7. Indianapolis Colts: Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
Just like a lot of other teams on this list, if the Indianapolis Colts are finishing with a record this bad, then the quarterback position will likely be a major reason for it. The Colts are entering the 2025 season with a rather uninspiring but simultaneously fascinating duel between former 4th overall pick Anthony Richardson and former Giants 1st-round pick Daniel Jones at the game’s most important position.
Neither guy feels like he will be the long-term solution for the franchise right now, so we could see the Colts completely reset after the year. If they end up doing that, they won’t have to look much further than Bloomington, where the Indiana Hoosiers have one of Draft Twitter’s favorite prospects this offseason: Fernando Mendoza.
Mendoza is a Cal transfer who has all of the physical tools and fundamentals to be a strong starter in the NFL if he can progress this season.
8. Las Vegas Raiders: Peter Woods, DL, Clemson
As much as you would want to pencil in a quarterback for the Raiders here, I’m not so sure that’s the direction they’ll go. How eager is the aging Pete Carroll going to be to break in a young quarterback?
I’m not sure we’re going to see that in the Pete Carroll era. This is going to be Geno Smith’s show for the next couple of seasons and we’ll have to wait and see how it goes. What the Raiders can do to help Geno is simply get him more help defensively. The Raiders’ defense on paper is clearly one of the worst in the NFL going into this season, but Maxx Crosby almost accounts for two guys on his own.
They need help on that side of the ball and getting one of the Clemson defenders at the top of this class would be fantastic.