The Raiders may have caught a break simply by taking Fernando Mendoza when they did.
Back when Las Vegas secured the top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, the debate was wide open. Take Mendoza?
Take Dante Moore? Skip quarterback altogether and use the No. 1 selection on another blue-chip player?
The roster had plenty of holes, the AFC West wasn’t getting softer, and there was also the temptation to trade back, stockpile picks and wait for the supposed quarterback gold mine in 2027.
That plan looks a lot shakier now.
The 2027 quarterback class that was supposed to make waiting feel smart has stumbled badly. Dante Moore.
Arch Manning. Brendan Sorsby.
LaNorris Sellers. Darian Mensah.
CJ Carr. Trinidad Chambliss.
CJ Bailey. Jayden Maiava.
Nico Iamaleava. Drew Mestemaker.
Julian Sayin. Sam Leavitt.
John Mateer. Josh Hoover.
Those were the names that were supposed to give Las Vegas reason to pass on a quarterback and circle back later. Instead, the group has mostly underwhelmed, and NFL scouts are skeptical that many of the top passers will even enter the 2027 draft.
That matters because the Raiders are not currently set to pick at the very top with Kirk Cousins. And if they’re winning enough to stay out of the first slot, they may not even be in range for Mestemaker, the one quarterback in that group who still looks like an early first-round possibility when production and traits are weighed together.
The rest of the class? The picture is a lot murkier.
Moore started the year looking like a shell of himself and is dealing with a major injury. Manning has not taken the expected step forward.
Sellers is improving but remains a work in progress. Carr is in the same boat.
Mensah and Chambliss don’t look like clean NFL fits. Even at the top end of the group, the buzz has faded fast.
That’s why Mendoza’s selection looks better with every passing week, even though he hasn’t yet played meaningful snaps for the Raiders. Las Vegas appears to have landed the quarterback who would have gone first in 2025 over Cam Ward, first in 2026, and first in 2027 ahead of anyone in that next wave. For a franchise that badly needed a win in the draft, that’s a huge swing.
Indiana’s season has only sharpened that point. The Hoosiers have struggled against Big Ten competition this year, barely getting by in conference play except for a big win over Rutgers and a loss to Ohio State.
Mendoza was the one driving that team. Josh Hoover, who replaced him, hasn’t come close to matching that level of success despite having an even better defense behind him and a strong receiver duo in Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh.
He was benched during Saturday’s overtime win at home against Minnesota.
That’s the clearest proof yet that Mendoza wasn’t just a product of the system. He made the Hoosiers national champions. He wasn’t carried by the people around him.
For the Raiders, that’s the part that should matter most. If they had passed on Mendoza and used the No. 1 pick on David Bailey, Carnell Tate or Arvell Reese, would any of them have provided enough impact to make up for missing out on the quarterback who now looks like the best of the bunch? It’s hard to see it.
This is the part of roster building where general managers live on projections and probabilities. But quarterback evaluation has a way of humbling even the smartest front offices.
Mestemaker wasn’t getting early first-round buzz in August. Moore had 14 votes before the season and now has none with November here.
The board changes quickly, and teams that try to wait for the perfect moment often miss it.
Spytek didn’t do that. The Raiders took their shot, and now it looks like they may have landed the best quarterback in at least a three-year span.
Some of that is luck - Las Vegas was bad at exactly the right time - but plenty of teams would have been tempted to trade back and chase more picks. More picks always sound nice.
Until they turn into names, and then the uncertainty starts.
Mendoza should be the Raiders’ answer under center for a long time. And with the way this college season has unfolded, the choice already looks smarter than it did on draft night.
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For Raiders fans, the timing makes the reminder feel especially relevant, with the film set to arrive during the 2026 NFL season. Bale also pointed to Davis once a Raider, always a Raider mindset, along with his civil rights record and broader impact on the league, underscoring why Davis remains such a central part of the franchises identity. [Read more 🡒]