It is decided! Fernando Mendoza will be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft out of Indiana. He is going to the Las Vegas Raiders with that first selection. Mendoza will grow and learn from Klint Kubiak as his new head coach, as well as Kirk Cousins being somewhat of his mentor/NFL prototype. While the Cousins comparisons make more sense than that of Tom Brady, there are two other ones...
ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. just compared Mendoza to two NFL legends in Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan.
"I think what you look at with Fernando is a cross between Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan. I'm not a comp guy because we always comp them to the great guys, but yeah, I see a little Peyton in him. I see a little Matt Ryan in him."
Kiper then went on a bit of a rant saying that Mendoza is undoubtedly not some one-year wonder...
"And keep in mind, people think he's a one-year wonder. He's not. He is not! At Cal, he was a really good quarterback behind a bad offensive line. It is why he was sacked 41 times. He knew he had to get the ball quicker and he improved on that number dramatically with Indiana when he got a little bit more help."
He finished by saying that people had Mendoza with a first-round grade after his final season at Cal.
"But people back in August, guys, that only had Cal tape to go on, that's all I was looking at, had him as a first-rounder. In fact, some had him as a mid-first-rounder. So that was going into the year. So this notion that Indiana made him what he is. Yes, they made him the No. 1 pick, but this notion that he was a third-round, fourth-round pick is garbage."
If Mendoza becomes some variation of Cousins, Manning, or Ryan, Las Vegas shall be getting a star.
"A cross between Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan."@MelKiperESPN on Fernando Mendoza comps and him having a 1st round draft grade before his season at Indiana | @DavidDTSS pic.twitter.com/PNEWUYpROw
— ESPN Radio (@ESPNRadio) April 7, 2026
Let's unpack the Manning and Ryan comparisons a bit more in how they pertain to Mendoza a bit.
Fernando Mendoza favorably compared to Peyton Manning and Matt Ryan
The four high-end names Mendoza has been compared to are Brady, Cousins, Manning, and Ryan. The Brady one is relatively new, but it seems to be more about his mental aptitude and rallying the troops sort of demeanor. It is a bit of a reach, but he will be going to the same NFL organization that Brady is a minority owner at. Mendoza has been labeled a more athletic version of Cousins already.
In that breadth, Cousins coming out of Michigan State was of the same NFL prototype as Ryan. Both were team leaders whose accuracy and baseball background helped them complete far more balls than their athleticism would have normally allowed. Ryan became the lesser version of Manning in his NFL career. Behind the line of scrimmage, they were exceptional. It is why they are both hall of famers.
This goes back to what Kiper was saying during this ESPN radio hit. The tape was there from his days at Cal. Had he have had just a good and not a transcendent season at Indiana, Mendoza would have likely been a first-round pick anyway. He has enough phyiscal traits to become a star in this league, but it is his mental makeup and leadership skills that will help him be the bright star the Raiders need.
For now, it remains to be seen how the Raiders will go about surrounding him with the right pieces.