Quarterback · Las Vegas Raiders

Fernando Mendoza

No. 15

A Super Bowl coach says stop waiting — start Mendoza now

Fernando Mendoza has been a rookie for about five minutes and already someone with a ring is telling the Las Vegas Raiders to get out of the way.

Mendoza arrived with a Heisman Trophy — the award given to the best college football player in the country — and a reputation built on a college career that turned heads. He's a quarterback, the most scrutinized position in any sport, and the Raiders already have Kirk Cousins, a seasoned veteran with years of NFL experience, in that room.

Now a head coach who has won a Super Bowl — the highest stage the sport offers — has said publicly that Mendoza should be starting. Right now. Not later in the season. Not after a few more weeks of learning the system. Now.

That kind of endorsement lands differently when it comes from someone who has been there. It's easy for fans and commentators to want the shiny new thing. It's a different thing entirely when someone who has won the whole tournament looks at a twenty-something rookie and says: he's ready.

The Raiders now have a real decision in front of them. And everyone is watching how they answer it.

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