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NCAA, College League, USA Football: Heisman Trophy Presentation Dec 13, 2025 New York, NY, USA Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza speaks to the media during a press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz at the New York Marriott Marquis before the presentation of the Heisman trophy. New York Jazz at Lincoln CenterÕs Appel Room NY USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xBradxPennerx 20251213_bjp_ae5_003
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NCAA, College League, USA Football: Heisman Trophy Presentation Dec 13, 2025 New York, NY, USA Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza speaks to the media during a press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz at the New York Marriott Marquis before the presentation of the Heisman trophy. New York Jazz at Lincoln CenterÕs Appel Room NY USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xBradxPennerx 20251213_bjp_ae5_003
Imago
NCAA, College League, USA Football: Heisman Trophy Presentation Dec 13, 2025 New York, NY, USA Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza speaks to the media during a press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz at the New York Marriott Marquis before the presentation of the Heisman trophy. New York Jazz at Lincoln CenterÕs Appel Room NY USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xBradxPennerx 20251213_bjp_ae5_003
Imago
NCAA, College League, USA Football: Heisman Trophy Presentation Dec 13, 2025 New York, NY, USA Indiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza speaks to the media during a press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz at the New York Marriott Marquis before the presentation of the Heisman trophy. New York Jazz at Lincoln CenterÕs Appel Room NY USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xBradxPennerx 20251213_bjp_ae5_003
From pre-draft interviews to NFL scouting combine invites to Shrine Bowl participation, the pre-draft process is the same for every player. It doesn’t matter if you have a ‘Heisman winner’ tag. However, Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is taking an unusual decision. It’s similar to one that contributed to Shedeur Sanders’ historic draft slip in 2025, and now Sanders’ agent is cautioning Mendoza.
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According to reports, Fernando Mendoza will skip throwing in this week’s NFL scouting combine and will throw at Indiana’s Pro-Day instead on April 1. Last year, former Colorado Buffaloes QB Shedeur Sanders made the same decision, and it backfired. Instead of getting drafted as a first-round pick as analysts predicted, Shedeur slipped to 144th overall.
“Man man man!! Is it ok to do it now? I’m just asking,” Boogie Knight, Shedeur Sanders’ close friend, posted on X, reacting to the development. But Mendoza explained the rationale behind skipping throwing at the Combine.
“At the Combine, you’re throwing to different receivers, everything’s different,” Mendoza said on The Pat McAfee Show. “And I want to make sure I give my guys the best shot. I want to throw on Pro Day with my guys, with my running backs, and be there with them. At the Combine, I don’t think throwing is a priority.”
Knight’s sarcastic comments came from the reactions following Shedeur’s decision to skip the Shrine Bowl and the Combine. ESPN’s prominent draft analyst Matt Miller also said that Shedeur’s camp didn’t handle the pre-draft process well.
Man man man!! Is it ok to do now? I’m just asking https://t.co/MaEgjm3P33
— Boog (@Hboog32) February 22, 2026
“He should have worked out at the East-West Shrine Game that he accepted an invite to,” Miller said. “The NFL has this new rule that if you accept an invite to an All-Star Game, you have to participate. And he didn’t. So I said on TV that they were not handling the process well. And I thought it would hurt him. And the NFL will humble anyone. How the NFL views you and evaluates you, they will humble every player.”
Unlike Shedeur, Mendoza is being touted as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft. That makes snubbing the scouting combine a non-risky move. Shedeur Sanders wasn’t a guaranteed first-round pick and needed the pre-draft process to bolster his draft stock.
Shedeur’s NFL draft snub had several factors behind it
The former Buffs QB passed for 4,134 yards at an impressive 74% accuracy, finishing 8th in Heisman voting. Yet everyone saw Shedeur’s struggles against BYU’s multiple fronts, and his tight-window throws didn’t always land at NFL closing speed. Shedeur needed to take every step in the draft process to bolster his NFL draft case.
“Based on the talents and the tools he (Shedeur Sanders) has as a player, he was not a top two or three player in this draft class,” Matt Miller said. “They approached the process that way. There was never anyone from the outside who could get through to him and say, ‘Wait a second, he’s not guaranteed to be a two or three draft pick.’ And the fact that you are approaching the process that way is hurting him.”
Another thing that tanked Shedeur’s draft stock was his interview with the Giants’ HC Brian Daboll. According to reports, Shedeur was unable to identify mistakes in the Giants’ playbook, and when he was called out for them, he didn’t react well.
No one can say for sure whether the events contributed to Shedeur’s draft snub, but they did lead the Giants to take Jaxson Dart instead of him. In hindsight now, taking that pre-draft process lightly cost Shedeur. But will the same happen to Fernando Mendoza? It’s highly unlikely.