If the Las Vegas Raiders select Fernando Mendoza No. 1 overall tonight, the quarterback will join a QB depth chart featuring Kirk Cousins. Mendoza won’t need an introduction — he’s already spent quite a bit of time studying him.
Mendoza told the “Dan Patrick Show” this week that when he was playing at Cal — before his national title and Heisman Trophy at Indiana — he was told he played similarly to Sam Darnold and Cousins, which led him to study them in depth.
“There was two years ago where I watched all Minnesota Vikings pass tape” when Cousins was a Viking, Mendoza said. “Every single pass, whether it was incomplete or a completion throughout the entire season. Which is a lot because the NFL has a lot of games.”
Cousins, at the time, was coached by Vikings quarterbacks coach Klint Kubiak. Kubiak is now the Raiders head coach, and he coached Sam Darnold in Seattle last year. Kubiak, then, should have a good feel for how to coach Mendoza.