Fernandomania Comes To Las Vegas: Raiders’ Top Pick Mendoza Says, ‘All The Stars Are Aligning Here’
By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Fernandomania kicked into high gear in Las Vegas Thursday when the Las Vegas Raiders picked Heisman-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the NFL’s first overall draft pick to lead the storied franchise back to respectability.
Coming off an awful season that resulted in a 3-14 record in 2025, the Raiders used their top draft selection on a talented and cerebral QB who led Indiana to college football’s national championship and an undefeated season.
For a team that has burned through head coaches, general managers and starting quarterbacks since arriving in Las Vegas in 2020, Mendoza represents hope for the future.
“I’m looking forward to getting to work,” Mendoza told a TV reporter after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell called his name at 5:13 PM Las Vegas time. Of the Raiders, Mendoza said, “Great legacy.”
Less than a half-hour after Goodell called his name, Mendoza was fielding remote questions from the Las Vegas media.
Mendoza said, “Well, I believe I’m still the underdog. Although the draft was today, once I got drafted, I’m now part of the NFL, and I can tell you right now I am not one out of 32 – although I was picked today one out of 32 – I’m not one out of 32 quarterbacks at this moment. So, I need to work every single day possible, because I’m on the bottom of the totem pole.
“Whatever everyone is ranking me, I don’t know those specifics, but I’m at the bottom of the totem pole right now, and I’ve go to first earn the respect to my teammates, earn that equity, and I’ve also just got to immerse, and I’m just ready to do whatever the team needs and calls me to do to help them win.”
A theme emerged that Mendoza believed he was a good fit for the Raiders.
NFL Draft day in Pittsburgh stoked Raiders fans that the team will rebound under a new man under center and a new man as head coach — Klint Kubiak.
Raiders fans at NFL Draft watch parties across the Las Vegas valley like the gathering at the Palms rejoiced in the selection of Mendoza.
Kubiak replaced Pete Carroll, who was fired by owner Mark Davis after only a year on the job.
The Raiders have struggled to land first round draft picks who have stuck.
Alabama lineman Alex Leatherwood was picked in the first round in 2021, but the Raiders released him after his rookie season. The Raiders selected Clemson defensive end Clelin Ferrell with the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft, but Ferrell never lived up to the hype of a fourth overall selection. The team picked Ohio State cornerback Damon Arnette with the 19th selection in the 2020 Draft, but released him in 2021 after videos on social media showed Arnette brandishing weapons.
And the Raiders’ first pick as a franchise based in Las Vegas in 2020 — Alabama receiver Henry Ruggs III — ended badly when the team released him in Nov. 2021 after Ruggs crashed his car and killed a 23-year-old woman and her dog in Las Vegas.
Two years ago in 2024, the Raiders picked tight end Brock Bowers with the 13th overall pick and Bowers has turned into a premier NFL player, probably the Raiders’ best first round pick since they moved to Las Vegas.
Now the Raiders look to Mendoza as its franchise quarterback to set the team on a new path.
“I would say the best attribute I’m bringing to the Raiders is resilience. I still need to earn it
every single day and prove that I can play at this level, at high level, but the resilience, whether it’s a bad
practice and be able to take that bump and falling down and using that bump as an accelerator to then
learn from it, improve,” Mendoza said.
“And so, every step along the way, I pride myself on exponential growth every single year. I’ve done it through all my college years, so look forward to keeping that trend up, and that trend is met by hard work, discipline, and unwavering optimism.”
