Fernando Mendoza, the expected No. 1 pick in this month’s NFL Draft, will not attend the ceremony in Pittsburgh.
In a move that is certain to annoy NFL executives, the Indiana quarterback will instead enjoy draft night with his family at home in Miami.
Mendoza, who led the Hoosiers to the national championship last season, is expected to be selected first overall by Tom Brady and the Las Vegas Raiders.
He will be the first No. 1 overall pick, who is a quarterback, not to attend the NFL Draft since 2021 when the Jacksonville Jaguars selected Trevor Lawrence.
The Heisman Trophy winner visited the Raiders’ facility on Tuesday. They are the only team he is visiting, suggested it is inevitable he will end up in Las Vegas.
Earlier this month, Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak watched Mendoza practice at Indiana’s pro day in Bloomington.
Fernando Mendoza, the expected No. 1 pick in this month’s NFL Draft, will not attend the event
In a move that is certain to annoy NFL chiefs, Mendoza will spend draft night with his family
All 32 NFL teams sent scouts to Indiana, more than 100 media members were credentialed and dozens of family members and friends of ex-Hoosiers showed up for a pro day unlike any other in school history.
Most came to see Mendoza and he didn’t disappoint, using his platform to potentially help his ex-teammates improve their draft stock.
‘I feel like it went great,’ Mendoza said after throwing the last of his roughly 56 passes inside the John Mellencamp Pavilion.
‘You know quarterbacks have passed, have done shorter pro days than that. I just wanted to make sure everybody could showcase their abilities in front of all 32 NFL teams and really run routes that are applicable to the timing we’re going to be running in the NFL.’
Mendoza threw short, deep and medium-range passes, targeting receivers to the left, right and over the middle. He also threw on the run.
His 2025 season certainly got the attention of Brady, who attended January’s national championship game in Miami with majority owner Mark Davis and general manager John Spytek.
Mendoza completed 72 per cent of his throws for 3,535 yards with 41 touchdowns and six interceptions last season, showed his mettle with a twisting highlight-reel scoring run late in the national championship game and defeated a murderer’s row of football powerhouses – Ohio State, Alabama, Oregon and Miami – in succession to capture Indiana’s first outright Big Ten title since 1945 and the school’s first national football title.
Earlier this month, the Raiders signed veteran NFL quarterback Kirk Cousins in a shock move.
Mendoza is expected to be selected first overall by Tom Brady and the Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders signed veteran QB Kirk Cousins last week, despite the intention to draft Mendoza
Kubiak has admitted he didn’t want Mendoza to have to start in Week 1 in an ideal situation, hinting they were looking at bringing in an experience quarterback.
‘Ideally, you don’t want him (Mendoza) to start from day one,’ Kubiak said Tuesday.
‘You’d love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That’s in a perfect world. It doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes they have to play from day one and it’s our job as coaches to get them ready to go. I think it does help the player if they can sit behind a mature adult and watch how they run the show.’
That paved the way for a deal with Cousins, who was released by the Falcons earlier in the offseason after two years in Atlanta. Cousins and Kubiak worked together for three seasons in Minnesota before the coach left in 2022.
