Raiders chances of starting Fernando Mendoza in Week 1 revealed by ESPN

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Raiders chances of starting Fernando Mendoza in Week 1 revealed by ESPN originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The Las Vegas Raiders drafted Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.

That doesn't mean that he's a guarantee to start at quarterback for Vegas in Week 1, though.

The Raiders also brought in the veteran Kirk Cousins this offseason. It gives them the option of slow-playing things with Mendoza if they want.

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Really, it just takes a bit of the pressure off. Cousins won't stop Mendoza from starting, but he gives the Raiders an option if they need one.

"The Raiders have done well to keep early expectations for Mendoza tempered," ESPN's Ben Solak wrote in a new article on Tuesday. "But that doesn't mean they'll sit him no matter the August evidence. If Mendoza is shredding during camp and adept in the meeting rooms behind closed doors, then sitting him will only delay the inevitable hiccups and growing pains all young players must endure whether their first start comes in Week 1 or Week 11."

Part of the plan, Solak adds, will be to limit Mendoza's overall reps with the first-team offense.

In the early going, the majority of those seem likely to go to Cousins. It'll be up to Mendoza to seize more opportunity for himself.

"I expect Mendoza to see less than 50% of the first-team reps in the first week of camp, but that number could increase by the end of August," Solak writes. "He'll have a fair shot to win the Week 1 starting job. And if he doesn't, the Raiders have done an excellent job laying the groundwork to claim that starting Cousins was the plan all along."

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The reality is that the Raiders would love to have Mendoza win the job and keep it for the next decade.

They just know that the long haul is more important than Week 1, so if the rookie needs a bit of extra time to prepare, they're going to give it to him.

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