It felt like just a formality at this point, but expected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza has crossed another checkpoint ahead of the 2026 NFL draft, completing Indiana’s Pro Day on Wednesday, April 1.
Unsurprisingly, the NFL Network cameras caught Las Vegas Raiders general manager John Spytek and head coach Klint Kubiak in the background of the workout, as Spytek and Kubiak got another close look at the anticipated future of the franchise. Also, offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko and quarterback coach Mike Sullivan were present, as well as a large contingent of the organization.
Seeing as the former Hoosier is expected to be moving to Las Vegas at the end of the month, let’s dive into a few takeaways from his final throwing session in Bloomington.
Under Center
One of the biggest concerns about Mendoza’s transition to the next level is that he has very little experience taking snaps under center, primarily operating out of the shotgun in college. However, he went back and forth between being in the gun and traditional dropbacks during his pro day.
It was pretty clear that this has been a point of emphasis in Mendoza’s pre-draft training, as he looked smooth and had good footwork when operating under center. That was good to see and especially impressive for someone who doesn’t have much experience executing the technique. Of course, it’s a controlled environment where no defense is on the field, but the comfort level he showed on the dropbacks is encouraging.
Bootlegs
Along the same lines, the Indiana product simulated several play-action passes and bootlegs during the workout. Again, he continued to look comfortable and smooth in dropbacks that he wasn’t asked to do much in college. Mendoza also maintained his accuracy when he didn’t have his feet set or a stable base when throwing on the run throughout the workout. This is something Kubiak undoubtedly was pleased with, as play-action passes and bootlegs are big parts of his playbook.
What remains to be seen is how quickly the Heisman Trophy winner can diagnose coverages when his back is turned to the defense to execute run fakes. However, that wasn’t going to get accomplished in a ‘routes on air environment’ where no defenders are on the field, obviously.
Deep Ball
Pro days have become synonymous with quarterbacks making a ridiculous deep throw that would get them benched if they ever attempted it in a game, and the pass goes viral on social media, a la Zach Wilson. Mendoza stayed away from that type of throw, but he did show off some arm strength at the end of his workout.
Mendoza did seem to be a little more measured at the beginning of his session, and the first throw he let rip was slightly overthrown and just out of the receiver’s reach. However, after getting warmed up, he had a couple of deep shots that really stood out, hitting the wideout in stride. One was a pylon route and the other was a post, showcasing the ability to push the ball outside the numbers and over the middle.
Accuracy
As mentioned above, the expected No. 1 pick missed on one deep pass attempt. However, that was the only incompletion that was his fault, reportedly going 53 of 56 on his attempts (h/t NFL.com’s Eric Edholm).
There were a couple of drops along the way, including one that was a slightly off-target but still catchable ball, to turn in what was a relatively clean throwing session. Granted, this was expected since accuracy is one of Mendoza’s biggest strengths and, again, its routes on air. But he certainly managed to check this box.
The last sentence in the paragraph above is the biggest overall takeaway. Pro days are more of a formality for quarterbacks and really shouldn’t boost their stock at all. But it is another box they need to check ahead of the draft, and Mendoza accomplished that goal. In other words, there’s no need to make any changes to your mock drafts over the next few weeks.
The Raiders can’t make anything official until they’re on the clock, but the No. 1 pick seems about as unofficially official as possible.
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