Patrick Mahomes Compares Kirk Cousins, Fernando Mendoza QB Room to Alex Smith, Chiefs Situation

Patrick Mahomes believes the Las Vegas Raiders choosing to bring top overall pick Fernando Mendoza along slowly behind veteran Kirk Cousins could be comparable to his own journey starting as Alex Smith's backup in Kansas City.

"It's going to do a lot of great things for him," Mahomes told reporters Monday regarding Mendoza. "Kirk is a true pro. A quarterback who knows how to run the room, the team, everything the right way. He's gonna do it the right way. ... It'll be great for Fernando to learn and just take in, because you don't know until you're in the NFL. Hopefully not too [great], because it went really well for me and Alex, hopefully maybe not that [great] unless I'm gone or something like that."

Mahomes spent his rookie season as Smith's backup before taking over the starting gig. That's worked out pretty well for the Chiefs.

Mendoza, meanwhile, is the long-term future of the Raiders. But in the short term Cousins has the Raiders looking good. Despite Sunday's 30-27 loss against the Chiefs, Las Vegas has opened the season 3-1 behind Cousins' 1,026 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions.

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For an organization that has had just two winning seasons since the start of the 2003 campaign, it's been a breath of fresh air. And the hope is that Couins and new head coach Klint Kubiak help turn around the team's culture for the better before the reins are handed over to Mendoza. So far, so good.