New NFL Rumors on Kirk Cousins, Fernando Mendoza, Raiders' QB1 Announcement Amid Rookie's Struggles

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler says the consensus around the NFL is the Las Vegas Raiders are eventually going to name Kirk Cousins the starting quarterback over Fernando Mendoza.

"People I've talked to, inside the Raiders building and league-wide with other teams, expect Kirk Cousins to be named the starter eventually," Fowler said Friday on NFL on ESPN.

Fowler said it "makes sense" the Raiders would name Cousins QB1 before the roster cutdown deadline this Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.

The news comes after Mendoza struggled in the Raiders' Thursday preseason finale against the San Francisco 49ers.

Cousins started out the game against the 49ers by leading the Raiders on two field goal drives.

Mendoza took over and threw an interception on his second pass of the night. He went on to take two sacks while going 7-for-14 for 57 yards.

The rookie quarterback finished the preseason having completed 55 percent of his passes for 240 passing yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Kubiak said after the preseason finale Mendoza "needs another preseason games" in order to keep his development going.

The Raiders coach added in a Friday press conference his team was still having "ongoing" discussions on which quarterback would start during the regular season.

The coach also acknowledged there is a possibility Mendoza could start his NFL career as a third-stringer should Cousins be named starter and Aidan O'Connell get tagged as backup.

"We have three guys that are ready to play, and it's gonna be some hard decisions on who's one, who's two, and that's not a decision that we have to make today," Kubiak said when asked Friday about the possibility as O'Connell as QB2.

Both Cousins and O'Connell are heading into the season on what are essentially one-year deals. How much playing time either of them see next season could depend on what Kubiak decides gives Mendoza the best chance to develop into a future franchise quarterback.

The Raiders have just over two weeks before the regular season kicks off with a Sunday, Sept. 13 matchup against the visiting Miami Dolphins.