Fernando Mendoza inherits a 4-5 Raiders team and NFL history offers two wildly different outcomes
Fernando Mendoza takes over a 4-5 Raiders team with two very different pieces of NFL history hanging over his first steps.
For young quarterbacks, the opening stretch can define nothing or everything. Jared Goff lost all seven of his rookie starts, a reminder that early struggles do not always tell the full story of a career. Fernando Mendoza now finds himself in that same pressure point, where every snap is magnified and every decision is judged quickly.
The other side of the ledger is much brighter. Lamar Jackson went 6-1 in his rookie starts and helped guide his team to the playoffs, showing how quickly a first-year quarterback can change the feel of a season. That contrast is what makes Mendoza’s situation so notable: the same league, the same position, and two wildly different outcomes.
That range is part of what makes quarterback evaluation so difficult. A rookie is not just learning the speed of the NFL; he is also adjusting to coverages, protections, communication, and the burden of carrying a team’s expectations. Even when the talent is obvious, the results can swing sharply depending on timing, coaching, and how much help is around him.
For the Raiders, the question is less about the past than about what Mendoza can steady next. A 4-5 record leaves room for a turnaround, but it also leaves little patience for mistakes. Fans will watch closely to see whether he can bring the kind of immediate lift that sometimes arrives with a new quarterback, or whether the growing pains become part of the story instead.
