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Fernando Mendoza is preparing for his first season in the NFL with the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Raiders selected Mendoza with the first overall pick in the 2026 draft after he led the Indiana Hoosiers to an undefeated season in 2025 and a national championship. While Mendoza added the Heisman Trophy to his list of incredible accomplishments last year, he still has a lot to learn when it comes to being an NFL player.
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Las Vegas Raiders offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko talks with quarterbacks Fernando Mendoza and Kirk Cousins during minicamp at the Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada, on June 9, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Image Images)
Mendoza recently shared some of the advice Raiders minority owner Tom Brady gave him in the first two months of being in Las Vegas.
“I think what he said as a quarterback is that you need to be the best at everything. You have to be the most competitive. You have to be the ultimate leader. You have to have the ultimate leadership,” he said, via the Raiders’ YouTube page.
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Raiders minority owner Tom Brady yells encouragement to players during the first half of a simulated Raiders training camp game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Aug. 2, 2025. (LE Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
“You have to be the toughest, both mentally and physically. And you have to embody all of these things and lead by example before you earn that equity and respect from your teammates to be able to lead effectively.”
Mendoza will also have Kirk Cousins to lean on in certain situations, even when the veteran quarterback doesn’t view their relationship as a mentor-mentee situation.
“I think saying I’m advising them is a bit of a stretch, probably more of a narrative than a truth,” Cousins said last week, via The Athletic. “They’re pretty good players with quite a bit of experience, and I’m also learning a lot from them and asking them questions.”
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza, selected with the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft by the Las Vegas Raiders, attends a news conference at Raiders headquarters in Henderson, Nevada, on April 24, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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It’s unclear if Mendoza will be the Week 1 starter. Cousins has been shown he has something left in the tank to play with. He signed a two-year, $12.6 million contract with the Raiders in the offseason.
