Fernando Mendoza isn’t throwing at the ongoing NFL scouting combine, but the Heisman winner still had a highlight moment in Indianapolis: A phone call with Tom Brady.
With the Las Vegas Raiders holding the first-overall pick of April’s NFL Draft, the team’s minority owner chatted by phone with Mendoza, considered by many to be the obvious choice at No. 1.
‘I mean, who hasn’t admired Tom Brady?’ Mendoza asked reporters.
The 22-year-old quarterback led Indiana to its first national championship last season as the Raiders fell to the bottom of the NFL at 3-14. Along the way, Las Vegas fans became enamored with Mendoza, and now many are begging GM John Spytek to take him with the first pick.
For his part, Mendoza went on a charm offensive with reporters by offering some flattering comments on Brady.
‘That opportunity would be fantastic,’ Mendoza said of potentially playing in Las Vegas. ‘Tom Brady, I believe, was the greatest quarterback of all time by a wide margin, and to be able to have the opportunity to be mentored by him, it would mean so much.
Fernando Mendoza described his conversation with Tom Brady as ‘special’ this week
Tom Brady watches the Women’s Gold Medal match between the United States and Canada on day thirteen of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy
‘And especially to learn, and I’m all about learning. So from day one, I got to learn a lot. It’s going to be a long journey. And to potentially have a mentor like that, it’d be pretty impressive and pretty meaningful.’
The interview was ‘fantastic,’ according to the Miami native, who got to talk face to face with new Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak.
‘The coaching staff was in there,’ Mendoza said. ‘We went over some of my previous plays, drew some plays on the board.’
Las Vegas has not declared its intention ahead of the draft and could opt to trade the pick for a veteran passer. In January, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio said there was a growing sense the team could trade for another Heisman winner: Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
‘There’s a feeling out there that the Raiders are going to make a play for Lamar – offer the first-overall pick in the draft for Lamar Jackson,’ Pro Football Talk’s NFL insider Mike Florio said.
Many Raiders fans have already made their feelings known about the Hoosiers’ mendoza
Lamar Jackson battled injuries and inconsistency in 2025, but could be an option in Las Vegas
Jackson is coming off a disappointing season for the Baltimore Ravens, who missed the playoffs at 8-9 and recently fired long-time head coach John Harbaugh. But the two-time NFL MVP and 2016 Heisman Trophy recipient at Louisville is still regarded as one of the league’s best passers at 29.
There are also some concerns about Mendoza as a passer, as detailed by ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback, Dan Orlovsky.
‘I’m through eight games [of Mendoza tape] now, and through eight games, you see good, but there’s a lot of underwhelming [footage],’ Orlovsky said Thursday on the Worldwide Leader.
‘There’s not a ton of big-time throws,’ he added.
Orlovsky stressed that Mendoza benefited from having ‘clean pockets’ to throw from while winning a national championship at Indiana last season.
But despite the good protection, Orlovsky said, Mendoza still gets ‘spooked with his feet and becomes a runner unnecessarily’ whenever he faces pressure.
Fernando Mendoza is pictured warming up before winning the Big Ten Championship with IU
Neither Brady nor Spytek, his college teammate at Michigan, have tipped their hand as far as Mendoza is concerned.
Spytek did, however, discuss the traits he’s looking for in a franchise quarterback while speaking to reporters in Indianapolis this week.
‘It’s such a hard game, your competitive spirit has to run really high,’ Spytek told reporters in Indianapolis. ‘You’ve got to be willing to play through, you know, tough circumstances and to me, it always goes back to the love of the game.
‘The guys that truly love football, they love to practice, they love to prepare, they love to watch film, they love to play hurt, so I think those things are kind of uncompromising.’
Mendoza certainly fits the bill judging by a 2025 campaign that included a game-winning throw to beat Penn State and a heroic quarterback sneak for the decisive score against Miami in the national title game.
Not only did he lead the Hoosiers to a perfect 16-0 record, but he also tossed for 3,535 yards with an FBS-best 41 touchdown passes and just six picks.
Raiders general manager John Spytek speaks at the scouting combine in Indianapolis
According to Dan Orlovsky, Alabama’s Ty Simpson looks better on film than Mendoza
But according to Orlovsky, it’s Alabama’s Ty Simpson who looks better on film.
‘I think through eight games, Ty Simpson’s tape at Alabama is significantly more impressive than Fernando Mendoza’s,’ the former Detroit Lions quarterback said.
Simpson went 11-4 with Alabama before losing to Mendoza’s Hoosiers in the second round of the College Football Playoff.
Since the end of their dismal 2025 season, the Raiders have fired coach Pete Carroll and replaced him with Kubiak, the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator.
The team now has a chance to pair running back Ashton Jeanty, last year’s first-round pick, with a franchise quarterback.
