Fernando Mendoza and his brother, Alberto, have taken different roads to get to this point, but football has kept pulling them into the same room. Fernando is now with the Raiders after going No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft. Alberto is still working toward his own future at Georgia Tech, learning an NFL-style offense and trying to absorb as much as he can along the way. Now, the brothers have something else to talk about when they catch up: the playbook.

“Yeah, we have,” Alberto said when a reporter asked him about sharing notes with Fernando on August 18. “It’s kind of funny cuz he’s learning a very Klint Kubiak scheme. Coach Kubiak has done an amazing job. And we talked about some of the same protections, some of the same concepts, and it’s just they’re both NFL guys, they’re offensive coordinators.”

For Fernando, there is plenty to learn himself. The Raiders took him first overall after he put together one of the best seasons in Indiana history. He completed 72% of his passes for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns and gave just six interceptions in 2025. He also led Indiana to a perfect 16-0 season and its first national championship. Then came the jump from Curt Cignetti’s offense to Kubiak’s.

The Raiders are asking him to work from under center, shotgun, and pistol, while also placing more responsibility on him before and after the snap. That adjustment has already been noticeable. Kubiak said in June that Mendoza had “gotten a ton better” and praised the work he had put in.

The Heisman winner himself said he felt “leaps and bounds ahead” of where he was when OTAs began. The Raiders also have Kirk Cousins in the QB room, giving Mendoza another veteran who has spent years operating in an NFL offense. And Alberto is making the most of the learnings that his elder brother, Fernando, gets.

“Just comparing those things,” the Yellow Jackets’ QB said. “It’s kind of funny, you know, like, ‘Oh, what do you think about this?’. He’s like, ‘Oh, this is what we’re doing for this.’ So, I just got another view, another opinion on how to do something and how to see it. So, it’s been amazing.”

Alberto transferred to Georgia Tech from his brother’s old stomping ground to become a QB1. Now, he is the expected signal-caller for the new OC, George Godsey. Of course, he has sporadic experience as a backup, but his 75% completion rate is still impressive. He showed it against Maryland, Purdue, and other spots when the Hoosiers needed him.

Against Purdue, he threw for 76 yards and ran for 59 more, including a 65-yard touchdown pass to Davion Chandler. So, this year, Godsey will employ a physical ground game foundation with his signature high-volume strategy. We will finally see that in the program’s first game against Deion Sanders’ Colorado.