Scott Gulbransen
Raider Nation has its ire up again as an anonymous ACC coach told ESPN this week that Fernando Mendoza doesn’t have “the NFL traits.” His receivers made him look better than he is. The back-shoulder stuff won’t work in the league. Those throws get picked off in the NFL.
Before you all get upset and chalk it up to “national media” taking potshots at the Raiders again, step back and think a bit differently. This time, the media is doing the Raiders, Fernando Mendoza, and their fan base a favor.
Criticism of Mendoza Nothing LIke 2025 Shedeur Sanders Takedown
Read the anonymous quote a few times. Now ask yourself if it sounds familiar.
It should. About a year ago, anonymous sources spent the better part of three weeks publicly dismantling Shedeur Sanders. The two situations are getting framed as parallel cases of pre-draft and post-draft skepticism. They are not the same. They aren’t even close.
Looking at the coverage of Shedeur Sanders last season, it was a whole different animal. That effort was a sustained pile-on that, fairly or unfairly, tanked Sanders’ draft stock. Tom Pelissero reported that a longtime NFL assistant coach called Sanders the worst formal interview of his career, said he acted entitled, and said he took unnecessary sacks, among other things. An AFC executive followed up, saying Sanders wanted to dictate the room. An NFC scouting director warned of a culture shock when he hit a real locker room. A scout told Athlon Sports he mailed it in at every step of the process. A former NFL evaluator went on record with a 26-game film study and an undraftable grade.
Then Sanders fell to pick 144. Which retroactively validated every anonymous shot taken at him.
That’s what an actual takedown looks like. Multiple sources. Multiple angles. Football, character, preparation, medicals, the whole circus. The criticism was of the story.
Fernando Mendoza Criticism an Outlier
During the draft process, some were skeptical of Fernando Mendoza and his ability to translate what he did at Indiana in 2025 to the next level. The Don Orlovsky criticism and critique was perhaps the most publicized such example.
This time, in the ESPN report, only one coach took shots at Mendoza. One coach. A coach who last saw Mendoza at Cal in 2024, before the Cignetti year and his incredible run to the College Football National Championship. This coach saw him before 41 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2025. He saw him before he became the runaway winner of the Heisman Trophy. That was before he became the guy four other coaches told the same ESPN reporter was either “one of the more complete quarterback prospects” they’d seen or someone who “comes up big” in moments you can’t teach.
Please read the coverage of the ACC coach’s quote and watch how it is handled. Bleacher Report ran it next to the Big Ten coach’s praise. Clutch Points called the critique “a little unfair.” Hoosier State of Mind put the word “somehow” in the headline. Just Blog Baby went with “utterly ridiculous and not supported by his peers.” The Comeback hedged that there might be “some credence” before pivoting to the Kirk Cousins safety net.
Nobody is treating this like a Sanders moment. Outlets are running the quote so they can knock it down inside the same article.
Related: Raiders Rookie Minicamp 2026: Fernando Mendoza Already Looks Like the Guy
The Mendoza Consensus is Far More Positive
There’s a reason the national media, coaches, former players, and evaluators speak more positively than negatively about the Raiders’ new franchise quarterback. The body of evidence is there. If Fernando Mendoza had serious question marks like Sanders, you’d be hearing it all over, but you’re not. Mendoza ranked first in FBS in EPA per dropback last season, second in EPA per dropback on third and fourth downs. Fourth in EPA when tied or trailing in the fourth quarter. He’s just a clutch player and the visual evidence is overwhelming.
Mendoza played hurt against Ohio State, came back, and won a Big Ten title. He scored the game-winning touchdown in the national championship game. ESPN’s draft scouting report, written by a former college quarterback, identified pocket movement as his actual weakness. Not back-shoulder throws.
This coward of an ACC coach, who last saw Mendoza at Cal, has some sort of axe to grind. It’s clear. He’s criticizing a player who no longer exists. The 2025 Mendoza completed passes at a different clip, threw to a different level of receiver, ran a different offense, and was asked to do different things. Treating those two players as the same prospect is the analytical equivalent of evaluating a stock based on last year’s performance.
This doesn’t mean Mendoza is bulletproof or has yet proven himself in the NFL. In fact, at last week’s rookie minicamp, he said as much. He knows he’s got to earn the respect and accolades in the NFL by being the best quarterback he can be. With his demeanor, intelligence, and track record, how could you doubt him?
As I said in this space before, the Raiders have to develop the young quarterback. Whether or not this season’s stellar offseason moves and draft performance mean the organization is finally on the right track remains to be seen. The Raiders have done less with more before, unfortunately, with talented players. A rookie quarterback inheriting the league’s worst offense from 2025 has work to do, regardless of what the consensus board said in April. But the framing matters here. One opponent’s outdated take is not a referendum.
Sanders had institutional doubt. Mendoza has one guy with a chip on his shoulder.
If anything, this ACC coach trying to start a fire just proved how little fuel there is.
