Ryan McFadden
Multiple Authors
HENDERSON, Nev. — Fernando Mendoza walked by way of the glass doorways of the Las Vegas Raiders‘ coaching facility with a big smile, overjoyed that his lifelong dream had become a actuality.
But Mendoza had an excellent understanding of the burden that comes with being the primary choose within the draft and the brand new franchise quarterback of the Silver & Black.
On Mendoza’s first day as a member of the Raiders, the South Florida native was greeted by franchise legends reminiscent of Jim Plunkett, Marcus Allen, Tim Brown and Fred Biletnikoff.
They served as a memento of the group’s profitable previous. And on Friday, they checked out Mendoza, who wasn’t born when the Raiders final gained a playoff sport (2002 AFC Championship Game on Jan. 19, 2003), with the hope that he might assist the group restore its long-lost profitable tradition.
“It’s a huge responsibility but also a huge honor,” Mendoza stated throughout his introductory information convention. “The Raiders are a historic franchise and one of the faces of the NFL, and I feel like, again, I need to prove it and earn it every single day.”
Raiders coach Klint Kubiak, basic supervisor John Spytek and the remaining of the franchise have all the boldness on this planet that Mendoza is the best participant to lead the franchise to sustained success.
Kubiak stated Mendoza’s ability set can match any offensive system within the league. Mendoza is a winner, having led Indiana to a 16-0 file and a nationwide title in his lone season in Bloomington.
Everything that Kubiak had studied on Mendoza was then solidified throughout his professional day earlier this month.
“The way he ran that pro day, he bossed his teammates around, told them what route they were running and how accurately he threw the ball,” Kubiak stated. “And then took him upstairs and talked football with him and just listened to him communicate the game and how quickly he picked things up.
“We already favored how he performed the sport on movie, however seeing him in individual was actually useful, and it allowed us to watch movie on lots of different guys. We knew we had the man.”
Mendoza’s preparation is another reason Las Vegas believes it drafted the right player to lead the franchise. It’s also Mendoza’s superpower, one that could help him see the field sooner than later.
Mendoza said he reached out to former NFL quarterback Brian Griese to learn under-center concepts that he will be using in Kubiak’s offense. Griese played for the Denver Broncos when Kubiak’s father, Gary, was the offensive coordinator and he additionally spent three seasons because the quarterback coach for the San Francisco 49ers.
“I wanted some steering on how to change into the very best NFL quarterback, not only for a professional day or the mix, [but] for September, [or] at any time when it’s, in October, December, to be an NFL [starting] quarterback,” he said.
Mendoza’s welcome to Las Vegas didn’t just feature greetings from former players. After he heard his name called at the top of the draft Thursday night, Mendoza received text messages from Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby, left deal with Kolton Miller, heart Tyler Linderbaum and quarterback Kirk Cousins.
“It’s been a whirlwind up to now couple of hours, however Kirk despatched me a very nice textual content,” Mendoza said. “[I’m] trying ahead to working with him, studying something I can from him, and only a nice not solely teammates that I’ll study from but additionally the nice coaches.”
