It’s clear to anyone that has watched football over the past three seasons that the Raiders are very bad, but one position in particular stands out.
The Raiders haven’t had a truly good quarterback since Derek Carr, who pretty much holds every franchise record a quarterback could have. Having the first overall pick in the upcoming draft, they have pretty much two options, and I can’t say I would be mad with either.
The favorite to be the Raiders’ choice is Indiana University’s Fernando Mendoza. He has led the Hoosiers to an impressive 15-0 record, while winning the Heisman Trophy in the process. He has amazing accuracy and arm talent, while also making the right reads, allowing him to have a 73% completion percentage this season. His 6 foot 5 inch frame gives him the ability to see over the middle of the field. Arguably his best trait is that he is a great leader, which he has displayed over not just this season, but his entire collegiate career. His only downside is that he isn’t very mobile, which may be a problem for the Raiders because their offensive line is horrible, and will need their quarterback to be able to scramble.
The other option is Oregon’s Dante Moore. He led his respective team to a 13-2 record this season. He also has an impressive completion percentage this season of 71.8%. The only quality that I believe that Moore definitively is better than Mendoza is his athleticism. He is a very mobile quarterback—able to make throws on the run pretty consistently.
After this past matchup between the two, Mendoza is now definitely the front runner for being taken off the board first. Mendoza and the Hoosiers took down Oregon with a score of 56 to 22. Moore didn’t play that bad, but Mendoza just played that well; scoring five touchdowns during the game.
The only thing that could prevent the Raiders from drafting him is the upcoming NFL combine. If Mendoza doesn’t test particularly well, and Moore blows the world away with his athleticism, it’ll be a toss-up. The Raiders have had a history of drafting the biggest and fastest guys they can get, and then attempting to develop them into superstars.
I believe that Mendoza should be the first pick, but I do think that Moore has the higher ceiling just based off of his athleticism. However, since Mendoza’s game isn’t based off of his athleticism, he will be around the league for a long time. In comparison, if Moore’s legs were to start giving out after years of wear and tear from scrambling, his career may be in jeopardy.
