This week could turn into a small slice of quarterback history.
Fernando Mendoza is lined up to make his first start for the Raiders against the Seattle Seahawks. Carson Beck is set for his NFL debut with the Cardinals.
Kyle McCord will also get his first crack as a starter, taking over for the Dolphins. If all three are under center, it will be a rare week for the league and for three teams in very different places.
The numbers behind it are striking. If Mendoza, Beck and McCord all start, 50 quarterbacks will have made at least one start through Week 10 this season, which would tie for second-most over the past 20 seasons. The only year that produced more was 2019, when 51 quarterbacks had at least one start through Week 10.
It would also mark just the second time multiple quarterbacks made their NFL debuts as starters in the same week, outside of Week 1 and the 1987 players’ strike. The last time that happened was in 2019, when Drew Lock debuted for the Broncos and David Blough made his first start for the Lions. On top of that, Mendoza, Beck and McCord would become only the third trio in the past 30 seasons to make their first career starts in the same week, again excluding Week 1 and season finales.
Mendoza’s path to the job has been the most direct. Drafted No. 1 overall in April after winning the Heisman and the College Football National Championship, he arrived with the kind of résumé that puts immediate pressure on a franchise. His final college season at Indiana was spotless: 16-0, with a 72.0 completion percentage, 3,535 passing yards, 41 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
He already got a taste of the pro stage in Week 5, when he entered the Raiders’ 45-17 loss to the Patriots. Mendoza started that cameo 5-for-5 and finished 6-of-8 for 48 yards.
Now, with Kirk Cousins having gotten the starting job in Las Vegas before his trade to the Minnesota Vikings, Mendoza gets the full-time shot. He also made clear how much he valued the veteran’s help along the way.
“It would have been really easy for Kirk... being a veteran quarterback and kind of having already proved everything to be a little bit more dismissive, but he’s had me with open arms and has taught me so many things,” Mendoza said.
The first-year quarterback added: “Whether it was film study, how to operate as a starting quarterback, all the different multifaceted approaches that have made him so successful throughout his career, he’s shared with no restrictions and with no constraints. So I really appreciate him... he was a great mentor.”
Beck’s route to the lineup has been even more chaotic. He opened the season as the emergency third quarterback, then moved up the depth chart after Jacoby Brissett started for Arizona before being benched for Gardner Minshew. Brissett was later traded to the Ravens, and Minshew managed only one start before being sidelined with what is feared to be a torn UCL in his throwing arm.
Now Beck, the No. 65 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, gets his chance. He called the season’s twists and turns simple to describe.
“It’s been a crazy season,” Beck said, while also saying he was “super excited” for the opportunity.
He has also leaned on what he learned from Brissett and Minshew.
“I think the biggest thing is just watching those two and how they carry themselves and how they handle themselves not only in the meeting room around the coaches, but during the walkthrough, during practice, and during the game,” Beck said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that you can learn from those guys, of everybody’s looking at you as a quarterback, and your attitude has to be right each and every day. The moxie [of] going out there, having confidence, and making everyone around you better.”
Beck’s college background is loaded, too. He spent a long career in college that included two College Football Playoff titles, though none as a starter. Last season at Miami (FL), he led the conference in completions with 338 and completion percentage at 72.4, while throwing for 3,813 yards, 30 touchdowns and 12 interceptions.
McCord’s first start comes with a different kind of backdrop. The Dolphins turned to him after placing Malik Willis on injured reserve Tuesday.
He has been active for every Miami game this season, but he has not taken a snap yet. That changes now for a 1-7 team that needs a spark.
McCord was drafted in the sixth round in 2025 by the Eagles, moved to the Packers in Jan. 2026, and then headed to Miami ahead of Week 1 through a trade. In the preseason with the Packers, he went 46-of-70 for 446 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
His college track record was big-time, too. He played at Ohio State before transferring to Syracuse for his final season, where he led the NCAA in completions with 391, attempts with 592 and passing yards with 4,779 in 2024. He also threw 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions while starting all 13 games in Syracuse’s 10-3 season.
Ahead of his first start, McCord pointed to the confidence that comes from those stages.
“Being at a school like Ohio State and playing some big games at Syracuse, too, I think it should give you confidence that you’ve played on a big stage before you’ve played against some of the top guys in the league right now,” McCord said. “So, yeah, I mean, I think that the confidence level coming from those games is definitely there.
It’s not my first time playing in a big game. So yeah, I feel like that’s where I’m drawing a lot of confidence from.”
In Other News...
Dolphins Let A Tight End Problem Slip Away Too Soon
Elijah Higgins was one of those late-round Dolphins picks that always carried a little project-player intrigue. Miami took him in the sixth round of the 2023 draft as a wide receiver with the idea of converting him to tight end, but the experiment never got far in South Florida. He was cut before the season, and the Arizona Cardinals scooped him up off waivers.
Since then, Higgins has carved out a useful role in Arizona as a backup tight end and occasional starter, which only adds to the sense that Miami may have moved on a little quickly from a player it had already identified as a developmental fit. The Dolphins are still trying to sort out the position, with three rookie tight ends on the roster and a recent history of leaning on veterans there, so Higgins is another reminder of how thin the margin can be when a team lets a long-term gamble walk away. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins Suddenly Face A Bigger Week 10 Problem Than The Colts
The Week 10 matchup with Indianapolis has taken on a strange kind of importance for Miami, one that reaches well beyond the usual midseason stakes. The Colts are approaching the trade deadline as sellers and looking ahead to the future, while the Dolphins are dealing with a growing injury list that now includes quarterback Malik Willis and defensive tackle Zach Sieler, two absences that change the feel of the game before it even kicks off.
Miami also enters as an underdog, with the betting line moving after those injuries, which only adds to the uncertainty around Sunday. Predictions from contributors are split on how it will play out, but for the Dolphins the bigger concern is less about one result than what a loss could mean in a season already drifting into uncomfortable territory. [Read more 🡒]
Dolphins May Need To Make A Tough Call On Chris Bell
Chris Bells rookie season has already been a stop-and-start one, and now a knee injury may keep the Dolphins wideout out of Week 10. Bell has played in eight games, but his impact has been limited, with his early-season production still clouded by the recovery from a previous ACL tear. For a Miami receiving group that has been trying to sort out roles on the fly, his availability matters even beyond the box score.
If Bell cannot go, the Dolphins may have to lean more heavily on their other young receivers. Fellow rookies Jalen Tolbert and Kevin Coleman Jr. could be in line for more snaps, giving Miami a chance to see whether one of them can seize a bigger opportunity. For Bell, the bigger question is less about one missed game than whether the team can keep waiting for him to fully round into form. [Read more 🡒]