanting an NFL owner to play. How does the head coach bench the owner for poor performance? This is akin to hiring your son as oline coach.

raiders r gonna do everything in their power to make sure fernando gets everything he needs to succeed including time witht he goat tom brady whom has a vested interest

ELCAraiderfan wrote: Thu Mar 26, 2026 8:26 pm Now that would be sweet to have Brady start for the Raiders to ease Mendoza's transition into the NFL. But are his rights owned by the Bucs if he were to come back?

The hype would be off the charts. I don't know how the league could prevent him from playing unless his rights are with Tampa.

And his Fox gig would be more of an issue.

Rabidraider wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 8:24 am The hype would be off the charts. I don't know how the league could prevent him from playing unless his rights are with Tampa.

And his Fox gig would be more of an issue.

The league already told him no. And no this would be more of an issue than his announcer gig.

A strong run game will help Mendo more than WR1. For that to happen pick 36 should be oline.

KillerRaider30 wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 10:37 am A strong run game will help Mendo more than WR1. For that to happen pick 36 should be oline.

strong run game wont work if your oline stinks

1.oline
2.rb
3.wr/te

we r addressing these areas already
oline chk
rb chk
te chk
wr1 nope