Mendoza and the Raiders Are Moving Right Along

Mendoza's Mind

Las Vegas hired Klint Kubiak, who was widely considered one of the top options in this offseason's coaching cycle, as their head coach. Kubiak was equally as big of a part of the Raiders' offseason plans as quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Kubiak is on board, soon Mendoza will be, too.

The Raiders have already significantly improved their roster, Mendoza is the next step in that process. Earlier this offseason, Spytek gave insight into his thought process when analyzing quarterbacks during the draft process.

"I think it's less about that and more about do you believe that they have the mental aptitude to really learn and process information fast? I wouldn't just say because they ran this offense in college that we're going to hold that against them or for them,” Spytek said. 

“I mean, I think every playbook in the NFL is probably quite a bit bigger than one in college is. So, to us, it's about how much can they process, how hard will they work, how much can they remember? And we've got things that we do to try to test that."

Mendoza's collegiate career is on film for everyone to see. There is little, if any doubt, that Mendoza is the best quarterback in the draft. He is arguably the best player regardless of position in the draft. Mendoza has long been the presumed No. 1 pick, as the Raiders desperately need a quarterback.

League insider Daniel Jeremiah recently reported that Mendoza is already learning the Raiders' playbook, removing the presumption that the Raiders will draft him. This allows Spytek, Kubiak, and the Raiders to get even more of a jump on the mental side of Mendoza's development.

“Fernando Mendoza is working with Brian Griese right now and it’s not so much that they are working on footwork, they’re installing the Raiders offense,” Jeremiah said .

“He’s full speed ahead. This is the same thing that happened with [Joe] Burrow, where you can use this time to really try and learn a lot of the core verbiage and concepts along with an offense. I’d be shocked, stunned, astonished if he’s not the first overall pick. I don’t see that going any other direction.”

Las Vegas has given Mendoza roughly a month's head start on learning the playbook. The Raiders have new elements on both sides of the ball, especially on offense. It will take time for the unit to gel. There will be a learning curve, but Kubiak and company must do all they can to shorten it.

Mendoza having extra time to learn what is a new playbook for every player on offense is a good start. As the Raiders look to continue improving meticulously, no detail is too small. No detail can be overlooked, especially in a roster rebuild of this proportion. Every detail counts.