The Raiders’ quarterback clock may be ticking a little faster now.
Fernando Mendoza made his NFL regular season debut in Week 5 against the New England Patriots, and that alone didn’t send the buzz around his first start into overdrive. The common read has been that Kirk Cousins still controls the pace of this whole thing, with Mendoza landing somewhere in a broad window between now and the Week 13 matchup with the Cleveland Browns.
But ESPN analyst Ben Solak is nudging that timeline forward.
In his “Seven things I think” column heading into Week 6, Solak suggested the Raiders might not want to wait as long as originally assumed. His point starts with what New England did to Cousins in Week 5. Per NFL Next Gen Stats, the Patriots blitzed Cousins on 41.2 percent of his first-half dropbacks, and that turned into a 53 percent pressure rate and two sacks.
That kind of heat raises the same question every opponent will now study: can the Raiders protect Cousins better, or do they have a better answer already on the roster?
Mendoza is not a runner in the flashy sense, but he does bring more functional mobility than the 38-year-old Cousins. That difference matters, especially if defenses are going to keep attacking the same weakness.
“To quickly pivot from Cousins to Mendoza might feel like an early abandonment of a well-laid developmental plan”, Solak wrote. “But I would argue that the pivot is justified.”
He didn’t exactly pound the table for an immediate move, though. Solak pointed out that the Raiders could keep rolling with Cousins for another month or two and still stay true to Mendoza’s long-term development. He also noted the downside of a quick switch: moving on after Week 6 would leave Mendoza facing the Rams and, presumably, Myles Garrett in Week 7.
“I won't be too upset if they keep riding the Cousins train. Like I said, the lack of mobility is a problem but not one that has totally hamstrung an otherwise solid passing attack.
The Raiders could defensibly stick with Cousins for another month or two and still prioritize Mendoza's development over anything else. After all, benching Cousins after Week 6 would give Mendoza to the Rams and (presumably) Myles Garrett in Week 7 -- that's a stiff ask.”
Still, Solak sees the door opening if the Raiders start looking like more than just a team waiting out the season. He framed it this way:
“But it's hard to win those first three games ... then lose two ... and not wonder if the team is closer to contention than expected. And then not wonder whether Mendoza's timeline should be accelerated to match.”
That’s the real shift here. Until now, Mendoza’s path and the Raiders’ record have been treated like separate tracks: Cousins stays healthy, the team falls out of contention, and then the rookie gets his shot. Solak is pushing back against that logic and suggesting Mendoza could be the kind of quarterback who helps Klint Kubiak’s offense in ways Cousins can’t.
A start between Week 6 against the Buffalo Bills and Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams still feels like a stretch. But the idea is no longer out of reach, and in Raider Nation, that alone is enough to keep the “Mendoza Meter” moving.
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