Fernando Mendoza has his first touchdown as an NFL quarterback.
The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders has the hopes of a struggling franchise pinned on him. The Raiders haven’t made the playoffs since 2021 and haven’t won in the postseason since the 2002 AFC Championship Game.
It’s too early to know if that will change under Mendoza, but at least his first action in the NFL has gotten off to a good start. In the second quarter of the Raiders’ 2026 preseason opener against the Arizona Cardinals, he connected with Jack Bech from six yards out for a touchdown.
Here’s the video:
After Kirk Cousins started and played the Raiders’ first series, Mendoza entered the game. Through one half of football, he’s done relatively well, completing five of his eight passes for 47 yards and a score. He also had a seven-yard run.
The Raiders, in their lone season under Pete Carroll, were 3-14. Afterwards, the franchise named former Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, a Super Bowl winner in 2025, as head coach. Kubiak, the son of former NFL quarterback and head coach Gary Kubiak, is Las Vegas’s sixth permanent or interim head coach since 2021.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
