Silver And Black Pride
The Las Vegas Raiders own the No. 1 pick of the 2026 NFL draft, allowing the organization to finally get its franchise quarterback. That makes Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, who is considered by many as the top prospect at the position, the current favorite to be the first player off the board in April.
The Heisman Trophy winner is putting the finishing touches on a fantastic season, completing 72.3 percent of his passes for 3,172 yards and 36 touchdowns to just six interceptions, as of Jan. 7. His passing touchdowns, yards per attempt (9.6), adjusted yards per passing attempt (10.91) and passer rating (184.7) all lead the country, while the Hooisers are two wins away from securing a National Championship.
Clearly, Mendoza has impressive numbers and accolades, but what can he bring to Las Vegas if the Raiders make him the first overall pick? Let’s take a look at a few throws from his game against Penn State and versus Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship to find out.
There’s already been a lot of discourse surrounding Mendoza’s arm strength, with many claiming it’s average or slightly below. In my opinion, that’s a false narrative, and he has plenty of arm talent to push the ball down the field.
The throw above is the best one he’s made so far this season, as the ball hits the wide receiver in stride about 50 yards down the field for an explosive play. But the entire process is what makes this rep really special.
The Buckeyes show Cover 1 pre-snap with a single-high safety and the cornerbacks stacked on top of the receivers within five yards of the line of scrimmage. However, the defense is disguising its coverage, rolling into Cover 2 post-snap by having the outside slot corner (No. 3) at the bottom of the screen drop into the deep half while the single-high safety widens toward the hash mark.
It’s also worth noting that Caleb Downs (No. 2), Ohio State’s highly-regarded safety, is also lined up as a slot corner but isn’t the defensive back who drops into the deep half as a quarterback would typically expect. In theory, that should help disguise the coverage even more. However, Mendoza isn’t fooled.
With the deep over route from the inside slot receiver, the safety is occupied and has to stay near the hash mark on the boundary side of the field, and the dig route from the outside receiver prevents the Tampa dropper (Downs) from continuing to work for depth. That creates a one-on-one matchup with the post route against the deep half defender, where the wideout has a leverage advantage to get open.
So, Mendoza lets it rip and puts the ball right on the money. Also, while I wouldn’t consider this a throw under pressure, the middle linebacker blitzes and beats the running back to muddy the quarterback’s look and impact his follow-through on the throw.
Does the Indiana product have elite arm strength like Josh Allen, Justin Herbert...
