How Fernando Mendoza Can UNLOCK THE RAIDERS OFFENSE!

You know, I actually thought about rolling the dice and buying some tickets to Raiders Seahawks before the trade happened. I'm talking a week before the trade happened, just in case it did happen, assuming that his first start would be against the Seahawks, him being Fernando Mendoza. And I didn't because I was like, well, surely I don't think they would want his first start to be Seattle. And then of course they trade him. And then you see Field Yates here. On Twitter, talking about it. Since the news that Fernando Mendoza is set to make his first career start on Sunday, get-in ticket prices for Raiders Seahawks have soared from 282 to 364. Safe to say fans are pumped about seeing the number one overall pick in action. This is going to be a very good test of if this building home field advantage that we've seen improve throughout this year, more so than any year that we've been in Vegas so far. Can keep things up because as exciting as it is to be able to see Fernando Mendoza make his debut, I was willing to pull the trigger on it before I even knew that it was actually going to happen. The Seattle Seahawks fans are one of the most well-traveled fan bases in the National Football League. So if this was a normal game, would it be maybe 60-40 Raiders? Who knows? But now with Mendoza there, we need to flood these seats, of course, if you can afford it, and make sure we are there to support him because it's going to be a tall task. But I'm going to talk a little bit today about why I think he's up for it. A disappointing loss for the Raiders, no two ways around it. They could have easily scored 14 to 21 more points in that 49er game. And now the Raiders stay in the NFC West to take on the defending Super Bowl champions who are reeling. People talk about the Super Bowl hangover for the loser of the Super Bowl. How about the winner of the Super Bowl? Because right now... The Seahawks are without Sam Darnold and Drew Lock, I believe, is going to play in this game against us, but he is suffering from somewhat of an oblique injury, so only time will tell if he's his full self. Now, the market for this game on Kalshi has the Seahawks at a 62% chance to win the game if you purchase the YES contract for the Seattle Seahawks to win the game. As you guys know, I look at things from the Raider perspective, and I gotta be honest with you. I know the Seahawks defense is awesome, but I'm pretty confident in our ability to score on any team in the league. Our defense has been horrible, but we catch a little bit of a break here. The Seahawks still don't have a completely healthy running back game yet, and Drew Lock again is suffering from that oblique injury. So if you throw $25 on this yes contract, it's a payout of $63.05. Now, if you are. Interested in checking out Kalshi, you can use code all aboard to instantly get 25 when you trade 25. What makes Kalshi so unique and different from your typical sports book is that when you're using your typical sports book, you're betting against the house. With Kalshi, you are not betting against anything. You are not betting at all. You are purchasing yes or no contracts. It's peer-to-peer trading based off of specific yes or no outcomes that you can think of in all sorts of topics, from movies to television to politics to media to sports, you name it. Okay. I just want to make things very clear here before I start this journey of metaphors that we're going to go down or similes or whatever it is. I am not saying that I think that Fernando Mendoza is going to be as good as Patrick Mahomes. I'm not saying that. And I'm not saying that this Raiders team is as good as the Chiefs team that Alex Smith was leading to the the playoffs in 2017, 16-17. But I wonder what would have happened. If, in the middle of that first season with Mahomes on the bench for the Chiefs, if they traded away Alex Smith, and they were playing a very good defense, let's say it was the Denver defense, I don't know how good they were in 2017, I would imagine they're good, they're always good, defensively. And Mahomes has to make his first start. Now, he's not even a top 10 pick, he's just outside the top 10. I think a lot of people would assume... It's not going to go well for rookie Mahomes against a great defense, even though he has all these weapons, right? Again, Tyreek Hill or Trey Tucker isn't prime Tyreek Hill, but Brock Bowers might be prime Travis Kelsey. Then Patrick Mahomes would have come in. He probably wouldn't be as good as he is after his rookie season because he sat the whole season except for one game, but he would come in and probably exceed expectations. The reason I'm saying that is because everybody on planet Earth right now, including me a little bit, is saying we expect to see a lot of growing pains from Fernando Mendoza, especially with... Going up against the Seahawks defense and the Broncos defense right out of the gate. And that is totally fair to think that. And that's the logical approach to this. And that's the approach that we should all be taking, right? All right. Hope for the best, expect the worst. You'll probably fall somewhere in the middle. But the more I sit here and I think about this trade, people are like, oh, well, the Raiders had to do it. They had to take a third round pick for Kirk Cousins. Yes, there is extreme value there. But they didn't have to do anything. They could have held out for a second, which is what a lot of people thought maybe they would do. Matt LaFleur, maybe it's a little sour grapes that we just traded Kirk Cousins to the team that Matt LaFleur is about to play, but he said he was shocked and mind-blown that we didn't get more for Kirk Cousins. Now, there are conflicting reports about who was pushing the trade towards the end, but Jordan Schultz said that we offered, or the Vikings offered a fifth. We said, how about a second? They said, no. We said, how about the Eagles third? They said, no. We said, how about the Vikings third? They said, yes. So if that report is to be believed, it seems like we were willing to trade Kirk more than we were letting on. And what does all that mean? What all that means is they think Fernando Mendoza is ready right now to play, to have an impact, to win games, to score points, and it doesn't matter what defense he's going against. That doesn't mean he's not going to come in here and throw a pick and fumble and take a sack. We need him to learn from these mistakes. We need him to make mistakes to learn from them. But I'm telling you, the Raiders would not have made this move if they didn't fully believe that this kid was ready to go. And I don't know if these reports are to be believed, but there are reports that have said that Fernando Mendoza, with the second team against the first team defense this season, was destroying them in practice. Now, maybe that's not that difficult because the Raiders' defense is not good, but that's pretty impressive to hear. And the comparison of Mahomes maybe coming in a little bit earlier in the middle of his first year with Smith getting traded. I know it's ridiculous to say, but Fernando Mendoza was the first overall pick and his superpower is his brain. His physical traits are off the charts, but it's his brain that's his superpower. And I believe that there is a possibility where he can come in and exceed expectations. And we got some quotes here on Paul Gutierrez's article that are just going to absolutely fire you the hell up. Raiders long-term plan comes to fruition with insertion of Fernando Mendoza quarterback. The quote here is from Mark Davis. My dad used to say greatness of the Raiders was in its future. The future is now. You can tell that people are excited to watch this kid play. Some people were saying, man, Clint Kubiak sure looks pissed off in his press conference. First of all, that's the best way to tell me you've never seen a Clint Kubiak presser, is to say that that picture of him looks angry. That's how he looks every single press conference. But besides that, my tinfoil hat theory is him and Spy, they're trying to keep a poker face because they think deep down people are not ready for what this kid is going to be. And they spoke glowingly of Kirk, and you've got to prop Kirk up because you're eventually going to trade him and then start the kid and have the kid shock the world. Again, it's a theory. It's a theory. Fernando Mendoza being named the Raiders starting quarterback in the wake of Kirk Cousins being traded to the Vikings is indeed a big day for the franchise. As Raiders owner, Mark Davis told me in an exclusive interview, it's also part of a bigger plan. I'm just letting the process play out, Davis said, and we drafted Fernando number one. We wanted to take the pressure off him being the day one starter, and Kirk has been spectacular. He was a true Raider, once a Raider, always a Raider. I agree. Kirk Cousins, we are indebted to you. Alas. It's Fernando's time to start, Davis added. We're ready to rock and roll and keep the season going. They know something we don't know, man. They've seen this kid every day, and you can tell they are excited. It might all come crashing down. I'm fully aware and acknowledging that. But for right now, we're living in a world where things can be surprising. And here we are, Gutierrez continues. Anyone confused by the trade of Cousins and the elevation of Mendoza simply has not been paying attention. Raiders coach Clint Kubiak... Gave out the blueprint during NFL spring meetings when he said, in a perfect world, a rookie quarterback does not play right away. And he sits and he learns at the knee of a veteran until he's ready. And that was before the Raiders signed Kirk Cousins. Cousins fulfilled his mission perfectly as a mentor to Mendoza, culture changer in the locker room, four-game winner through nine games for a team that won checks notes, three games all of last season, epic co-starring role with Mendoza in the Raiders' Step Brothers-inspired scheduled release video, unofficial local burger influencer. Did Cousins and Mendoza become fast best friends? Yep. I asked Mendoza what it meant to have the backing of Davis. Mendoza smiled slowly. It's always awesome to have the full belief in the support. Mendoza told me, if you support a plan, it can flourish and grow. And if you don't, Mendoza's voice trailed off. No need to put it out into the universe. After all, he has the support of the front office, ownership, and yes, his teammates. Speaking of whom, what the message is sent into the locker room by moving forward on beyond. Beloved and respected quarterback who ranks the NFL fifth in passing yards, second in touchdowns. There's no way that signifies that we are punting on the season or looking forward to 2027. GM John Spykick said that is not the intention of this. This is the ultimate team sport. It takes everybody, especially the likes of tight end Brock Bowers, who said he is a believer of Mendoza. Everything he does in practice shows me, Bowers says. He throws a great ball. He's making quick decisions, good decisions. So I'm excited to see him to get to work in live action. See him use his legs. I'm excited to see that. I'm just excited for him. I don't want to read any of the Trey Tucker stuff. Okay. This is a unique situation in Raiders history. Ken Stabler had to sit for three years behind Daryle Monconif. Wow, that's crazy. The Stabler for Dan Pastorini trade in 1980 was a starter for starter blockbuster. And Jim Plunkett, who replaced the injured Pastorini in five games into the season, was a reclamation project to win the Super Bowl. We've been looking for that ever since. Todd Manerovich came close. Jay Schrader. Demarcus Russell. Davis could not sing enough praises and thanked Cousins while turning the page on the Mendoza chapter. Today is a major milestone in Raiders history, Davis said, and I'm excited as hell, and you should be too. I mean, I think they're being very diplomatic with all this, but they're trying to tell you, they're just trying to tell you that this kid's different. This kid is different, and the closer we get to the game, I'll be doing my preview tomorrow. Look, it's a team sport. It's a team sport. It's not just about the quarterback. Who are you going up against? You're going up against Drew Locke, who's decent. He's a very good backup, maybe starting level potential. He has an injured oblique. The Seahawks running game has been just a little bit better than ours, which means it ain't good. The Seahawks defense is awesome, no doubt about it. I would argue that the 49ers defense is pretty good, and besides the peanut punches, we were kind of able to go up and down there. We just couldn't punch it in, no pun intended. Literally multiple times had the ball at the one-yard line, did not score. Different drives. Now, that was with Kirk Cousins at the helm, but I do think where Kirk Cousins lacked in mobility, Mendoza can pick up some first downs that we would have to punt on with Kirk Cousins in the game. Is that going to be enough to equal out Kirk Cousins' brain, which is obviously much more, you know, accustomed to the NFL game? Maybe not. Probably not. I just think there's a world where we can surprise a lot of people with this game. I really do. Thank you. I think that another thing that not a lot of people are talking about, again, we're going to talk about this one in the preview, is we couldn't run the ball against the 49ers because we just had to keep passing. But Gent, he was averaging four point whatever per carry in the eight touches that he got or whatever it was. I don't know if Trey Zun's going to be playing, but they're shuffling around that offensive line. We'll see what happens. But as we get closer to me trying to predict this game. I'm getting very excited. Now, we're going to do a different separate video about John Spytek in a little bit here, but we got two Field Yates tweets in one video. That's got to be a record. The Kirk Cousins signing was a masterstroke by Raiders GM John Spytek. The Raiders paid Cousins a total of $650,000. They got nine games of rock-solid QB play, six months for the number one overall pick for Ndamukong Mendoza to learn the system and become mentored by Cousins and a 2027 third round. I believe in John Spytek. I know he's got some ups and downs. I don't think any GM in the history of the league has been perfect. And the roster that he inherited was not a good one. And now we've got the quarterback of the future. We got some, you know, we got a right guard here that's developing. We got Tre Tucker who's developing. Hezekiah Massie, Jermon McCoy continue to improve. Like, it doesn't happen overnight. You don't hit on every free agent. Sometimes a free agent class isn't that great. But for right now, I do think we're taking a massive step in the right direction with Spytek's leadership. And Kubik's leadership. Now, one of the guys that Spytek might have to think about re-signing in the offseason is Trey Tucker. I don't know what Trey Tucker's market's going to be, but he's had a little bit of a sneaky breakout season. It hasn't been absolutely incredible, but he's on pace to have 1,000 yards. And there are multiple times throughout this season so far that Kirk Cousins has missed him deep, either missing the progression or just not looking at him because he doesn't think he can make the throw anymore or is uncomfortable trying to take those shots. That's going to change with Mendoza. As a rookie, you're going to have a lot of confidence that you can make these throws. Maybe it'll end in disaster. But again, Trey Tucker has been schemed wide open in a lot of these games. So I would love to hear what Trey Tucker has to say about Mendoza starting. I was just saying, we all knew Fernando's moment would come at some point in the season. Like I said, we lost the leader in Kurt. I have the utmost respect for him. He's taught me a lot of things. He's taught Fernando a lot of things. He left this place in a really good spot. Fernando would come in and do what he's going to do. We're all very excited. When the news broke, it's one of those bittersweet things. We hate to see Kurt go, but we're very excited for Fernando to get out there and get his opportunity. I hope you feel like there's more. Four. What's the chemistry been so far between you two and him and the other receivers? Well, we're really good friends, so I think that helps, you know, and he's a younger guy, so I'm younger, but we're really good friends, and, you know, when he wasn't the starting quarterback. Can I just say I love Trey? I love Trey Tucker, and he's going to be a special player in this league, and I hope it's for us, because... I just know that now with Mendoza playing, he's just going to be unlocked even more than he was this year. We need to get him the ball more. I sit next to him in a team meeting, and we always start the day with a little joke, a banner, and stuff like that. That definitely helps because that's what you want. You want to be connected. I know he can trust me, and I can trust him as well. For everyone, we've been practicing with him all year and getting reps from him. It's not like this is week one and, hey, he's been an awesome starter. He's been in the wings. He's been working. We're all very excited. You mentioned losing Kirk Cousins as a leader. How much more do you take that leadership role as well, being a veteran and a leader in this locker room? Yeah, for sure. I mean, you hit it right on the head. You know, especially because he's a quarterback and he's throwing me the ball. So I've got to go out there and do simple better, you know, do simple better, go out there and make plays for him, you know, because we know he's going to play his heart out. So that's kind of my mentality to go out there and, you know, run through a wall for him and play hard and we're going to make plays and have fun. How did practice go today? Coach said that he doesn't feel like there's nothing you guys can't run, still running your playbook with Fernando. Amen. Oh, yeah. I mean, practice was great. I'm very excited. I'll just say that. Oh, man. Trey. Remind me to play poker with Trey Tucker. Look at his face when he said, let me just tell you I'm excited. How did practice go today? Coach said that he doesn't feel like there's nothing you guys can't run, still running your playbook with Fernando. Oh, yeah, I mean, practice was great. I'm very excited, I'll just say that. Practice was great. They're going to air this ---- out, dude. It was good to see him out there in the flow. But like I said, Coach said this, well, I mean, we've been seeing it all year. He's been taking reps with us, he's been doing everything, and you just see a throw and practice like wow, you know what I mean? So for that to be out there this Sunday, it's gonna be fun. Quarterback is a leadership position, obviously commanding a huddle, commanding a line of scrimmage. You've probably seen the growth of Fernando in that regard. What has that growth been like so far? Yeah, I think the good thing with him, He has never changed as a pro, so it's not like he was quiet, not working, and then all of a sudden he's a starting quarterback, and rah, rah, rah. He's been the same, and I think that's what's going to help him. That's what you look for in a quarterback, consistency, and that's what he brings. From when he first got here, you hear him break down a team thing and practice. It's the same as now so it's just like little things like that the consistency and he's been the same person Since he entered the league, Kubiak has mentioned a bunch of times how Mendoza can see the expectations on the practice field. I was wondering is there a particular moment you noticed from Mendoza that kind of stood out to you when he's practicing? Yeah, I mean I think you know he He just can do it all. I mean he can run you know he can he can throw like it's just like there's When I when I put it to him like I thought there's nothing that he can't do And he's super confident, you know I think for him as a quarterback, and this goes back to in the national championship game, when he lowered a shoulder and ran through the guy for a touchdown. So that shows the kind of guy we're getting. Oh, man. You want to go into these things with a level head. That's all I'm going to say about that. My preview video is coming soon. Patrons and YouTube members get it early, just like every other video I post, except the Sunday ones because they go right up. If you want to become a $5 or $10 Patreon YouTube member, link in the description below or click that big join button. Hit that like button, comment away, and please be sure to subscribe. It's free. I throw no charge to you. I love you guys, and I'll see you next time.