HENDERSON, NEVADA — The Las Vegas Raiders have signed first round draft pick (1st overall) QB Fernando Mendoza, the club announced Thursday.
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Cuban-American quarterback spent his final college season at Indiana (2025) after three years at California (2022-24), appearing in 36 career games with 35 starts and completing 691-of-1,008 passing attempts for 8,247 yards, 71 touchdowns and 22 interceptions.
In 2025, Mendoza led the Hoosiers to their first national championship and an undefeated 16-0 season. He started all 16 games and finished 273-of-379 passing (72.0%) for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions. Mendoza was named Heisman Trophy winner, Associated Press Player of the Year, Associated Press All-American First Team, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, All-Big Ten First Team, and the Walter Camp, Davey O’Brien and Maxwell Award winner.
He led the FBS in passing touchdowns (41) and set a single-season school record with a 72.0% completion percentage (third in FBS). Mendoza was the only FBS quarterback since at least 1996 with multiple games of at least a 90.0% and four touchdown passes against Power 4 opponents, while also being the only FBS quarterback with six games of four-plus touchdown passes and zero interceptions.
Mendoza played in 20 games with 19 starts over three seasons at California (2022-24) after redshirting initial collegiate season. In 2024, he started 11 games and threw for 3,004 yards and 16 touchdowns against six interceptions. He was a three-time ACC Quarterback of the Week and became just the ninth player in California history to record a 3,000-yard passing season.
As a redshirt freshman in 2023, he earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year honorable mention after playing in nine games and recording 1,708 passing yards and 14 touchdowns.
A native of Miami, Fla., Mendoza attended Christopher Columbus High School, where over his career he completed 224-of-332 (67.5%) passes for 2,222 yards and 29 touchdowns.
Information Courtesy of the Las Vegas Raiders
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