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Fernando Mendoza is preparing for his first NFL season with the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Raiders selected Mendoza with the first pick in the 2026 draft after leading the Indiana Hoosiers to an undefeated 2025 season and a national championship. Although Mendoza added the Heisman Trophy to his list of incredible accomplishments last year, he still has a lot to learn to become an NFL player.
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Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko talks with quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins during a minicamp at the Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada, June 9, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
Mendoza recently shared some of the advice Raiders minority owner Tom Brady gave him during the first two months of his time in Las Vegas.
“I think what he said as a quarterback is you have to be the most successful. You have to be the most competitive. You have to be the most leader. You have to have the most leadership,” he said via the Raiders’ YouTube page.
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Raiders minority owner Tom Brady shouts encouragement to players during the first half of a simulated Raiders training camp game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on August 2, 2025. (LE Baskow/Las Vegas Review Journal)
“You have to be the strongest, both mentally and physically. And you have to embody all of these things and lead by example before you gain fairness and respect from your teammates in order to lead effectively.”
Mendoza will also be able to lean on Kirk Cousins in certain situations, although the veteran quarterback doesn’t see his relationship as a mentor-mentee situation.
“I think saying I mentor them is a little bit of an exaggeration, probably more of a narrative than the truth,” Cousins said last week, via The Athletic. “They are very good players and quite experienced, and I learn a lot from them too and ask them questions.”
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, selected as the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft by the Las Vegas Raiders, attends a news conference at Raiders headquarters in Henderson, Nevada, April 24, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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It’s unclear if Mendoza will be the starter in Week 1. Cousins proved he still has some left in the tank to play. He signed a two-year, $12.6 million contract with the Raiders during the offseason.
