{"id":678953,"date":"2026-05-19T04:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T04:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/678953\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T04:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T04:47:09","slug":"matt-hasselbeck-predicts-when-raiders-fernando-mendoza-will-make-his-nfl-debut","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/678953\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Hasselbeck predicts when Raiders\u2019 Fernando Mendoza will make his NFL debut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matt Hasselbeck predicts when Raiders\u2019 Fernando Mendoza will make his NFL debut<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>. Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Raiders selected <\/a>Fernando Mendoza<\/a> No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. Although that is the case, there is a belief that Kirk Cousins<\/a>, who signed with the franchise as a free agent this offseason, could be the starter to at least begin the 2026-27 campaign. All things considered, former quarterback turned analyst Matt Hasselbeck<\/a> shares his prediction on when fans could expect to see Mendoza make his NFL debut.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

During the latest segment of \u201cNFL on ESPN,\u201d Hasselbeck claims that he believes the 22-year-old quarterback could make his first career start at the midway mark of the regular season<\/a>. Specifically, in Week 8, when the Raiders take on the New York Jets<\/a> on the road.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think roughly halfway through the season when they go on the road to play the Jets,\u201d said Hasselbeck. \u201c[That\u2019s] what I would be targeting. That\u2019s Week 8\u2026 You\u2019d get about a month to be the starter. Then have a bye week [in Week 13] to be able to kind of just evaluate things.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Raiders very well could opt<\/a> to give the former Heisman Trophy winner some time to sit and learn behind Cousins to begin his career. However, that decision may determine how training camp and the preseason play out.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Mendoza played one year with the Indiana Hoosiers after playing two with the California Golden Bears. In his only season at Indiana, Mendoza not only won the Heisman, but he also led the Hoosiers to their first-ever college football national championship. He finished the campaign with 3,535 passing yards while leading the nation with 41 passing touchdowns with a 72.0% completion percentage.<\/p>\n

Related: Raiders coax Elton John out of retirement for special performance at Silver & Black Gala<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Historically brutal Ashton Jeanty stat hints at Year 2 breakout, with a catch<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matt Hasselbeck predicts when Raiders\u2019 Fernando Mendoza will make his NFL debut appeared first on ClutchPoints. Add ClutchPoints…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":678954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[515,49,48,85969,6442,1769,25578,1723,514,249443,19574,2693,82],"class_list":["post-678953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fernando-mendoza","tag-indiana-hoosiers","tag-kirk-cousins","tag-matt-hasselbeck","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-debut","tag-nfl-on-espn","tag-raiders","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=678953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/678953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/678954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=678953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=678953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=678953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}