It took 19 years. It's been nineteen years since the Las Vegas Raiders last drafted a quarterback in the first round and the man they selected that time – JaMarcus Russell – has become one of the most cautionary tales in NFL history. Thursday night in Pittsburgh, the Raiders got a completely different name calling. One, if everything goes right, could define this franchise for the next decade and beyond.
Fernando Mendoza. No. 1 overall pick. An attacker.
Say it again. It feels good.
Mendoza is a game changer on and off the field
In one season with Indiana, Mendoza became the first Heisman Trophy winner in program history, while leading the Hoosiers to their first Big Ten title, first Rose Bowl victory and first national championship – all in a perfect season. He threw 41 touchdown passes, completed 72 percent of his attempts, and posted an 8:0 touchdown-to-interception ratio in the College Football Playoff. Fernando Mendoza hasn't had a good year for nothing. His single-season performance at the position was one of the best in college football history.
And yet, the story goes deeper than the numbers.
Instead of heading to Pittsburgh for the draft, Mendoza stayed home with his family in Miami tonight. One reason: Her mother, Elsa, suffers from multiple sclerosis and has difficulty traveling. The NFL pushed back. He did not budge. On the biggest night of his professional life, he chose his mother's comfort over spectacle. It tells you a lot about who this kid is.
He's a self-serious nerd, a conscientious thinker, a cheerful competitor, and an obvious business graduate who leads by example on and off the field. The Raiders just don't have a quarterback. They have the franchise cornerstone.
Agent Leigh Steinberg put it bluntly: "He's an ideal selection for the Raiders because he's someone they can build a franchise around. He seems like he has the proper leadership skills and motivational ability to lead a team. He's high character, he's got physical size. He's got great strength."
That draft is not publicity. He's a guy who has seen quarterbacks come and go for 50 years and tells you this is different.
The attackers had been waiting for a long time.
A franchise that hasn't won a playoff game since 2002 now has a guy they hope will finally change that. That's a 23-year drought of meaningful January football. Raider Nation is running out of reasons to believe. This is one reason. A real one.
Raiders snatch another Heisman winner
Mendoza becomes the fifth Heisman Trophy winner drafted by the Raiders, joining Marcus Allen, Bo Jackson, Tim Brown and Charles Woodson – four names that will forever be woven into the silver and black. Company specific. There should be expectations also.
Yep, nothing like that happens on draft night. The rebuild under GM John Spitek and head coach Clint Kubiak is real work, and it has to translate into wins. The expectation is that veteran Kirk Cousins will be the QB1 until Mendoza is ready, and that's fine. There's no reason to push the 22-year-old into a starting role before he's ready. Let him learn. Let him grow. Patrick Mahomes spent his entire rookie year. That worked.
But make no mistake, the energy around this organization changed tonight. There is still a pulse. A valid reason to engage, show up and care again.
Mendoza told ESPN: "The last five months have been such a blessing. I'm just looking forward to working and proving myself at the next level. College was great. I'm blessed to have this career. But now I'm stepping into a great game in the NFL. I'm looking forward to earning it every day."
Earn it every single day. In a franchise that has seen many thinking it will be handed to them, this sentence itself is a breath of fresh air.
Add in the Tom Brady mentorship angle and it's even more interesting. Mendoza himself said on the Rich Eisen Show that Brady has inspired him to be the best quarterback he can be, that it "would mean the world" to him and that all the ingredients are there for something real. An inspired young quarterback. A respected football mind in his corner. A front office that is finally making calculated, disciplined decisions instead of swinging wildly.
This is the best thing to happen to the Raiders organization in a generation. Not because Mendoza is guaranteed to be great, because nothing is guaranteed in the NFL. But because for the first time in a very long time, the Raiders picked the right guy, in the right way, in the right way.
Raider Nation, meet your quarterback.
