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Fernando Mendoza will have to keep waiting for his first NFL start.
Kirk Cousins is the guy under center for the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1. Head coach Klint Kubiak made it official Wednesday morning, confirming what most people around the team already expected – Cousins will start against the Miami Dolphins.
Kubiak didn’t hold back when explaining the decision.
“[Cousins] played really good football,” Kubiak said. “I’m really happy with all three of our quarterbacks. Kirk’s had a really good offseason, very good camp and he’s earned it.”
That praise came through in a separate report too, backing up just how comfortable Kubiak feels with Cousins running the offense right now.
This isn’t exactly a surprise. The Raiders took Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick back in April, sure – but nobody thought a rookie quarterback was walking into a Week 1 starting job over a guy with Cousins’ resume.
Cousins is set to make his first start with Las Vegas since leaving the Atlanta Falcons last season. The Raiders brought him in on a one-year deal knowing exactly what the plan was: he’d open the year as the starter and help Mendoza get acclimated to the speed of the NFL along the way. Last season in Atlanta, Cousins went 5-3 as a starter, throwing for 1,721 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Training camp made things pretty clear early on. Cousins was named the starter right out of the gate, and Kubiak was singing his praises all the way back in July.
But here’s the thing – Kubiak never officially locked in Cousins as the Week 1 starter until now. He left that door open through the entire preseason. Cousins got his second preseason start against the San Francisco 49ers, though he only played two drives. Makes sense, really; the guy is 38 years old and entering his 15th season in the league. Nobody needs him grinding through extended preseason snaps.
Mendoza, meanwhile, got way more playing time. And it showed – both good and bad.
He threw a rough interception early against the Houston Texans in preseason. Then he threw another one on just his second play against the 49ers. He finished that game 7-of-14 for 57 yards, numbers that won’t turn many heads.
“[Mendoza] needs another three preseason games,” Kubiak said after the loss, via ESPN. “All those rookies do, and now that the season’s starting, the practice reps get smaller, and that’s just life. But as coaches, we’ve got to get them ready to play, keep developing them.”
Mendoza simply hasn’t shown enough yet to force Kubiak’s hand.
That moment will come eventually, though – just not in Week 1.
It’s easy to forget how dominant Mendoza was at the college level considering how rocky his preseason has looked. He led Indiana to an undefeated season last year and the program’s first-ever national title, beating Miami in the championship game. He capped it off by winning the Heisman Trophy after throwing for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns against just six interceptions all year.
Given that kind of season, it’s no wonder Mendoza went into draft season as the presumptive No. 1 pick. Once the Raiders landed that selection, there wasn’t much debate about who they’d take.
Eventually, this becomes Mendoza’s team. That much feels inevitable. But there’s real value in not rushing him into the fire right away – he gets to ease into professional football while learning from a veteran instead of getting thrown to the wolves in Week 1. And with Kubiak stepping into his first year as an NFL head coach while trying to rebuild this whole operation, there’s zero incentive to speed up Mendoza’s timeline.
Nobody knows exactly when Mendoza takes over. But it’s coming.
