Here’s a version of the Raiders’ rookie minicamp recap that focuses on snap counts, drill reps and what it looks like to see the No. 1 overall pick throw a five-yarder out. That story is two days old and not particularly interesting.
It’s better here.
Friday night, after the end of the first day at the Intermountain Health Performance Center, Fernando Mendoza pulled the rookie offensive lineman into a hotel room and asked him to turn in photos. Not for show. Not for the camera. Mendoza played nearly every snap of his college career out of the shotgun at Indiana and getting comfortable under center is the most obvious technical hurdle standing between him and the Week 1 start. So he went and worked on it. on Friday night. After his first NFL practice.
This is the lead. Really, that’s the whole story.
also worth your attention: : The Heisman winner, who was about to sign a million-dollar contract, went to rookie camp and decided that he was, in his own words, “at the bottom of the totem pole.”
“In the rookie camp, everyone is trying to do well. It’s essentially a tryout for all the rookies, including me,” Mendoza said after the second day.
You don’t have to say that. You’re the No. 1 overall pick. The work is yours. But that’s what Clint Kubiak and Jon Spytek thought they were drafting, and over the course of one weekend, they got it right.
The Raiders locker room has already been purchased
You can tell what a rookie class thinks about a quarterback by listening to what other people say. This weekend three different teammates used similar language to describe Mendoza without prompting.
Trey Zuhn III, Texas A&M’s third-round guard and quietly one of the draft’s steals, called him “a man’s man.”
“He gets along with everybody. He’s very friendly, he’s easy to talk to,” Zuhn said. “He is a great leader and I am happy to work with him.”
Treydan Stookes, a sophomore guard whose locker is next to Mendoza’s, called him a “super funny guy” and said he likes the way Mendoza attacks his work.
And then there’s Kieron Crawford, the Day 2 defensive end pick. Crawford told a story this weekend that you can’t script. After the Raiders called his name, his agent immediately called Mendoza. Not the head coach. Not GM. Quarterback. Just to check in.
“Once my name was called, I said, ‘You know what, I plan on being with a lot of good people,'” Crawford said with a smile.
That tells you something about Mendoza’s reputation around the league before he took an NFL snap. And that tells you something about what kind of person the Raiders have hired to be the face of the franchise.
harmony beyond the building for mendoza
Newbies aren’t just turning out at 5pm and going their separate ways. Mendoza and Zuhn both mentioned that offensive players are continuing playbook walkthroughs in the team hotel after practice. The Friday night under-centre session was clearly the beginning.
“There are times when we’re just sitting in the hot tub, in the cold tub just messing around,” Zuhn said. “But when it’s work time, it’s work time and everyone knows it.”
It’s the right balance for a beginner. Free enough to like each other. Serious enough to study together in the hotel.
Now comes the hard part for Mendoza and the Raiders
This was always going to be the easy part. Two days, no experience, no real installation. Vol Mendoza talked about being “positively stressed” when OTAs open up later this month and he’s suddenly lumped in with Kirk Cousins, Tyler Linderbaum, Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers. Max Crosby and Quaye Walker will line up in front of him. The Day 2 standouts will have to do so against true NFL veterans.
But first impressions matter. And first impressions of this rookie class, especially the kid at the top, were as good as Spytek and Kubiak could have hoped for.
The franchise spent the No. 1 overall pick on a quarterback, two nights into his NFL career, running his own walkthrough in a hotel room to fix his weakness.
This is the guy you wanted. Over the course of a weekend, it sure seems like this is the guy you’ve got.
#Raiders #rookie #minicamp #Fernando #Mendoza #legit
