How patient should Raiders be with Mendoza?
Paul Pabst and Andrew Perloff dive into the Raiders' handling of rookie QB Fernando Mendoza before evaluating if CJ Stroud is capable of taking the Houston Texans where they want to be.
Video Transcript
Let's get to the next quarterback situation.
We already talked about this on Not So Fast.
Mendoza will probably be not the starter- Yeah as we said in, with the Raiders.
It's probably gonna be Kirk Cousins.
Any chance there's a curve ball, and how do you see this playing out?
I don't think there's a curve ball because Mendoza did struggle in the preseason.
Obviously doesn't really know how to read defenses yet.
But I think we're gonna see Fernando Mendoza sooner rather than later, in part because the Raiders' schedule is a little light on the start, and then it gets really, really hard.
October's brutal.
And I do generally feel that, quarterbacks might learn better under fire.
If we're talking about year two for Fernando Mendoza, is he gonna be better off, like Patrick Mahomes not playing at all, or will he be better off getting a little bit of action?
I- I'm of the school that you throw him in, let him learn on the job.
You know, while I agree with you that he's not the flappable type- Yeah you can be unflappable.
Can you be flappable?
Fernando Mendoza seems like a cool customer- Yeah who would take a rough week in stride and just crush the press conference.
But by the way, it's funny because right now it seems like it's Kirk Cousins.
Yeah.
Didn't we say the same thing about Kurt Warner with the Giants?
Didn't we say the tha- same thing about Kirk Cousins with Michael Penix behind him in Atlanta?
Again and again and again, the veteran always loses the job.
Could you see them putting Mendoza for week one as the third string- Yep because Aidan O'Connell- Ooh out of Purdue, he's had some nice days there.
You put Aidan O'Connell second string.
Then if somehow Kirk Cousins gets hurt in the first quarter of week one, like an Aaron Rodgers situation, you don't have to bring in Mendoza and blow your whole plan up.
No, that makes perfect sense.
Aidan O'Connell's played a lot of football.
That's actually against the Dolphins, I believe.
Right.
That's a game if, if I'm Mendoza, I wanna play against my hometown team because you could win that one.
All right.
Let's get to a couple more situations.
Now, C.J.
Stroud, he's not in danger of losing his job.
Yeah.
That playoff game last year, it looked like he was, he had gloves on his hands.
But C.J.
Stroud, this is a decision year for him.
It's a contract year for him.
They did not give him the big deal after year three.
When you look at C.J.
Stroud and how they're gonna handle him this season, do you think it's like full speed ahead, great defense, last year was an anomaly?
Or they may look at C.J.
Stroud and say, "We have a winning team here on defense.
If you don't step up, we may have to make a decision now."
Yeah, I mean, I don't think they're gonna pull him for a backup.
No chance.
No, in my mind, no chance.
Now, I think it was him who cost the team in the playoffs.
He used to be able to say, "Oh, the O line's terrible."
But now C.J.
Stroud, it's all on him.
You're right.
He doesn't have to be great.
This is a, a lot of people are picking them for the Super Bowl.
I do not trust C.J.
Stroud.
I really don't.
I thought he panicked in a big moment- Yeah last year in the divisional playoffs.
I loved him as a rookie.
I loved him at Ohio State.
He has a lot to prove this year.
Sometimes it's like a body-switching movie- Yeah from year one- Yeah to year three.
That guy- Yeah his first year in the league.
Remember Jayden Daniels' rookie year?
Yeah.
C.J.
Stroud did that a year before, and there was a time where who are you gonna start your team with?
C.J.
Stroud after his rookie year.
But it's like Davis Mills, not a household name, but a high-end backup for the Texans.
If they are somehow one and three- and, and C.J.
Stroud is underwhelming, I could see that let's throw Davis Mills in there and see if we could right the ship in October and bring back the starter or let it play out.
Hey- Ah I know it was an injury situation, but Nick Foles pulled it off.
That 3-0 was a thin 3-0.
That was the defense work right there.
Only you- I watch those games.
Only you could poo-poo a 3-0.
I mean, he's Davis Mills.
We've seen him for a long time now.
They need Stroud.
If, I mean, what's the goal here if you're Houston?
It's not about making the playoffs.
They've proven they can do that.
They have to win the Super Bowl, and that means great quarterback play.
They gotta ride with Stroud.
But, it makes me nervous because that defense is so good, Paul.
All right.
We got up against a break.
Yeah.
But I wanna ask you about the Steelers.
Yeah.
Let's say the Steelers somehow, and they never do, start out one and four, and Rodgers playing C-level football.
What happens there?
See, with Aaron Rodgers, there's, there's no way the backup's coming in.
A, I don't think Mike McCarthy could do that to him, the new coach.
Not in the first two months.
But, and Rodgers, even when he's bad, his numbers are pretty good.
He was really bad with the Jets, and he ended up having one of the best passer ratings in the league.
So I think the ceiling is pretty high with Rodgers.
He's not going anywhere.
Got it.
Got it.
All right.
Coming up, we have a warm take segment on Jaxson Dart and the Giants.
Has Jaxson finally learned how to take care of himself?
Paul is skeptical
