The Las Vegas Raiders brought in Kirk Cousins during the offseason to give No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Fernando Mendoza time to develop.
The time is now for the former IU football great.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Raiders traded Cousins to Minnesota, clearing the way for Mendoza to start for the remainder of the 2026 season.
Mendoza will have big shoes to fill after Cousins exceeded expectations during his short stint in Las Vegas. Cousins threw for 2,340 yards, with 20 touchdowns and eight interceptions in nine starts. He completed 64.1% of his passes and finished with a 98 passer rating.
Mendoza has seen action in one game this season, completing 6 of 8 throws for 48 yards in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss at New England.
The Raiders are 4-5 this season and still a playoff contender. Mendoza will face a stiff test in his first NFL start. The Raiders play the defending Super Bowl Champion Seattle Seahawks at 4 p.m. ET (CBS) on Sunday in Las Vegas. He’ll then face another strong defense when the Raiders head to Denver the following week.
Mendoza met every challenge during his lone season in Bloomington.
In 2025, he led the Hoosiers to their first national championship and an undefeated 16-0 season. He started all 16 games and finished 273-of-379 passing (72.0%) for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions.
He led the FBS in passing touchdowns (41) and set a single-season school record with a 72.0% completion percentage (third in FBS). Mendoza was the only FBS quarterback since at least 1996 with multiple games of at least a 90.0% and four touchdown passes against Power 4 opponents, while also being the only FBS quarterback with six games of four-plus touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
Mendoza was named Heisman Trophy winner, Associated Press Player of the Year, Associated Press All-American First Team, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, All-Big Ten First Team, and the Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Award winner.
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