Texas quarterback Arch Manning is getting the most preseason hype, but the first quarterback off the board in next year’s NFL Draft may reside in Bloomington, Indiana.
The Hoosiers pulled off perhaps the most impactful yet unheralded move of the offseason when it added Cal transfer quarterback Fernando Mendoza. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound quarterback put together a stellar 2024 season for the Bears, throwing for 3,004 yards, 16 touchdowns and just six interceptions, despite a porous offensive line that allowed the fifth-most sacks per game in college football.
In a creative offense led by Indiana coach Curt Cignetti and offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, it’s not hard to imagine Mendoza taking another leap. In fact, he’s banking on it. Development was a big reason why he picked the Hoosiers over other options which included Georgia and Miami.
“To have an offensive-minded coaching staff was extremely important for me and to get that development was really important for me.” Mendoza told CBS Sports, “Because whenever I would talk to people — former coaches, mentors — they were like we really think you’re doing well but to take that next level and really get where you want to go aka the NFL, you really need to be a bit more polished and more consistent. That was a big thing I was looking to accomplish at Indiana.”
NFL draft experts are beginning to take notice of how Mendoza’s skillset mesh Indiana’s offense. CBS Sports’ Josh Edwards recently ranked him as the No. 11 overall prospect for the 2026 NFL Draft while Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice wrote last month, “Mendoza’s talent, along with his high football IQ, in an offense that pushes all the right buttons in a smorgasbord scheme has the potential for fireworks.” Tice ranked him as the No. 1 QB in the 2026 draft class.
Mendoza is similarly well aware of the success Cignetti and Co. have had with quarterbacks, including last year’s starter Kurtis Rourke — who threw for 3,042 yards and 29 touchdowns and finished ninth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Indiana helped turn Rourke — a successful yet largely unknown quarterback coming from Ohio — into an NFL draft pick and the leader of a team that surprised the nation.
Mendoza’s younger brother, Albert, is already on the roster and gave him the inside scoop on what led to the Hoosiers’ remarkable 11-2 first-year turnaround under Cignetti.
“To see a lot of those under-recruited guys such as myself experience the development, to see the own development my brother has taken in that year’s step has been crazy, something that maybe I’ve only accomplished in two or three years,” Mendoza said. “I can see the step that he’s been taking and how detailed and how great the quarterback coaching this year was really attractive to me.”
That doesn’t mean it was easy for Mendoza to leave Cal after starting 19 games for the Bears over the last two seasons. He was part of a Cal star exodus this offseason that included running back Jaydn Ott (Oklahoma) and tight end Jack Endries (Texas). As CBS Sports previously detailed, it has been a newsy offseason for all the wrong reasons for Cal with new offensive coordinator Bryan Harsin reportedly accelerating player departures and a power struggle between Cal administrators and boosters over the role of new general manager Ron Rivera. Rivera won the battle as Cal coach Justin Wilcox will report to him while AD Jim Knowlton recently announced his retirement.
For someone who gave so much to the Cal program, the dispersion of Cal stars has been sad for Mendoza to watch play out.
“At the end of the day, I feel a little bit guilty because I feel like if I would have stayed maybe there would have been a greater chance of all three of us staying together because of that connection we had,” he said. “We’re in the huddle Jaydn talking to Jack, I’m talking to Jack, we’re all talking to each other as a core leadership group. But at the same moment we’re all still good friends and we all wish Cal the best. It feels a little sad that something we helped to build kind of crumble a little bit.”
When Mendoza reflects back on his final season at Cal, it’s hard not to wonder what if. The Golden Bears started the season 3-0, including a road win over Auburn that Mendoza calls one of the highlights of his time in Berkeley. It set the stage for a Week 5 primetime game against No. 8 Miami with College GameDay in town for the occasion. His team built a 35-10 lead with 8:06 left in the third quarter and … lost.
Cal gave up two touchdowns with less than five minutes left in the game, including one with only 26 seconds left — a devastating result for a team that seemed primed for a defining victory. The loss was the beginning of the end for what Mendoza calls the most talented team he’s ever played with. A 3-0 start quickly turned to 3-4 with those four losses by a combined nine points.
“We had a ton of heartbreaking losses to a point that was back-breaking for some people such as myself,” Mendoza said.
“I think the nature of the Cal team, this version, would be extremely different if we had won that game,” Mendoza said. “We played Florida State and we lost on the last second. We played Miami and we lost on the last second. We lost to Pitt in the last minute of the game. And then we played NC State where we lost in the last minute of the game. Those four back-to-back-to-back-to-back losses that’s 3-0 to 3-4. That was back-breaking.
“We were able to take it back on the road and get some more wins and be bowl-eligible but losing that many in the row …”
Now in Bloomington, Mendoza leads a program that made last year’s College Football Playoff but is ready for more. With a returning group that includes star receiver Elijah Sarratt (53 catches for 957 yards and eight touchdowns in 2024), Mendoza has the ability to elevate the Hoosiers and his draft stock with a big 2025 season.
He might not be a household name yet, but if Mendoza accomplishes what those around the Indiana program believe he can, a lot of NFL fans will be reading about him come April.
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