Mendoza has 'zero questions' ahead of draft
Chris Simms and Mike Florio discuss Tom Brady's presence with the Las Vegas Raiders and examine Fernando Mendoza's fit with the team as the Indiana quarterback is set to be the No. 1 overall pick.
Video Transcript
So the Raiders got together yesterday for the start of their off-season program, and I noticed last night that Ryan McFadden of ESPN had an image of Tommy walking in with his big-ass water jug.
Always gotta hydrate.
Big, giant water jug, Brady walking into the facility.
And I don't think he was there just for the fact that it was the start of the off-season program with Clint Kubiak.
Yesterday was Fernando Mendoza's visit to the Raiders.
So Tom Brady, who recently wrote a lengthy newsletter essay about balance and- Pretty crazy, actually I don't know, if anything, I thought we'd, we'd see him less with the Raiders.
He's there.
He's there.
How long he'll stay, we'll see.
But he was there for yesterday, and I think a big factor was that's the day Mendoza was gonna be in town.
I, I'm gonna be interested in that, that first off, you know, the letter you're talking about with Brady and all that, and what that means.
to me, I think it's gonna maybe mean maybe he's finally gonna be more involved with the Raiders and stop all the other stuff, right?
I mean, that, that to me is where I'm just like, "Wait, we're at this party, this thing.
It's Fanatics this.
It's Fanatics that.
Oh, I'm on this podcast.
I'm on this..." And, you wanna be like, wait, you're Tom Brady.
Like, you're above all of this.
What, what are you trying to, like, show your face on a, you know, Wednesday afternoon at, at, at 1:15 on Joe Schmo's pod?
That's where I'm a little shocked by it.
So I'm interested to see that new approach, but yeah, that's an important day to be there for this one.
I mean, yeah, the, the franchise is coming into town.
The new franchise, Fernando Mendoza.
And I know Kirk Cousins signed a deal, and it looks like he has a deal and a one-year deal to be the starter.
Well, I'll You know what I'll say to that?
We'll freaking see.
'Cause when Fernando Mendoza has a good OTAs, and then he has good training camp, and then he has three good preseason games, are they gonna go, "Oh, well you know what?
Let's, let's play Kirk"?
Like, we'll see.
We've heard that before.
"Oh, we're gonna start him.
We have all intentions of starting the veteran guy."
Mendoza's pro ready.
There's zero questions.
About as zero questions as you're gonna get for a quarterback coming out in the draft.
So cool that Brady's there, gets to interview him, talk to him, pick his brain, see what he's all about, and hopefully this is the start of a wonderful relationship for everybody out there in Las Vegas.
The odds for Fernando Mendoza to be the first pick in the draft have plummeted from -10,000 to -20,000.
Yeah.
So I don't even know why they have the bet on the board anymore.
Although, like, it allows people to take these weird flyers and get 10,000 to one odds on guys who have no chance of being the first overall pick.
And we've seen that weird stuff can happen.
Is there any scenario We talked recently about how the Chargers were set to take Michael Vick in 2001.
Contract talks fell apart 'cause back in those days, they would try to get the guy signed before the draft.
There wasn't the rookie wage scale.
There was a lot more variance in what you could negotiate.
Once it fell apart, they traded him to the Falcons.
Is there any way that the Raiders decide not to draft Fernando Mendoza in your view?
No freaking way.
None.
I mean, I just Yeah.
Th- they, they need something to start the franchise.
they need something there where people can start to go, "Wait, w- we got our guy.
Here we go."
And Fern- Fernando Mendoza would be a poster child for, you know, a guy you'd want to create something special around.
I mean, what he did at Indiana, we saw in person.
Yeah, I know he might be nerdy.
He's nerdy in a great way, nerdy in a good way.
And he's charismatic as hell, and he's obsessed with football and every detail that goes along with it.
So no, I would think that within Tom Brady, he's gonna be like, "I love him.
We need this guy.
Let's, let's start it."
And then he fits what Clint Kubiak and how he wants to play on the offensive side of the ball.
So to me, yeah, there's no way.
I don't think you're gonna see a Michael Vick, type thing happen here.
Yeah, I mean, he's a more athletic and more mobile Sam Darnold.
He can do everything the thinking is.
He can do everything that Darnold does.
Plus, you can throw in some design runs that will put defenses on their heels even more when this guy takes off.
We saw what he did with the game on the line in the national championship.
Yeah, all time play.
So I, I, I mean, look, I, I never wanna be set up for that surprise sucker punch, but it would be a surprise to end all surprises if the Raiders don't take Fernando Mendoza at this point
