The meteoric rise of Fernando Mendoza has shifted the conversation around the 2026 NFL Draft. According to ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr., there is little doubt about where the Indiana star quarterback currently stands among his peers.
Speaking Wednesday on Get Up, Kiper made it clear that Mendoza has separated himself at the top of the board, even when stacked next to elite competition.
“No question about it,” Kiper stated. “When you’re on the same field with the Oregon Ducks and Dante Moore and you play the way he did. He did it all year.”
Mendoza’s résumé is difficult to poke holes in. The reigning 2025 Heisman Trophy winner led the FBS with 41 passing touchdowns while completing 73 percent of his passes, ranking third nationally.
He has also guided the Hoosiers to the doorstep of the program’s first-ever national championship, capping off one of the most remarkable quarterback seasons in recent college football history.
Kiper emphasized that Mendoza’s development, both physically and mentally, has been central to his draft stock explosion: “Keep in mind, he’s 22. He’ll be 23 in October,” Kiper added. “Talk about cracking the code, he did. He gets an A-plus for the courses he took in college. A-plus gets you ready for the NFL.”
That growth was especially evident when comparing Mendoza’s lone season at Indiana to his previous stop at Cal. According to Kiper, the improvements were dramatic.
“Touchdowns went way up this year from what it was at Cal. Sacks went way, way down,” he explained. “So, he used this year in Indiana to improve on the areas he needed to.”
Continuing, Kiper also contrasted Mendoza’s trajectory with that of Dante Moore, suggesting Moore could benefit from additional development time at Oregon, while Mendoza’s extra year proved invaluable: “He used that year to improve his stock and improve his performance immensely,” Kiper elaborated.
Former Alabama quarterback and ESPN analyst Greg McElroy echoed that sentiment during a recent episode of Always College Football, delivering one of the boldest evaluations of Mendoza to date.
“This is not traditional Indiana football,” McElroy stated. “This is a Madden simulation that’s set on rookie difficulty. Fernando Mendoza at the center of it all.”
McElroy even placed Mendoza’s season in rare historical company: “I know there’ve been some great quarterbacks in the last five years, like Caleb Williams, Bryce Young,” McElroy added. “But this feels like one of, if not the best quarterbacks we’ve seen in college football since Joe Burrow.”
With production and postseason success aligning, Mendoza is no longer just a Heisman winner. He’s firmly positioned as the quarterback every NFL franchise will be chasing in April, beginning with the Las Vegas Raiders.