HENDERSON, Nev.—Ever since Kirk Cousins was named the starting quarterback for Week One against the Miami Dolphins, the dialogue surrounding Fernando Mendoza has begun to shift.
Granted, the infrastructure that the Raiders have put into place ensured that the first overall pick would not have the weight of the Raiders organization on his shoulders. Between having two veterans like Cousins and Aidan O’Connell in his position group, one of the NFL’s elite receiving threats in tight end Brock Bowers and a revamped offensive philosophy under new head coach Klint Kubiak, everything is in place for Mendoza to succeed at the professional level.
However, nothing will damage both Mendoza or the Raiders more than trotting him out before he is ready to take center stage, so credit the team for being willing to conduct itself with due diligence and giving their future QB1 the development time he needs.
That being said, Mendoza is in position to be Cousins’s backup against Miami, so the pressure is still on for him to keep competing.
“If you’re not starting, you got to be ready to go at any given moment,” said Kubiak in his press conference on Wednesday. “Whether injury, whether performance, whether who knows, backup’s got to be ready.”
It is unsurprising to see that the intensity and attention to detail in Kubiak’s preparation has not gone away; if anything, it’s ramped up from training camp.
Throughout training camp and preseason, the Raiders showcased a competitive edge, a fire of which struggled to be contained at times. Both sides of the ball were willing to embrace the physicality, leading to some heated battles that raged on throughout August. As the calendar flips, however, the focus is now on channeling that energy into tangible improvement and giving a team full of new pieces the opportunity to grow.
“We’ve been going against a heck of a good offense during the preseason,” said cornerback Eric Stokes on the growth he has seen from the Raiders in the last month.
“It’s only going to get better in season and, hopefully, we did some things where it’ll help them out in the future, and I know for a fact they helped us out in the future with some of the routes, some of the things they’ve been doing, so it’s just another great way.”
The question now becomes how Mendoza fits into the bigger picture for the Raiders.
Some have targeted Week 8 against the New York Jets as Mendoza’s debut, while others have circled around the bye week in Week 13 when the schedule begins to open up. Whatever the plan may be, the current focus of the Raiders is to set up a plan to put him in the best position to succeed. That can play out in a multitude of ways, from establishing the identity of the offensive line to receiving options outside of Bowers earning their targets.
“Everyone’s going to get targets,” said Kubiak. “We got to spread the ball around to be successful. It’s going to take a contribution from the whole roster, running backs, tight ends, receivers.”
The Raiders are in a unique position where the wins and losses do not matter so much as the progress shown throughout the season.
Once number 15 finally takes the field, that’s when the evaluation truly begins.