Fernando Mendoza was just announced as the first pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Mendoza has been linked to the Raiders from the moment they clinched the No. 1 pick, and the past few months have just been a march to the inevitable. There is a lot to love about Mendoza’s game, starting with his competitive toughness, and that is a trait that the quarterback himself highlighted when we spoke just a few days ago.
But now that the pick is official I want to jump back into Mendoza’s film and highlight two plays that illustrate what the Raiders are getting, starting with one that the quarterback himself suggested best exemplified what he brings to the NFL.
When I spoke with Mendoza on Monday I asked him what play he would use to sum up his draft profile, with the caveat that it could not be his touchdown run against Miami in the National Championship Game.
“Although that [run against Miami] looks like the clear-cut answer, that would not be my answer either way, because I like throwing the ball more. I believe I’m a very efficient passer,” started the Indiana quarterback.
“I would say the play is not a play that’s been broadcast a lot. It was at the end of the third quarter, or start of the fourth quarter, I believe, against Iowa. I threw a seam route to Elijah Sarratt on the left side of the field.I believe we’re in the minus-30 or minus-25 yard line,“ continued Mendoza.
“And it was just a great play, great connection, it was gritty all around, and that’s the play that I would use.”
From where I sit, this play does sum up his profile rather well. This play comes late in the game with Iowa leading by three, and Indiana facing a 2nd-and-10 situation in their own territory. The Hawkeyes show two deep safeties before the snap, before rolling one down into the box and sliding into single-high coverage.
Mendoza reads it perfectly and rips the inside seam route against this single-high look, while staring down a free runner in his face.
But before I moved on in the interview to the next topic, I asked Mendoza to take me through this play, and his process from snap-to-throw. That is when he walked me through his process on every play, using an acronym I was not expecting.
“Yeah, my pre-stamp process is a vital part of my preparation, and a vital part of my success this year. I’ve always been able to, at the line, this past year, have a ‘PIMP,’” started the quarterback.
That stands for Protection, Intent, Mechanics, and Problems.
“Which means I always go over my protection first, so you know what your hot answers are. Am I gonna be hot off a defender? Who am I responsible for as a quarterback to make sure I can best serve my teammates, and either check the play, or make us in a positive play? Then the intent of the play, why are we calling this play?
“If it’s, you know, third down and two, I’m not gonna throw a go ball 70 yards down the field obviously, unless it’s open, but it’s probably not the intent of the play,“ described Mendoza.
“The mechanics of each play, which are the progression, the footwork, and the intricacies, technique-wise, that a quarterback needs to have, whether it’s, you know, checking it from one side, a nd whether it’s making it an audible, those are the mechanics that apply,” added the quarterback.
“For example, if we have a pass play called, and it is awful against Cover 2, and I know my problems against Cover 2, we usually have a hot route, or a check that we can get out of.
“So the ‘PIMP’ is a process I had in college, and I look forward to whatever process my future coaching staff wants me to use, and best thinks that it can best serve our team in the NFL, I’m very open and very amicable to using that.”
With that ‘PIMP’ framework in mind, I want to return to a play from Mendoza that I loved before our conversation, and love even more now. It is this 3rd-and-2 snap from Indiana’s Big Ten Championship Game against Ohio State:
Again, I loved this play before I spoke with Mendoza, but now with the framework of his pre-snap process in place, I love it even more.
Let’s start with the protection. Indiana has a six-man protection scheme in place, the five linemen plus the running back. Before the snap the Buckeyes have six threats in the box, perhaps most notably Arvell Reese off the left tackle lurking. But with six in the protection scheme, Mendoza does not have any immediate threats.