April 22, 2026, 1:47 p.m. PT
Just when you wonder whether Fernando Mendoza could actually be more suited to be the Raiders pick at number one overall, another detail comes out about him to further cement that.
Wednesday, Mendoza joined the Dan Patrick show where he revealed some very interesting details about his process and preparation for this moment. A process that began at least two years ago.
“There was two years ago where I watched all [Kirk Cousins] Minnesota Vikings pass tape,” said Mendoza, noting their similar play styles. “Every single pass, whether it was incomplete or a completion throughout the entire season. Which is a lot because the NFL has a lot of games.”
“When I was back in California there were a couple comparisons on ‘hey, you play a little bit like Kirk Cousins and Sam Darnold, just from our NFL guys. And so at that point I was like ‘let me watch these guys and see what they do.’ . . so after I was done with my process I’d watch 30 minutes or an hour of Kirk Cousins or Sam Darnold.”
Little did he know that two years later, he would be in the position where the team poised to take him atop the draft that not only has Kirk Cousins on the team, but has Klint Kubiak as the head coach, who was Cousins’s QB coach then OC in Minnesota for three of those seasons Mendoza was studying. And, of course, he coached Sam Darnold with the Seahawks last season.
So, in essence, Mendoza was unknowingly getting a two-year jump on preparing to work in Kubiak’s system alongside the NFL QB to whom he was most often compared.
Sometimes things just work out the way they’re supposed to work out.
