Coming out of OTAs, Kirk Cousins seems to have a solid hold on the Las Vegas Raiders‘ starting quarterback job. He got the majority of the first-team reps, and Fernando Mendoza is still a work in progress.
Mendoza was the No. 1 pick, so he’s clearly the future of the position, but the Raiders want to bring him along as slowly as possible to ensure they develop him properly. Former Raiders general manager Tom Telesco never had a chance to try and find a franchise quarterback for the team, but he likes the plan they have in place right now, and thinks Cousins is a logical player to be the stopgap starter before Mendoza is ready.
“I think they have a great plan put together for him. To have Kirk Cousins there, who’s a legit veteran quarterback. … If you look at how he played last year, he should be able to at least sustain it,” Telesco said on Sirius XM NFL Radio. “He’s not gonna play the way he played five, six, seven years ago, but he’s a legitimate veteran starting quarterback, so it does give Mendoza a chance, whenever that may be, … to just let it happen organically, and some may happen organically just how Mendoza plays in training camp and how well he practices.”
Raiders Will Be Pressured to Play Mendoza
Cousins is a fine quarterback at this point in his career, but he’s not nearly as exciting as Mendoza. Fans and ownership might be eager to see the rookie play. That’s only going to become a bigger problem if Cousins struggles at all, per Telesco.
“When you have a first-round quarterback, but you’re planning to not play him originally, that veteran quarterback, the first interception he throws, the first loss that they have, everybody is gonna be yelling, ‘well, just put in the first round draft pick.’ … So you’re gonna have to guard against that because there are going to ups and downs with Kirk Cousins and that offense,” Telesco said.
Curt Cignetti Talks Mendoza
It didn’t take long for the Raiders to accept that Mendoza was their guy during the pre-draft process. In fact, the team didn’t even ask Indiana head coach Cignetti many questions about the quarterback.
“He can come off a little geeky [but] the guy is a lion as a competitor. He is ferocious, tough, and makes plays with his arms and legs. [Fernando is] real and a very deep guy. [He’s] extremely intelligent [and] can talk about a lot of different things. But committed to be great,” Cignetti said on the “Rich Eisen Show.”
“Tom Brady was his idol, and I’ve never been around a guy in 45 years that prepared like he did. He covered every bass and then some. I learned from him. The great ones, you learn from the great ones. [I learned] the level of detail and preparation and how it never ends. How it never ends. And you know what else? The way he played and the toughness he displayed really pulled that team together and he was a great team guy.”
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