{"id":69482,"date":"2025-12-13T02:45:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T02:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/69482\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T02:45:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T02:45:07","slug":"fernando-mendoza-having-new-york-moment-with-jets-draft-possibility-lurking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/69482\/","title":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza having New York moment with Jets’ draft possibility lurking"},"content":{"rendered":"

This weekend might be a trial run for Fernando Mendoza.<\/p>\n

A sneak peek into his future.<\/p>\n

There is a chance that the Indiana star quarterback and heavy Heisman Trophy favorite could be moving into the area full time.<\/p>\n

Most experts have Mendoza listed as the top quarterback in April\u2019s NFL draft and the three-win Jets are in desperate need of a franchise quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to think of myself, I got this reference from Sam Darnold, and he was saying he views himself as a point guard,\u201d the 6-foot-5 Mendoza said inside the Marriott Marquis on Friday afternoon in Midtown Manhattan. \u201cI\u2019m not the LeBron James of the team. I\u2019m not Shaquille O\u2019Neal. I\u2019m the point guard, dishing it out to all my playmakers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jets have lacked that \u201cpoint guard\u201d for what feels like an eternity. They currently own the seventh pick in the draft, but could obviously rise depending on how the rest of the season plays out. They also have plenty of draft capital after adding top picks in the Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner trades, giving them the option to potentially move up.<\/p>\n

\"HeismanHeisman Finalists Fernando Mendoza, speaking to the media at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square on Dec. 12, 2025. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n

\u201cFootball aside, I love New York City. However, right now I\u2019m focused on celebrating this weekend and I\u2019m also focused on the rest of the College Football Playoffs,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cWe think we have three games left, and that\u2019s where all my focus is right now, to be in the present moment and give all my attention to the Indiana Hoosiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mendoza mostly stayed away from discussing his future and the NFL draft, repeatedly telling reporters he would shift his attention to his pro career at the proper time. Of course, he can\u2019t help but notice mock drafts \u2014 they are everywhere. He\u2019s doing his best to not let it consume him.<\/p>\n

After all, Mendoza has come so far in a relatively short period of time. He was a lightly recruited three-star high school prospect out of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami. His lone Division I power-conference scholarship offer came from California. As a sophomore, Mendoza put up solid numbers and transferred to Indiana. You couldn\u2019t find him on any Heisman lists prior to the season.<\/p>\n

Then, this magical season happened, for both him and Indiana, ranked No. 1 in the nation for the first time. <\/p>\n

Led by Mendoza, the Hoosiers won their first outright Big Ten crown since 1945, and he is expected to become the school\u2019s first Heisman winner Saturday night. The school\u2019s only other finalist was running back Anthony Thompson in 1989. <\/p>\n

Mendoza led the FBS with 33 passing touchdowns, produced 39 total scores and completed 71.5 percent of his passes for 2,980 yards.<\/p>\n

\"FernandoFernando Mendoza led Indiana to a win over Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I told my younger self I was a Heisman finalist, he would probably laugh at me or be like, \u2018What, in the NCAA?\u2019 \u201d Mendoza joked. \u201cI think it would definitely catch me by surprise. It goes back to staying optimistic, work ethic beats talent, and as long as there are good people around you, you can be elevated into a Heisman finalist one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t Mendoza\u2019s first time in the city. Nine years ago, he visited with his brother, Indiana teammate Alberto, and grandfather, Alberto Espino.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe went to see the Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day parade. We got to see \u2018Jersey Boys\u2019 the night before. It was a late night,\u201d he recalled. \u201cWe actually ended up oversleeping the Macy\u2019s parade. So for the whole reason we were here, it was kind of ironic we missed it. I\u2019ve always loved New York City. What a great honor to be in the Big Apple.\u201d<\/p>\n

Depending on what happens in April, Mendoza may be able to actually see the Macy\u2019s parade every Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This weekend might be a trial run for Fernando Mendoza. A sneak peek into his future. There is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11590,35976,23771,9,24,55,54,430,22,12258,56,319],"class_list":["post-69482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-college-football","tag-heisman-trophy","tag-indiana-hoosiers","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-new-york-city-headlines","tag-new-york-city-news","tag-new-york-jets","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-ny","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}