Top NFL Draft pick Fernando Mendoza says he's at 'bottom of totem pole'

Former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza will enter a Las Vegas Raiders quarterbacks room that includes Kirk Cousins and Aidan O'Connell. File Photo by Mike Zarrilli/UPI

"The underdog mentality is always still there," Mendoza said. "It's having unwavering optimism. And the message that my mom gave me that helped unlock exponential growth is 'don't put a ceiling over your head.'

"Although they ranked me the 288th [high school recruit] in Florida, I didn't see myself as that because I didn't see myself as a ranking."

Quarterback Fernando Mendoza (C) won a national title in January with Indiana. File Photo by Larry Marano/UPI

Brady won't be the only source of stimulus for Mendoza, who will join a quarterbacks room that includes veteran Kirk Cousins, who signed with the Raiders earlier this month.

Raiders general manager John Spytek said Thursday that "the best guy will play," when asked about who will be the starting quarterback. Aidan O'Connell, who started 17 games for the Raiders over the last three seasons, joins Mendoza and Cousins in the revamped quarterbacks room.

Former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza won a Heisman Trophy in December. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

"He's extremely tough," Spytek told the Raiders website when asked about Mendoza. "He's highly competitive and he's a guy that loves football and he doesn't just love bits and pieces of it. I think he loves the entirety of it and he proved that to us over the course of the last three to four months.

"So I would expect [fans] to see a guy that comes out, he's going to be willing to give his best to Raider Nation. He's going to compete his tail off with Kirk and with Aidan, and as we've said, this is a meritocracy. This is the NFL. The best guy will play. How fast he gets up to speed and starts pushing those guys? We'll see. That's up to Fernando, too.

Former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (pictured) is expected to compete with veteran Kirk Cousins to become the Las Vegas Raiders' Week 1 starter. File Photo by Mike Zarrilli/UPI

"But we expect him to come in ready to roll."

The Raiders had the NFL's worst offense last season, when they totaled the fewest rushing yards and fifth-fewest passing yards. The Raiders' offense ranked 27th in 2024 and 2023. They ranked inside the Top 10 offensively just twice since 2011.

Mendoza pointed to his resilience as his best trait. He will most likely need to lean on that resilience if he plans to turn around the AFC West franchise.

"I still need to earn it every single day and prove that I can play at this level at a high level," Mendoza said. "But the resilience, whether it's, you know, a bad practice and be able to take that bump and falling down.

"Using that bump as an accelerator to then learn from it and so, every step along the way, I pride myself on exponential growth every single year. I've done it through all my college years. So look forward to keeping that trend up.

"That trend is met by hard work, discipline and unwavering optimism."

The Raiders started their off-season training program April 7. They held voluntary minicamp Monday through Wednesday. Raiders mandatory minicamp will be held June 6 to 11.