Before last season of NCAA Football began, the spotlight was on Arch Manning, who was seen as the main headliner, along with Drew Allar and Cade Klubnik. All of them were projected as first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft. However, none lived up to expectations and they all ended the season with disappointing campaigns.
At this moment, there is only one quarterback who is clearly projected to be selected in the first round, and against all odds, that player is Fernando Mendoza, who was barely on the radar before the season. The Miami native had a spectacular year, leading the Indiana Hoosiers to a perfect 13-0 regular season record, winning the Heisman Trophy, and ultimately being crowned national champion.
Now, Fernando Mendoza is headed to the NFL and is the clear favorite to be selected first overall in the Draft, with the Las Vegas Raiders as his projected destination. The Raiders are in urgent need of a quarterback for next season as they begin a new project led by head coach Klint Kubiak, following the departure of Pete Carroll after one season in charge.
Mendoza left a legacy in the NCAA
While Fernando Mendoza was dominating with the Indiana Hoosiers, the team’s primary backup quarterback was his younger brother, Alberto Mendoza. Both the family and the fan base hoped that another Mendoza would continue leading the program, but that did not happen, as Indiana had other plans.
The program signed veteran quarterback Josh Hoover, formerly of TCU, who has several years of experience as a starter and was projected to be the QB1 for the 2026 season. This significantly reduced Alberto’s chances of becoming the starter, which led him to enter the transfer portal. After winning the national championship, he announced that he had signed with Georgia Tech for the upcoming season.
Officially, Alberto Mendoza is now a member of Georgia Tech, where he will have the opportunity to compete for the starting job. At Indiana, he wore jersey number 16, but with his new team he will wear number 15, the same number with which his brother Fernando made history with the Hoosiers.
It is clear that Alberto will be under the spotlight. He is the brother of the future Las Vegas Raiders quarterback, who is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the Draft. As a result, NFL scouts will be watching him closely to see whether he possesses talent similar to his brother’s and if he can become a viable NFL prospect in the future.
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