Fernando Mendoza may never admit it, but he is considered to be the songbird of his generation by people who have heard him. Now that everything is covered in fancy sauce as the new face of the Las Vegas Raiders franchise, we just cannot take our eyes off the Heisman Trophy winner out of Indiana. Naturally, he helped Kirk Cousins introduce their season schedule with the vibes of ... Step Brothers.
Over the course of two-and-a-half minutes, Mendoza embodied everything that made Brennan Huff so incredibly talented. Meanwhile, Cousins wore the hell out of that Yoda t-shirt as the closest thing to a spitting image of Dale Doback we have ever seen. You could tell that he just made a delicious pile of microwaved nachos... So instead of rocking out on the most sacred of drum sets, go watch this video!
Behold! Something that is more majestic than a wolf lamp, or even The Gilded Lady stuck up in a tree!
You don't get it. It's the 2026 Schedule Release!
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) May 14, 2026
📰 https://t.co/CIxG8eTk9u pic.twitter.com/O4h2dbM5ZN
At the Raiders' practice facility, Cousins told Mendoza that he must be called Kirko Chainz. Mendoza, who was exceedingly quick to counter, prefers to be called The Nandolorian. After sharing the same favorite play call and having the same hand size (oh, they measured, alright), these two former Big Ten quarterbacks became best friends. We can only hope they went on to do some karate in the garage...
At this time, the Raiders have more optimism than Doback and Huff did forming Prestige Worldwide.
Fernando Mendoza, Kirk Cousins introduce schedule as Step Brothers
Cousins may be well over a decade older than Mendoza, but they should still have a nice working relationship together with the Raiders. The last few years for Cousins in Atlanta and Minnesota had been tumultuous. Both of his former employers drafted his successor in recent years. While Mendoza is the future of the Raiders, Cousins might get to start some games while Mendoza learns the ropes...
The biggest key here from the schedule release is Cousins appears to be more than willing to be a mentor to Mendoza. He did not want to mentor anyone while he was on the Minnesota Vikings. While he did have a decent working relationship with Michael Penix Jr. in Atlanta, it was a bit forced, and always awkward. The good news for Mendoza is his NFL prototype is that of Cousins to some degree.
What we saw out of Mendoza this past year at Indiana leads us to believe he can be a more athletic version of Cousins at the next level. What is important is for him to not only remain a great leader of men, but to continue to have his accuracy ... under center. And that right there is why Cousins may get to start some games this fall. He is great with play-action, while Mendoza plays from shotgun...
Overall, we have two of the game's most likable people at quarterback playing for the same AFC West organization in Cousins and Mendoza. With Cousins signing with the Raiders, knowing all too well that the Silver and Black were going to use the No. 1 overall pick on Mendoza in the 2026 NFL Draft, that speaks volumes to him accepting his role. Eventually, Cousins is going to be giving way to our guy...
For now, we can only hope the good vibes emanating from the Raiders' facility translates into wins.
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