Fernando Mendoza takes Jameis Winston's throne among NFL media: "He is one of those rare birds"

Whether he had nerves or not, Fernando Mendoza can say that he got them out of the way last week. Making his Las Vegas Raiders debut, Mendoza played relatively well, avoiding turnovers while completing 10-of-16 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown .

Now, the fun part starts. Kirk Cousins is still the team's starting quarterback until further notice, but Mendoza will be waiting in the wings and be ready once his number is called . For now, though, Mendoza is saying all of the right things .

That's par for the course for him, given that Mendoza became somewhat of a national darling among football fans during his 2025 season with Indiana due to his genuine personality . It's not only fans who he's won over either; the national media absolutely loves him .

Fernando Mendoza is beloved and will be for a while by the national media

ESPN's Peter Schrager recently delved into why Mendoza is so liked among the media, and he likened him to fellow quarterback Jameis Winston .

Every so often, there's a player in the NFL who comes across and just gives you gold when they get him on the mic. Jameis Winston for years was that guy. I think we have a new king, though... I love this kid. He's authentic. He loves football. He's a winner... But there's also this like young, wild spirit to him that he is just himself. I think that we're going to be very happy with soundbites from Mendoza over the course of his career.

Schrager references a recent soundbite from Mendoza in which the rookie describes the "ecosystem" he and his Raiders teammates are trying to build and evolve during practices.

Mendoza is doing and saying all of the right things ahead of his rookie season. Football just comes natural to him.