Fernando Mendoza got his first NFL start Thursday night at Reliant Stadium. It lasted about one drive before things went completely sideways.
First offensive possession of the game. Mendoza dropped back, tried to hit his receiver on a route across the middle, and threw it behind him. Texans linebacker Wade Woodaz jumped the pass, snagged it, and took it 80 yards the other way for a touchdown.
The internet did what the internet does. The memes were online before Mendoza finished walking to the bench. “Bro just threw a Turkey club with extra mayo” was one of the tamer ones.
Welcome to the NFL, kid.
Mendoza was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. He is 22 years old. He just won the Heisman Trophy in 2025. Expectations do not get bigger than that in Las Vegas, a franchise that has been searching for a quarterback since Jim Plunkett was throwing lasers in silver and black.
His debut last week actually went pretty well. Coming in relief of Kirk Cousins against the Cardinals, Mendoza went 10-for-16 for 97 yards and a touchdown. Nothing flashy, but calm and clean. Raiders fans left the game feeling good about the future.
Thursday was the opposite. Mendoza finished 8-for-15 for 86 yards, zero touchdowns, and the pick-six that opened the game. The Texans defense got after him, the pocket collapsed early on multiple drops, and he never found any kind of rhythm.
Mendoza has been honest all summer about the adjustment. He said recently that the NFL game is faster than anything he saw in college, and Thursday was proof. Reads that were open at Cal are closed here. Windows that stayed open for a full second in the Pac-12 close in a blink against NFL linebackers.
Here is the good news. It was preseason. Nobody wins the starting job in August, and nobody loses it either. Wade Woodaz is going to make plays against a lot of quarterbacks this year. Mendoza is not the first rookie to eat a pick-six in a meaningless summer game, and he will not be the last.
The bad news is that the tape does not lie. Mendoza has real work to do on his footwork under pressure and his ball placement to the middle of the field. The throw to Woodaz was not a difficult one. It was a rhythm out, and he sailed it behind the receiver by two yards. That is a red flag in any offense.
Raiders head coaches have said all along that Mendoza is going to be given every chance to earn the Week 1 job. Cousins is the veteran safety net. That plan probably still holds. But another preseason game like this and the conversation shifts fast.
The kid has the arm. The kid has the resume. The kid has the pedigree. What he does not have yet is the reps.
One bad throw in August is not a career sentence. But Fernando Mendoza is on the clock now, and Raider Nation is watching every rep.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
