Not long after Fernando Mendoza quarterbacked Indiana to a perfect season and a national title, FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt floated the idea that he would take the Hoosiers star over any young quarterback in the NFL to lead his team to a game-winning drive. Now, with the 2026 NFL Draft fast approaching, Klatt not only has bought into that idea, but he might also have another top draft analyst agreeing with him.
In the latest episode of “The Joel Klatt Show,” Klatt and NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay agreed that they would trust Mendoza to lead a team to a game-winning drive in the final moments more than nearly any other young quarterback.
“I think I would take Mendoza,” Klatt said, as he listed Caleb Williams, Cam Ward and others.
McShay, meanwhile, believes that the debate is between Mendoza and just one other quarterback.
“It would come down to Mendoza and Drake Maye, maybe,” McShay said. “I’m armed with what I’ve seen in the NFL, which isn’t fair. But if we’re talking about college careers, absolutely, 1,000%.
“But even knowing what I know in the NFL, I still may [pick Mendoza]. He’s different.
While Indiana won all 16 of its games this past season, not all of those wins were pretty. Mendoza needed to lead the Hoosiers to fourth-quarter comebacks in tough road environments at Iowa and Penn State. He had to make big throws and take Indiana on a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter of its win at Oregon. He also needed to make some clutch throws and plays to help seal the win over Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship before doing the same thing in Indiana’s victory over Miami (Fla.) in the title game.
Which QB would you want in clutch time in a game?
Of course, the NFL is a different level of competition than the college game, and some of the league’s top young quarterbacks proved they can handle clutch moments this past season. Williams, 24, helped the Chicago Bears get six fourth-quarter comeback wins in 2025, which was the most in the league. Bo Nix, 26, had five fourth-quarter comeback wins and led the league in game-winning drives (seven) for the Denver Broncos.
Mendoza arguably had the best college career of any quarterback since the turn of the decade; he’s the first signal-caller to win the Heisman Trophy and national title since Joe Burrow in 2019. That’s why Klatt thought it was an easy choice to pick Mendoza as the quarterback he’d turn to with the game on the line over the other young quarterbacks.
“You take him over Cam Ward,” Klatt said in a previous episode. “Williams? Possibly. Jayden Daniels? Possibly? Maye? Certainly after the Super Bowl. [Michael] Penix [Jr.] and [J.J.] McCarthy? Absolutely. Nix? Questionable with the way Nix played in crunch time and in some of those [big] games, particularly in the fourth quarter.
“Mendoza in crunch time is unbelievable. He anticipates, is accurate, smart and a great teammate. He checks every single box.”
As Klatt marveled at Mendoza’s ability to perform in the clutch, McShay believes that the Indiana product’s best traits are how he’s able to manage adversity and his leadership.
“I don’t think he [has] been around [Tom] Brady much, but you just get that same vibe where he’s focusing on things that if you’re in a classroom in high school and this kid’s talking, with his arm raised, he’s annoying,” McShay said. “But armed with these 26 years of doing this and listening to the things he’s focused on as a young man, I’m like, ‘Man, he gets it.'”
“I value adversity and not necessarily the chip [on your shoulder] and the stuff we like to talk about on TV, but I think as human beings, we’ve all been through different levels of adversity,” McShay added. “Only one human being in the world can live through that failure, insult or embarrassment and tell you what it was like to have to manage that internally and tell yourself, ‘I’m still who I think I am. I’m still that guy, and now I’m in a tougher spot to go prove it.’ … Those moments, they make us and they define us. For Fernando, it was ‘stars don’t matter. Stars don’t define Fernando Mendoza.’ I like the fact that he’s coming into the league and he’s already had some of that.”
Klatt agreed with that assessment of Mendoza, who seems all but certain to be taken by the Las Vegas Raiders with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
“He kept saying to me this last year, ‘Every day I’m just trying to be the best Fernando Mendoza I can possibly be,’ which sounds nerdy,” Klatt said. “Like you said, if you’re in a high school classroom, you roll your eyes and you’re like, ‘Oh, OK.’
“But when it’s real, then there’s something to it and can clearly drive you toward being a great player in the future.”
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