Fernando Mendoza’s NFL debut will have to wait.
The Las Vegas Raiders have named veteran Kirk Cousins their starting quarterback for their Week 1 matchup with the Miami Dolphins, head coach Klint Kubiak announced on Wednesday morning.
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The decision is something that has long been expected, even after the Raiders selected Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft back in April.
Barring a late change, Cousins will start his first game with the franchise since his exit with the Atlanta Falcons last season. The Raiders signed Cousins to a one-year deal earlier this year with the expectation that he would open the season in the starting role and serve as a bit of a mentor to Mendoza while he adjusts to the league. Cousins went 5-3 as a starter last season with the Atlanta Falcons, and threw for 1,721 yards with 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Cousins was declared the starting quarterback at the start of training camp. Head coach Klint Kubiak had plenty of praise for Cousins, who is now with his fourth team in the league, back in July.
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But since then, Kubiak has left the door open a bit and declined to actually make Cousins the Week 1 starter throughout the preseason. Cousins made his second start of the preseason in their loss to the San Francisco 49ers in their preseason finale, and played just two drives. He is 38 years old and entering his 15th season in the league, so he wasn’t expected to play much.
Mendoza has gotten a much bigger share of the reps, though he’s looked a bit rough. He threw a bad interception early, in their preseason loss to the Houston Texans, and then threw another pick on his second play against the 49ers. He ended up going 7 of 14 for 57 yards in the contest.
“[Mendoza] needs another three preseason games,” Kubiak said after the loss, via ESPN. “All those rookies do, and now that the season’s starting, the practice reps get smaller, and that’s just life. But as coaches, we’ve got to get them ready to play, keep developing them.”
Clearly, Mendoza hasn’t done enough yet to convince Kubiak that he’s their guy to open the year. That time, however, will surely come.
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Mendoza is entering the league after a historic run with Indiana last season. He led the Hoosiers to an undefeated season and their first national title with a win over Miami earlier this season. He won the Heisman Trophy after throwing for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns with just six interceptions all season.
Naturally, Mendoza was the clear favorite to go first in the NFL Draft earlier this spring. So when the Raiders earned the No. 1 overall pick, they didn’t hesitate to scoop him up.
The Raiders are almost certainly going to turn the team over to Mendoza eventually. But now, he won’t have to hit the ground running right away and will instead get a gentler start to his professional career learning behind Cousins. There’s no need for the Raiders to rush anything, either, especially as Kubiak enters his first season as head coach while trying to turn the franchise around.
It’s unclear when Mendoza will get the chance to prove he’s the Raiders’ quarterback of the future. But that time will come.
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