As the NFL Draft takes over Pittsburgh, the Raiders and their fans are counting down the hours, hoping to land their quarterback of the future in Fernando Mendoza. However, their former QB Derek Carr sees a potential disaster in the making. His advice? Let’s take a look.

“I know Klint [Kubiak] a little bit, and I would assume that their plan is to win right now,” Derek Carr said via The Rush Podcast on X. “But they also have to look towards the future. You got Kirk [Cousins], right? Fernando [Mendoza] is getting drafted. You guys don’t have to say it, I’ll say it right. Fernando is going to the Raiders.”

Carr has played under Klint Kubiak at the New Orleans Saints in 2024. So, knowing Kubiak, Carr predicts he will look to get the team back on track after a 3-14 season. Although the franchise has remained silent on drafting Mendoza, he is confident that Kubiak will go for him. And this is where things get interesting.

The franchise has also signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins to a five-year contract. Now, with two top QBs, Carr wants the franchise to assign Mendoza a specific role in his rookie year.

“A lot of guys, you’re number one overall pick, you’re in there,” Carr added. “And I understand that, but as a quarterback, I also understand what’s best for him is to wait. If your goal is to win right now, I think Kirk plays. And you hope as a team, Kirk plays great. And he’s fantastic, and you can keep Fernando sitting there for a full year.”

According to the 35-year-old, it would be better for the Raiders to start Cousins instead of Mendoza. There’s no doubt Mendoza had one of the standout seasons in college football. After transferring to Indiana from California, he posted a 16–0 record, leading the team to a national championship. In 16 starts, he threw for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns while completing 72% of his passes.

He also highlighted his dual-threat ability by rushing for 276 yards and scoring 7 touchdowns in 90 attempts. Individually, he won the CFP National Championship Offensive Player of the Year and the Heisman Trophy. Even after such elite stats, the four-time Pro Bowler advised him to sit out his rookie year.

One reason for Carr’s statement is that the NCAA and the NFL are vastly different levels of competition, with the latter being far more demanding. Moreover, there are several areas where the Heisman Trophy winner falls short. He lacks elite arm strength, struggles when flushed from the pocket, and tends to hold the ball too long. On the other hand, Kirk Cousins brings 14 years of NFL experience and has over 44,000 passing yards to his name.

Cousins can serve as Mendoza’s mentor, helping him work on his weaknesses while giving him a first-hand view of how fast and physical the NFL is from the sidelines. Then, from the second year onward, Mendoza can take over as the starter. Derek Carr believes this is the strategy Kubiak should use if he wants to win now. Even veteran quarterbacks like Aaron Rodgers followed a similar path.

After being drafted in 2005 by the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers was the backup to former quarterback Brett Favre. In 2008, when Favre signed for the New York Jets, Rodgers finally became a starter. During those three years, Rodgers got a better grasp of the game and won the Super Bowl (XLV) in his third-year as a starter.

This is the process that Carr hopes the Raiders’ head coach will use with the 22-year-old. Although Mendoza has not said anything about being a backup, he is focused on becoming a Raiders player, getting mentored, and playing for his idol.

Fernando Mendoza wants to be mentored by Tom Brady

Fernando Mendoza is likely to be a Raider by the end of Day 1. It’s something he has been looking forward to for a long time, especially since he is a massive fan of NFL legend Tom Brady. He hopes to be mentored by Brady, who is a minority owner of the Silver and Black.

“Who hasn’t admired Tom Brady?” Fernando Mendoza remarked. “More Super Bowl rings than anybody. That opportunity would be fantastic. Tom Brady, I believe, is the greatest quarterback of all time by a wide margin, and to be able to have the opportunity to be mentored by him, it would mean so much.”

With seven Super Bowl rings, 89,214 passing yards, and 649 touchdowns, Brady is regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, if not the greatest. So, no player would throw away the chance of being mentored by him if the opportunity came around. And the same goes for Mendoza, too. His admiration for the five-time Super Bowl MVP runs deeper than most.

“The perfect guy to look up to. Cerebral. He wasn’t the fastest, wasn’t the strongest; just super, super smart and a great leader, too,” Mendoza added.

Surprisingly, Brady also had a lot of flaws. He was neither the fastest nor the strongest. But his game-reading skills were on a different level. He was written off by most teams and was drafted in the sixth round by the New England Patriots. Brady was a backup behind Drew Bledsoe before becoming a starter.

So, Carr’s statement does hold some truth. Now, it remains to be seen which path head coach Klint Kubiak chooses. Does he start Kirk Cousins and let Fernando Mendoza gain experience from the sidelines? Or does he start Mendoza from the very first game?