Fernando Mendoza Has Thrown 8 NFL Passes. Inside the Raiders' Plan to Sit the No. 1 Pick

By the DraftClassInsider staff · Published October 12, 2026 · Through Week 5 of the 2026 season

At a glance

Drafted: No. 1 overall on April 23, 2026, out of Indiana. He won the 2025 Heisman Trophy and led the Hoosiers to a 16-0 national title.
Contract: four years, $57,270,598, fully guaranteed, with a $38,111,344 signing bonus and a fifth-year option. Signed July 23.
Role: backup to Kirk Cousins, who was named the Week 1 starter and led a 3-0 start.
NFL debut: October 11 at New England, on the last drive of a 45-17 loss. He went 6-of-8 for 48 yards.
Last No. 1 overall pick to open his rookie year on the bench: Baker Mayfield, 2018.

Eight Passes in Five Weeks

With just over six minutes left at Gillette Stadium on October 11 and the Raiders down 45-17, Klint Kubiak pulled Kirk Cousins and sent in Fernando Mendoza for his first regular-season snaps. His first play was a handoff for three yards. His first pass was a check-down to Dylan Laube, and his second converted a third down to Ian Thomas. He completed his first five throws, including a 16-yarder to Tre Tucker against zone coverage, and moved the offense into the red zone. On fourth-and-5 from the New England 14, the Patriots sent an eight-man blitz. Mendoza scrambled and came up short, and the drive ended on downs.

That was the whole debut: 6-of-8 for 48 yards, no points, no turnovers and no sacks. Cousins, who had been sacked three times, finished 19-of-28 for 243 yards and a touchdown. "All reps are valuable. Very important for him," Kubiak said after the game. Mendoza called it "good experience to have some regular season snaps to go off of, evaluate and get better from."

On Monday, Kubiak made clear the debut changed nothing. "Kirk is the starter, but if Fernando's number is called, we have confidence in him," he told reporters.

This Was Always the Plan

The Raiders set this up before they drafted Mendoza. They signed Cousins in early April, three weeks before the draft. Cousins knows Kubiak's offense from three seasons together in Minnesota (2019-21), where Kubiak was his position coach and then his offensive coordinator. Team leadership, including Kubiak, general manager John Spytek and minority owner Tom Brady, reportedly favored letting the rookie learn from the bench. Brady had input on the decision to name Cousins the Week 1 starter for the opener against Miami, according to NBC Sports.

Mendoza accepted the role in public from the start of camp. "Whatever decisions are made at the end, that's fantastic -- and I'm well for it," he said on July 30. "I just want the team to win, so that's where I'm at."

The preseason did not argue for a change. Mendoza threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Jack Bech in his debut on August 13 and finished 10-of-16 for 97 yards in a 27-14 loss to Arizona. A week later at Houston he went 8-of-15 for 86 yards, and one overthrow was returned 80 yards for a touchdown by Wade Woodaz. He played the first half of that game, which the Raiders won 22-20.

Then Cousins won the first three games: 27-13 over Miami, 26-14 at the Chargers and 35-27 over New Orleans after trailing by 11 in the second half. It was the franchise's first 3-0 start since 2021. Cousins threw three touchdown passes in each of those games, and the Raiders, who averaged 14.2 points a game in 2025, scored 29.3 a game. The record has slipped since. Kansas City won 30-27 on October 4 even though Cousins threw for 365 yards, and New England won by 28 a week later. Las Vegas is 3-2.

The Contracts Say 2026 Is a Bridge Year

Cousins' contract shows how temporary this arrangement is. On paper it runs five years and $172 million. In practice it is a one-year, $20 million deal, and the Raiders pay $11.3 million of it: a minimum salary of about $1.3 million this season and a $10 million roster bonus due on the third day of the 2027 league year. The Falcons cover the rest through offsets from the guarantee they still owed him. If Cousins is still on the roster on the fifth day of the 2027 league year, two more years and $80 million vest, with $78.5 million of it in 2028. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero called it unlikely that those years vest, though he did not rule it out.

Mendoza's deal took until July 23, and the money was never the issue. Every dollar of the $57.27 million is guaranteed. The holdup was when the $38.1 million signing bonus would be paid. Mendoza's camp wanted a lump sum, which recent No. 1 picks have received. The Raiders' usual schedule pays 77.5% within 15 days of signing, 12.5% in mid-September and 10% in mid-October. The schedule they agreed to was not reported. He was the last of the Raiders' 10 draft picks to sign.

That money creates a cost the Raiders accept by waiting. A quarterback on a rookie contract is the best bargain in football, and Mendoza's has four years plus an option. The Raiders have to decide on the option in the spring of 2029, after only three seasons. Each week he spends on the bench uses up some of that cheap window without telling them anything about him.

How Other No. 1 Picks Who Waited Turned Out

Recent No. 1 picks have started right away. Kyler Murray (2019), Joe Burrow (2020), Trevor Lawrence (2021), Bryce Young (2023), Caleb Williams (2024) and Cam Ward (2025) all started in Week 1. The last No. 1 overall pick to open his rookie season as a backup was Baker Mayfield in 2018. He replaced an injured Tyrod Taylor in Week 3, led a comeback win over the Jets and kept the job. Mendoza has already waited longer than that. He is the first No. 1 overall quarterback since Jared Goff in 2016 to go five weeks without a start, and Goff did not make his first start until Week 11.

The longest wait belongs to Carson Palmer, the No. 1 pick in 2003. He did not take a regular-season snap as a rookie while Jon Kitna started for Cincinnati, and he made the Pro Bowl two years later. Two of the best recent examples of a quarterback sitting first were not No. 1 picks. Patrick Mahomes, taken 10th in 2017, started only the regular-season finale as a rookie. Jordan Love, taken 26th in 2020, waited three seasons behind Aaron Rodgers. Those players had something Mendoza does not yet have: a team that kept winning without them. The Raiders have lost two straight.

What Would Change It

Kubiak's own words set the terms: Cousins starts unless Mendoza's "number is called." That means an injury, or a losing streak that makes the evaluation more valuable than the wins. The next two games are Buffalo at Allegiant Stadium in Week 6 and then the Rams. Outside pressure has started. After the New England loss, Rob Gronkowski said the Raiders should "make it the Mendoza show" if the struggles continue. That is commentary, not a team decision.

Our take. On draft night we called the pick a steal and graded it B+. Five weeks have not tested that grade, because Mendoza has barely played. Sitting him made sense while the Raiders were 3-0. At 3-2, with a 38-year-old starter on what is effectively a one-year deal, it costs more every week. We expect him to start before the season ends. Six completions in mop-up time against a team that had already won tell us very little; the first real data on this pick will come when he starts. For the full first round, see our Week 5 reality check. For every 2026 rookie deal, see the contract tracker.

Point Guards (21)

Shooting Guards (24)

Small Forwards (13)

Power Forwards (23)

Centers (19)