Raiders' presumed No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza ranked poorly among other 1st-round QBs

Raiders' presumed No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza ranked poorly among other 1st-round QBs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Fernando Mendoza is pretty much the no-question-about-it No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

The Las Vegas Raiders, barring a total shock, will take their new franchise QB.

There's something working against Mendoza, though, according to ESPN's Matt Miller. In a new article, Miller ranked all the quarterbacks taken in the first round since 2021. 

Of that group, Miller only ranked Mendoza eighth as far as a prospect goes.

That's behind the likes of Zach Wilson and Bryce Young.

Here was Miller's list:

1. Caleb Williams
2. Trevor Lawrence
3. Jayden Daniels
4. Drake Maye
5. Bryce Young
6. Zach Wilson
7. C.J. Stroud
8. Fernando Mendoza
9. J.J. McCarthy
10. Trey Lance
11. Anthony Richardson
12. Justin Fields
13. Mac Jones
14. Bo Nix
15. Cam Ward
16. Michael Penix Jr.
17. Jaxson Dart
18. Kenny Pickett

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To be clear, this is how Miller rated each of these guys as prospects, not a judgment on their performance in the NFL. Clearly, not every player hits at the same success rate.

Mendoza is ahead of some impressive names, but he's also behind some less-than-impressive ones.

"The top quarterback in the current draft class, Mendoza hasn't received the hype of former No. 1 overall picks but is deserving of all the love as he enters his predraft cycle," Miller writes. "Mendoza is a clean, crisp passer who excels with pinpoint accuracy, on-time decision-making and enough mobility to threaten defenses. 'He'll bore you to death and then beat you by 40 points,' said an AFC East scout."

Miller then compares Mendoza to Joe Burrow, writing, "Like Burrow, Mendoza is at his best in the pocket and seems to level up once defenses rough him up."

Don't get it twisted -- the Raiders are getting a great player. He's just not a phenom of a prospect like a few of the names above him.

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