April 24 (UPI) — New Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza says he’s still an underdog at the “bottom of the totem pole,” despite leading the 2026 NFL Draft.
Mendoza, once an overlooked high school prospect who went on to become a Heisman Trophy and national championship winner, spoke about his journey Thursday during a video conference with reporters.
“I believe I’m still the underdog,” Mendoza said. “Although the draft was [Thursday], once I got drafted, I’m now part of the NFL. I can tell you right now, I am not No. 1 of 32. Although I was picked one out of 32, I am not one of 32 quarterbacks [in the NFL] at this moment.
“I need to work every single day possible because I’m at the bottom of the totem pole. I’ve got to first earn the respect of my teammates, earn that equity. And I’ve got to immerse, and I’m ready to do whatever the team needs and calls me to do to help them win.”
Mendoza said the “stars aligned” with his union with the Raiders and minority owner Tom Brady, who created one of the most famous underdog-to-legend stories in league history. He called Brady a “source of knowledge.”
“The underdog mentality is always still there,” Mendoza said. “It’s having unwavering optimism. And the message that my mom gave me that helped unlock exponential growth is ‘don’t put a ceiling over your head.’
“Although they ranked me the 288th [high school recruit] in Florida, I didn’t see myself as that because I didn’t see myself as a ranking.”
Brady won’t be the only source of stimulus for Mendoza, who will join a quarterbacks room that includes veteran Kirk Cousins, who signed with the Raiders earlier this month.
Raiders general manager John Spytek said Thursday that “the best guy will play,” when asked about who will be the starting quarterback. Aidan O’Connell, who started 17 games for the Raiders over the last three seasons, joins Mendoza and Cousins in the revamped quarterbacks room.
“He’s extremely tough,” Spytek told the Raiders website when asked about Mendoza. “He’s highly competitive and he’s a guy that loves football and he doesn’t just love bits and pieces of it. I think he loves the entirety of it and he proved that to us over the course of the last three to four months.
“So I would expect [fans] to see a guy that comes out, he’s going to be willing to give his best to Raider Nation. He’s going to compete his tail off with Kirk and with Aidan, and as we’ve said, this is a meritocracy. This is the NFL. The best guy will play. How fast he gets up to speed and starts pushing those guys? We’ll see. That’s up to Fernando, too.
“But we expect him to come in ready to roll.”
The Raiders had the NFL’s worst offense last season, when they totaled the fewest rushing yards and fifth-fewest passing yards. The Raiders’ offense ranked 27th in 2024 and 2023. They ranked inside the Top 10 offensively just twice since 2011.
Mendoza pointed to his resilience as his best trait. He will most likely need to lean on that resilience if he plans to turn around the AFC West franchise.
“I still need to earn it every single day and prove that I can play at this level at a high level,” Mendoza said. “But the resilience, whether it’s, you know, a bad practice and be able to take that bump and falling down.
“Using that bump as an accelerator to then learn from it and so, every step along the way, I pride myself on exponential growth every single year. I’ve done it through all my college years. So look forward to keeping that trend up.
“That trend is met by hard work, discipline and unwavering optimism.”
The Raiders started their off-season training program April 7. They held voluntary minicamp Monday through Wednesday. Raiders mandatory minicamp will be held June 6 to 11.
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