The Raiders Have Given Meticulous Fernando Mendoza The Keys. What Should We Expect?

It’s time for Fernandomania in Las Vegas. After nine games of sitting on the sidelines and watching, the Las Vegas Raiders finally cleared a path for Fernando Mendoza to make his first career NFL start with their trade of Kirk Cousins to the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday. It might have been tough to envision Mendoza taking the field this soon a month ago. The Raiders got off to a surprising 3-0 start and were in early playoff contention. But then they went on a skid, losing four straight games and have now lost in five of the last six weeks. That prompted Las Vegas general manager John Spytek to move on from Cousins and start the Mendoza era in the desert. And Mendoza couldn’t have drawn a tougher assignment, with the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks and the vaunted “Dark Side” defense arriving at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday. Gulp. Mendoza will get a week of preparation working with the starters to get ready for one of the best defenses in the business. And he’ll face a fellow quarterback replacement for the Seahawks, with Drew Lock subbing in for a second straight game for an injured Sam Darnold (ribs/quad). League sources told me the Raiders believe Mendoza is ready and has been preparing for weeks as the starter, including taking team reps with the starters during practice. Mendoza also keeps his helmet on the sidelines during games so he can hear the play being called, repeating back the play as if he were in the huddle. Mendoza has worked as the scout team quarterback against the Las Vegas starting defense each week, with coaches converting the opposing team’s playbook into head coach Klint Kubiak’s verbiage, so Mendoza can get extra reps calling plays from the Raiders’ scheme. “Fernando has done everything we’ve asked him to do in practice,” Kubiak told reporters after the trade. “He’s exceeded those expectations, and we all know that live-bullet Sunday is far different from practice. However, he showed us that he’s ready, not only physically but mentally. He’s up there studying right now, like he would any other game. He puts a lot of work in. His teammates know how prepared he is. “It’s not just lip service, but he has shown it on the practice field.” Mendoza will join Arizona Cardinals third-round pick Carson Beck (who was named the team’s Week 10 starter on Wednesday) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels as the only rookie quarterbacks to start a game this season. Mendoza has played in mop-up duty, completing 6 of 8 passes for 48 yards. So, how will Mendoza handle his first career start? Not all the talent evaluators I spoke with before the draft saw the Indiana product as a slam dunk No. 1 overall pick. “He will probably struggle with the physicality and speed of a game,” a longtime NFL scout who evaluated Mendoza coming out told me. “Practice is not game speed. Plus, he has not faced a live rush looking to hit him. He never had it in training camp. “I didn’t like him in the first round, but he was the best QB in the draft, so they go high.” Another NFL personnel executive told me he believes the Raiders will keep things close to the vest to protect their prized asset. “I think they will call a conservative game this week to protect him vs. Mike Macdonald’s defense,” the personnel executive told me. Still, some skepticism remains about how much success Mendoza will have right away. A third executive doesn’t like the talent around Mendoza in order for him to succeed. “Other than [tight end Brock] Bowers, there is not much talent on offense yet,” a front office executive told me. “Poise, protect the ball, make the routine throws. Start with that and increase from there.” Whatever the approach or outcome, Fernandomania is upon us, and Spytek believes his quarterback is ready for whatever comes his way. “He worked really hard and performed at a level in practice that was hard to ignore, impossible to ignore,” Spytek told reporters. “He put us in a position to make a really hard decision today.” In a nightmare succession of core players suffering significant injuries, the Los Angeles Rams might have experienced the one that will tip the scales on the ability of their Superteam to reach the postseason. The play seemed innocuous. On his final offensive play in Sunday’s win over the Washington Commanders, Rams head coach Sean McVay called a jet sweep to receiver Puka Nacua on third-and-long to try and seal the victory. Nacua got the handoff, turned upfield and was drilled in his right knee by Washington safety Jeremy Reaves. He picked up five yards on the play. Nacua was slow to get up and was attended to by the team’s medical staff afterwards. McVay announced the following day that Nacua suffered sprains to his MCL and PCL and has turf toe. McVay said the injuries mean Nacua will miss a good amount of time. He initially said that Nacua would be placed on injured reserve, but backtracked on that statement on Wednesday. However, McVay said that the decision to keep Nacua off IR was procedural, indicating he could still miss at least four games. Nacua already missed two games earlier this season with a hip/groin injury. With Davante Adams (hamstring) and tight end Terance Ferguson (hamstring) unavailable, plus Jordan Whittington dealing with back soreness, the Rams have three healthy receivers on the roster: Konata Mumpfield, Tutu Atwell and rookie C.J. Daniels. Those three have 18 catches between them this season. Nacua’s knee issue is just the latest of many injuries he’s suffered since the Rams selected him in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. The BYU product is a physical player who enjoys contact. And McVay has not shied away from force-feeding him the football. Nacua has 383 receptions for 4,906 yards and 23 touchdown receptions since entering the league in 2023. Only Ja’Marr Chase and Amon-Ra St. Brown have more production at receiver during that time. I asked McVay if he second-guessed using Nacua on that play specifically and his overall usage in general during his time with the team. “I’d be lying to you if I said I haven’t questioned the decision-making on that last play over and over in my head,” McVay said during his media availability on Monday. “What could have been another option that you felt like could have gotten a conversion and maybe end of the game that would have led to him not taking a violent hit to his right knee. “It’s stuff that I feel tremendous responsibility for, and we have to be able to figure out how to protect these guys while also putting them in positions that help our team and allow them to be able to shine. He’s a guy that we have to be intentional about because it’s a bummer and because he can do so much, you want to make sure you don’t take that for granted.” Nacua has only played one 17-game season in his four years with the Rams, his rookie year. He missed five games in 2024 because of a PCL right knee injury and missed a game last season with an ankle injury. He’s also dealt with concussion, chest and foot injuries. In the final year of his rookie contract, the Rams will wait until the end of this season to negotiate a contract extension for Nacua. The workload for L.A.’s No. 1 receiver has proven to be unsustainable during his time with the team. But Nacua has provided elite production, earning the right to be paid among the top receivers in the league. There were also off-the-field issues with Nacua that led the Rams’ brass to take a wait-and-see approach to negotiating a new deal. Nacua has done a good job of keeping the main thing the main thing so far this season, though, with no issues off the field and continued elite production on it. So, now, McVay must figure out a way to keep Nacua healthy. I asked McVay about getting Nacua to run out of bounds or go down before contact more often, so the physical playmaker doesn’t take as many vicious hits. McVay’s answer? It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. “We’ve talked about those types of things, but that’s like telling a tiger not to be a tiger,” McVay said. “We try to educate them on situations. Where are the things that you can avoid? I do also believe to the beginning part of your question, part of that responsibility is on myself to make sure how much are you exposing him to those types of plays? And it’s not something that I take lightly.” As I alluded to earlier, Mendoza isn’t the only rookie making his first career start this weekend. With the Arizona Cardinals trading Jacoby Brissett to the Baltimore Ravens and his backup Gardner Minchew suffering a season-ending elbow injury in a loss to the Seahawks last week, Beck is the next man up. Beck, a third-round pick out of Miami (Fla.), looked solid in training camp practices I was on hand to watch back in August. He also played well in the preseason, completing 15 of 19 passes for 188 yards in a half of work in the Hall of Fame game in Canton. However, Beck injured his ribs that game and was unable to play for the rest of the preseason. However, the Cardinals like the 25-year-old’s maturity and the fact that he made 43 starts in college, including playing for Miami in the National Championship game after transferring from Georgia. Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur will not get an eight-game window to evaluate Beck before the franchise decides to potentially draft a franchise quarterback high next year. Earlier this season, Cardinals offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett told me he liked Beck’s resiliency and the overall growth he made during the offseason. “We get so many quarterbacks in the NFL that are so talented, but how do you deal with things when they aren’t going good?” Hackett told me. “I think that’s when the best quarterbacks are the ones who are the smartest, who can handle that stuff, learn how to handle things and grow from things instead of letting those things hold you back. That’s something where it looks like he has it, but we’ll see if he does.” 5. Los Angeles Rams (5-4) While the Rams are shorthanded due to injuries, they should get most of those players back before the end of the season, including tight end Terance Ferguson, cornerback Trent McDuffie, defensive tackle Kobie Turner, offensive lineman Steven Avila, Nacua and Adams. Getting those foundational players back later in the year is one of the reasons the Rams stood pat at the trade deadline. 4. Seattle Seahawks (5-4) The Seahawks took a big hit to their running game with Kenneth Walker III signing with the Kansas City Chiefs in free agency, where he’s thrived. However, first-round pick Jadarian Price and Walker’s running mate from last year, Zach Charbonnet, were more productive in a win over the Arizona Cardinals last week, as the Seahawks grinded out 120 yards on the ground. Those numbers could be a sign of things to come for Seattle. 3. Kansas City Chiefs (6-2) Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce connected for 9,365 yards and last week surpassed Philip Rivers and Pro Football Hall of Famer Antonio Gates (9,352 yards) for the most yards by a quarterback-tight end duo in NFL history. Mahomes has 327 career touchdown passes, including the postseason, and can surpass Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning (327) for the most touchdown passes by a quarterback in his first 10 seasons, including the playoffs, in NFL history. 2. Denver Broncos (7-2) It could be hard for the Chiefs to catch the Broncos in the AFC West. After taking the bye this week, Denver only faces three teams with a winning record over the team’s last eight games. The Broncos are on a five-game win streak, the longest active streak in the NFL. 1. San Francisco 49ers (7-1) 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey recorded his 37th career touchdown reception last week, surpassing Pro Football Hall of Famer Marshall Faulk (36 touchdown receptions) for the most touchdown receptions by a running back in the Super Bowl era. “I love the group. I love the players. I love the coaches. I love the mindset. I think if we continue to strive to get better every single week, we’re going to give ourselves the best chance to really be a team on the rise, which is everything we want going forward.” San Francisco LB Fred Warner on the potential of the 49ers developing into a Super Bowl-level defense.