Although we still have three rounds left in the College Football Playoff, the odds are very much in Fernando Mendoza's favor to be a top-five pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. The Heisman Trophy winner out of Indiana should probably be the No. 1 overall pick. That being said, a team like the New York Giants might end up with the top selection. They just drafted Jaxson Dart last spring, by the way...
So in Josh Edwards' latest NFL mock draft for CBS Sports, he did something that should have most Hoosiers fans and NFL Draft enthusiasts scratching their collective heads. He not only has Mendoza as QB2 going No. 2 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders, but he has the Cleveland Browns trading up from No. 3 to No. 1 in a deal with the Giants to take Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore first overall...
That is a lot to process, so let's try to get our heads around this. While Mendoza and Moore are two of the three first-round quarterbacks potentially entering this year's draft, along with Alabama signal-caller Ty Simpson, it would be so especially Cleveland to give up assets for a guy who might only be QB3 on some teams' boards, allowing Mendoza to land with a franchise who needs him in the Raiders.
Mendoza to Las Vegas makes a ton of sense, but him getting leapfrogged by Moore like this is weird...
Fernando Mendoza goes No. 2 to Las Vegas Raiders in latest mock draft
Although this is not as wacky as FOX Sports' Colin Cowherd suggesting that the Giants should draft Mendoza and punt on Dart after only one season, Moore going No. 1 to the Browns after trading up with New York is far too risky at this time. Yes, Mendoza feels like would fit in more with the IBM of the NFL in the Giants than the league's rebel franchise in the Raiders, but Cleveland cannot do this move.
Truth be told, we have many more months to talk ourselves in circles about this potential trade up. Yes, it would serve New York to trade back and get more assets for the No. 1 overall pick. A team like the Browns wanting to trade up makes sense, but Mendoza should be everyone's QB1 at this time. Moore may have more upside, but Mendoza is the more ready-to-start player at this stage of it all.
Overall, an NFL team should only trade up to the No. 1 spot if they were to draft Mendoza. It may be a strange game of chicken between the Raiders and Giants lobbying for positioning, if it were to come to that... It should be noted that these two laughably bad teams will be playing this weekend in the penultimate week of the NFL season. The loser stands a great chance at securing the No. 1 selection.
At this time, it is still so hard to see any quarterback going No. 1 overall besides it being Mendoza.