Fernando Mendoza sends his first message to Raiders fans

For months, the Las Vegas Raiders' No. 1 pick has been an open secret.

Barring a catastrophic turn of events, the Raiders will use their top selection on Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza, and not even signing Kirk Cousins will change that. That's why he can already start addressing Raider Nation as if he were a part of the team.

With that in mind, they asked him to send the fans his first message, and he had a big nod to the Raiders minority owner, Tom Brady.

Fernando Mendoza channels inner Tom Brady in message to Raider Nation

“Blessed for the opportunity, and then the next thing I would say is... I don’t know if I can say this on air, but it’d be LFG — let’s go!” Mendoza told Yahoo Sports Daily.

That has been Brady's motto for a while, and it was even the name of his podcast with Jim Gray, so Mendoza has clearly been doing his homework. Notably, he's not expected to start for the Raiders this season, at least at first. That's what Cousins is there for, and he'll get to sit behind a proven veteran to learn the ropes of the NFL game.

Mendoza needs to adapt to an NFL-style offense, which wasn't what he excelled at with the Hoosiers. That said, he has all the physical tools and the relentless work ethic to be a successful NFL quarterback, and he wouldn't be the first rookie to need to sit for a year or two before being ready to be thrown into the fire.