Fernando Mendoza Declares for NFL Draft After Historic Run at Indiana
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Las Vegas Raiders are officially on the clock, and the top quarterback prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft is now on the board. Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza has declared for the draft, wrapping up a storybook season that turned Indiana football into a national champion and himself into a household name.
“Let’s get to work,” Mendoza wrote in a social media post that featured a highlight reel of his jaw-dropping season. It was a fitting sendoff from the junior quarterback who led the Hoosiers to a perfect 16-0 record and their first-ever national title, capped by a gritty 27-21 win over Miami.
Mendoza’s numbers this season were nothing short of elite: 72% completion rate, 3,535 passing yards, 41 touchdowns to just six interceptions, and seven more scores on the ground. But it wasn’t just the stats - it was the moments.
Time and time again, Mendoza delivered when it mattered most, especially in the College Football Playoff, where he threw eight touchdown passes with zero interceptions and added a game-sealing 12-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-4 in the title game. That play - a gutsy scramble that extended Indiana’s lead to 24-14 - was pure instinct, pure will, and pure Mendoza.
This was Mendoza’s first and only season in Bloomington, but he packed a career’s worth of highlights into it.
Back in October, he beat an all-out Iowa blitz with a 49-yard strike to Elijah Sarratt in the final 90 seconds to seal a 20-15 win. Two weeks later, after throwing a pick-six that allowed then-No. 3 Oregon to tie the game in the fourth quarter, he bounced back immediately - leading a clutch drive and hitting Sarratt again for the go-ahead score in a 30-20 victory.
In November, at Penn State, Mendoza dropped a perfectly placed 7-yard touchdown to Omar Cooper Jr. with just 36 seconds left, giving Indiana a 27-24 win in one of the toughest environments in college football. Then came December, when his 17-yard touchdown to Sarratt was the deciding score in a 13-10 win over No. 1 Ohio State - snapping a 30-game losing streak to the Buckeyes and securing Indiana’s first outright Big Ten title since 1945.
And when the lights got brighter in the postseason, Mendoza only shined more. He helped deliver a 38-3 beatdown of Alabama - the worst postseason loss in Crimson Tide history - and then dismantled Oregon again, 56-22, before finishing the job against Miami.
It wasn’t just the arm talent or the playmaking that set Mendoza apart. Inside the locker room, he was a leader.
Outside of it, he became a symbol of belief and resilience. He’s Indiana’s first Heisman winner and just the third Latino player ever to win the award.
And he did it while leading what many are calling the greatest two-year turnaround in college football history.
His coach, Curt Cignetti, didn’t sound surprised.
“When you have this much success year in and year out, your teams are always close, but this team was exceptionally close,” Cignetti said after the national championship. “I think Fernando had a big part of that.
The Penn State game - what that did for this team, I can’t measure. We were down and out, second-and-17, running clock, 1:30 left.
And all of a sudden, we recomposed and found a way to get that done.”
Mendoza’s decision to go pro felt inevitable, especially after Indiana added TCU quarterback Josh Hoover via the transfer portal. And with Oregon’s Dante Moore opting to return to school, Mendoza is widely viewed as the top quarterback prospect in this year’s draft.
That’s good news for the Raiders, who are desperate for a franchise quarterback after a 3-14 season that ended with a loss to the Giants and the No. 1 overall pick. They’ve already moved on from head coach Pete Carroll after just one season, signaling a full reset - and potentially, a new face of the franchise.
What makes Mendoza so intriguing to NFL teams isn’t just the production. It’s the poise.
The ability to extend plays, to lead under pressure, to rally after mistakes - like he did against Oregon - and to make magic when the moment calls for it. Cignetti has praised that quality all season, and it was on full display Monday night.
Mendoza’s path to this point wasn’t typical. He came out of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, a powerhouse program, but was lightly recruited.
His first offer came from Yale. His only FBS offer came from Cal, where he started for two seasons before transferring to Indiana to play alongside his younger brother, Alberto.
(Alberto, for his part, announced this week he’s transferring to Georgia Tech.)
Now, after making appearances on The Tonight Show and Good Morning America, Fernando Mendoza is getting one more celebration in Bloomington before he begins his NFL journey.
“When I first stepped in the locker room, you could tell that they believed,” Mendoza said. “And if you didn’t believe, you were kind of outcasted.
It was either our way or the highway. Once you see everybody truly believe - not just because they want more catches or more stats, but because they believe in the goal - it’s infectious.
And I’m so blessed to be a part of it.”
From overlooked recruit to national champion, Heisman winner, and projected No. 1 pick - Mendoza’s rise has been nothing short of remarkable. Now, the next chapter begins.