When last season ended and the Las Vegas Raiders got the No. 1 pick, it was expected that Fernando Mendoza would be the team’s starting quarterback this season. However, they signed Kirk Cousins before the draft, but it wasn’t clear what the plan was for him.
It quickly became evident that new head coach Klint Kubiak preferred to bring Mendoza along slowly. He previously worked with Cousins on the Minnesota Vikings, so he knew he could trust the quarterback.
That decision has actually paid off, as Cousins is currently tied for the NFL lead with 14 touchdown passes. Mendoza did get one chance to play against the New England Patriots in a blowout loss, but there hasn’t been much talk of him supplanting Cousins quite yet.
Raiders owner Mark Davis hasn’t seen the team draft a quarterback in the first round until this year. There’s no doubt he’d love to see the future face of his franchise play, but Davis doesn’t like to meddle in football affairs. From what he’s seen, he’s very happy with Mendoza so far.
“I love his work ethic,” Davis told The New York Post. “I love that he’s like a sponge in terms of learning.”
Davis Thinks Mendoza Will Be Great
The Raiders are fortunate that Cousins has played well, as it has helped quiet any conversation about benching him for Mendoza. However, Cousins is 38 and not going to be the long-term starter.
The future of the Raiders hinges on how good Mendoza ends up being. Davis has been impressed with the young quarterback’s desire to be an all-time great.
“He wants to be the greatest. He enjoys the game, he’s competitive,” Davis said. “Everything you think of, he’s got.”
Davis is remaining confident in the No. 1 pick.
“If he can play football, he’s going to be great,” Davis said.
Will Mendoza Start This Season?
The Raiders are starting to get in a bind. They are in the midst of a three-game losing streak and are 3-3. The three losses aren’t on Cousins, who has mostly played at a high level.
It’ll be difficult to bench him if he’s playing well. At the same time, if the playoffs are out of reach, it could make more sense to eventually give Mendoza some more reps. The problem with that is once they make the decision to start the rookie, they can’t go back.
That’s why the Raiders are remaining patient right now. The team can’t run the ball right now, which is a problem for a rookie quarterback. Mendoza had an excellent run game to rely on at Indiana. The Raiders also have major question marks along the offensive line and at wide receiver.
There’s plenty of merit to the idea of just having him redshity this season. Next year, they can address the issues on the offensive line and in the wide receiver room. By then, they have the run game figured out as well. Now, if the Raiders get completely knocked out of the playoff race, it might not hurt to give him a chance, but it’s too early in the season to make that call.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Raiders Owner Mark Davis Shares Honest Thoughts About Fernando Mendoza appeared first on HEAVY.