Raiders No. 1 Pick Experiencing Growing Pains in First NFL OTAs
The Raiders have their franchise quarterback in Fernando Mendoza, but every indication is that the organization will allow him to develop behind Kirk Cousins for at least part of his rookie year.
It’s possible that Mendoza will make it difficult for the Raiders to keep him in the sideline, but based on at least one report from OTAs, it sounds like Mendoza is going through some growing pains at this early stage in his development.
The Athletic’s Sam Warren recapped Mendoza’s OTA sessions this week and said the former Heisman winner wasn’t as sharp against the first team defense.
“As expected with a step up in competition, Mendoza’s operation wasn’t as clean. He was less accurate than in prior practices — he threw behind a few receivers, resulting in deflections and incompletions,” Warren reported on Friday.
“Miscommunications appeared to occur as well. Mendoza also would have been sacked twice in team situations, once by Malcolm Koonce and another by JJ Pegues. Mendoza said there have been mistakes he’s made in practice ‘for sure,’ and that those have left him frustrated. But he added that his displeasure is ‘good and healthy,’ as it forces him to address his issues.”
Could Raiders Wait Until December to Start Mendoza?
Going back to April, every indication was that Mendoza was “way ahead” on his learning curve, but nothing in individual drills can simulate the speed and precision required to play quarterback at the NFL level.
Based on everything we know about Tom Brady, he’s going to allow Mendoza time to learn, and some have speculated that it could be December before Mendoza gets on the field in a regular season game.
One of those who mentioned December as a likely timeframe to get Mendoza on the field was ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
“Four road games in November for the Las Vegas Raiders. I think they’re going to want Kirk Cousins to start the season and if you’re going to want to turn to Fernando Mendoza, the number one overall pick, at some point in time, I don’t know that you’re going to want to do it in November when you have to go play four road games,” Schefter said on the Adam Schefter Podcast last month.
“That’s not a great time to have to go to your rookie quarterback if they haven’t gone to him by then. So, we could be seeing Kirk Cousins up until about December 1.”
Cousins Wasn’t Signed to “Hold a Clipboard for 17 Weeks”
If the timeline for Mendoza to start happens to be sooner, league insider Jason La Canfora thinks the Raiders will go with Cousins for at least a few games.
“The Raiders waited as long as they did to secure a veteran to assume that position because Cousins was of particular interest to them, knowing they were going to draft Mendoza with their first pick all along,” La Canfora reported last month.
“Cousins isn’t there just to hold a clipboard for 17 weeks,” as one NFL personnel executive whose team was involved in the quarterback market this offseason, put it. Even Brady’s former team, New England, did not start Drake Maye right away when he was a top draft pick, letting him sit behind Jacoby Brissett for a few games. Maye was runner-up for MVP in his first full season at QB.”
As La Canfora framed it, the best-case scenario for Mendoza would be to wiggle into the lineup in late September.
“Minority owner Tom Brady is heavily involved in this process,” La Canfora continued. “Brady, albeit as a sixth-round pick, didn’t play right away his rookie year, Patrick Mahomes (the standard at QB since Brady retired) didn’t play his rookie year until the final game and the Raiders will likely want to see how their offensive line looks with Cousins under center for at least a few games before making the inevitable switch.”
x: @raidersbeat