The biggest question heading into Las Vegas Raiders training camp was who was going to be the starting quarterback. The team signed Kirk Cousins with the idea that he’d start, but they also drafted Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick.
It’s going to be difficult to keep him off the field. However, the Raiders have made it clear that they want to bring the rookie along slowly. It has long been expected that Cousins would be the starting quarterback at the beginning of training camp, and that is now confirmed. Head coach Klint Kubiak announced that Cousins is the starter as of right now.
“When we go out to practice tomorrow, Kirk Cousins is the starting quarterback,” Kubiak told reporters during his Tuesday press conference. “He’s the guy. And he’s going to get a ton of reps. And he deserves them, because he’s played really good football.
“But I want Fernando and I want Aidan [O’Connell] to push him.”
Now, whether or not Cousins is the starter in Week 1 remains to be seen, but he’s going to get a nice head start on Mendoza.
Raiders Need to See How Mendoza Grows
Mendoza was an incredible player at Indiana, which is why he was the top pick in the draft. There’s a lot to like about his game. He’s smart, big, tough and a great leader.
That said, he’s still a rookie trying to learn the NFL. The Raiders are really pushing Mendoza this offseason to see how he reacts.
“We’ve put a lot on his plate in this offseason. We expect a lot out of him as these practices start coming,” Kubiak said. “So, the thing that stands out to me is, he’s going to have plenty of adversity like his teammates. How does he deal with it? Does he make the same mistake twice? How quickly can he correct himself? When he does make a mistake, what’s his attitude like? What’s his demeanor like? Those are really important things for quarterbacks.”
If Mendoza passes every test the Raiders throw at him with flying colors, then he’ll supplant Cousins at some point. For now, he’s going to have to prove himself before he’s given anything.
Kubiak Praises Cousins
Cousins is going to be 38 at the start of the season, so it’s possible that this could be his last year playing football. What works in his favor is that he’s played for Kubiak before. He knows the offense the coach runs well.
This is Kubiak’s first season as a head coach, so he wants a quarterback who knows how to run his offense. He had some high praise for the veteran quarterback.
“His leadership, his veteran presence, the way that he played in the spring was excellent,” Kubiak said of Cousins. “We brought him here to play really good football. Obviously, the mentorship, that’s a byproduct of that. That’s the kind of guy that Kirk is. But Kirk knows, and Fernando knows, and Aidan knows, and Jacob [Clark] knows they’re here to play great football. That’s our job as coaches to get them ready for the other stuff.”
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