Unsurprisingly, Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy, given to the best player in college football. Mendoza has led his Indiana Hoosiers to that top rank in the country, and they could win the entire college football playoff this year.
Now that we are approaching the new year, the 2026 NFL Draft only begins to creep closer, and it does appear to be a rather strong QB class. Other names like Ty Simpson and Dante Moore could hear their names called early on.
And in today's NFL, the quarterback position is everything, and no team is going to sustain long-term success without high-end QB play, so there is going to be a ton of attention put on this 2026 QB class in the coming weeks and months. Which three teams need to do whatever it takes to land Fernando Mendoza in the 2026 NFL Draft?
These three teams have to do whatever it takes to land Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza in the NFL Draft
Las Vegas Raiders (2nd overall pick)
The Las Vegas Raiders currently have the second overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and could indeed rise up one more slot, owning that first overall pick themselves. To say it's been a bad year for the Raiders would be an understatement. This front office traded legitimate NFL Draft capital for Geno Smith, who has been among the worst players in the NFL this year.
The Raiders have to move on from Smith in some capacity this coming offseason, and with the Raiders being in a division with three other franchise QBs, they have to get serious about this position. Last year, the Chiefs, Chargers, and Broncos all won double-digit games and made the playoffs, and that could again happen this year.
Vegas has to make a huge push for Fernando Mendoza in April.