NFL Coach Predicts Raiders' Fernando Mendoza Would Sit Behind O'Connell If Kirk Cousins Gets Injured

At least one person in the NFL thinks the Las Vegas Raiders will go out of their way to avoid throwing Fernando Mendoza on the field in Week 1 of the regular season, even if Kirk Cousins were to get injured in the preseason.

An AFC assistant coach told ESPN's Dan Graziano they "honestly believe" Aidan O'Connell would open the season as the Raiders starting quarterback over Mendoza if Cousins was unable to do so.

"I honestly believe that if something were to happen to Cousins, they'd start Aidan O'Connell before Mendoza right now," an AFC assistant coach said. "They absolutely do not want to rush [Mendoza]."

Soon after the Raiders officially selected Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport explained the team's "best case scenario" for the rookie is he doesn't play in his first season because they want him to get as much of a developmental runway as possible.

Everything the Raiders have done throughout the offseason, including mandatory minicamp, OTAs and now the start of training camp, suggests they want to stick to their approach of not rushing Mendoza.

Head coach Klint Kubiak told reporters on Tuesday in no uncertain terms that Cousins "is the starting quarterback" and will "get a ton of reps" with the first-team offense, but he wanted to see Mendoza and O'Connell to "push him."

The primary reason the Raiders are being careful with Mendoza is the offense he played in at Indiana wasn't helpful for what he will do in the NFL. The Hoosiers ran an RPO-heavy scheme that didn't really offer a lot of variation in the types of throws he made.

Despite the Raiders' desire not to rush Mendoza, it's extremely rare for a first-round pick at quarterback, let alone the No. 1 overall selection, not to play a lot as a rookie.

A good example is Jaxson Dart last year with the New York Giants. He also came from an RPO-heavy offense in college and the Giants did not want to rush him into games.

After an 0-3 start in which the offense scored fewer than 10 points in two of those games, Dart replaced Russell Wilson as the starter in New York.

The last first-round quarterback who started fewer than eight games in a season unrelated to injuries was Trey Lance with the San Francisco 49ers in 2021.

Cousins signed with the Raiders in free agency with the expectation he would be the starter in 2026. He previously worked with Kubiak from 2019 to '21 when they were both with the Minnesota Vikings.

O'Connell is entering his fourth season with the Raiders. He has started 17 games over the past three seasons, throwing for 3,932 yards, 20 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in his career.