The No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza, has the Mr. Nice Guy reputation, but according to the former Indiana Hoosiers star, that narrative isn’t absolute.
“Although I’ve come off as very humble, and pretty fuzzy and warm, at the end of my Indiana career, when you have that equity, you’re able to be like No. 4 [Brett Favre] and No. 12 [Aaron Rodgers]. If you ask my teammates … I wasn’t always a nice guy, I was an a-hole sometimes because I wanted everyone to do their one-eleventh, everyone to do their job, hold everyone to a high standard,” Mendoza said in an interview with the Raiders’ team website.
“However, coming into a new organization, starting from the bottom of the totem pole, I believe that leadership is earned, not given.”
After spending the first three seasons of his collegiate career with the California Golden Bears (2022-24), Mendoza transferred to Indiana for the 2025 college football season, and the rest is history. In a season that saw Indiana win its first National Championship in program history — and go 16-0 in the process — Mendoza totaled 3,535 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns, six interceptions and a 182.9 passer rating, while completing 72.0% of his passes. He led the Big Ten in passing touchdowns and passer rating, helping Mendoza win the 2025 Heisman Trophy and Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors; he also rushed for 276 yards and seven touchdowns.
For what it’s worth, Mendoza has dropped multiple F-bombs since the National Championship, doing so in a postgame interview after the title triumph and in front of a group of Raiders fans after being drafted.
As for Mendoza’s new teammates, he has running back Ashton Jeanty (the No. 6 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft) by his side in the backfield, with star tight end Brock Bowers — who was an All-Pro in his 2024 rookie campaign — and wide receivers Tre Tucker (he totaled a team-high 696 receiving yards in 2025) and Jack Bech (2025 second-rounder) to target in the passing game.
Plus, while the Raiders mostly doled out their money on defense in free agency (e.g., Kwity Paye, Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean, Eric Stokes and Malcolm Koonce), they did sign center and three-time Pro Bowler Tyler Linderbaum (three-year, $81 million deal) and wide receiver Jalen Nailor (three-year, $35 million deal), among other players. Meanwhile, Mendoza will have to beat out veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins, who signed a two-year, $12.6 million deal with the Raiders, for the starting job.
