Yahoo Sports NFL on Fernando Mendoza
From the article
watched him get better by the week in practice and came to the conclusion he was ready for his shot; The rookie has been shining there, and the Raiders have seen enough to feel good about putting the offense in his hands; What Mendoza needs now is the experience of throwing a costly interception himself, walking back to the sideline and figuring out how to go score on the next drive.
STACKED’s take
Raiders confident in Mendoza's readiness; promoting him to starter after strong practice development.
The Raiders used the first pick in the draft on Mendoza and have watched him improve by the week in practice, concluding he was ready for his shot as the team's starting quarterback. The source notes most of Mendoza's development has happened on the practice field out of public view, with the rookie shining there; the Raiders have seen enough to feel confident putting the offense in his hands and understand there will be a learning curve they are ready to accept. Mendoza was given nine games to observe veteran Kirk Cousins' preparation and handling of adversity, but now needs the experience of throwing costly interceptions himself and managing the emotional recovery—experience Cousins could only take him so far with. The Raiders drafted Mendoza picturing their next good team with him at quarterback and by the trade deadline were ready to start finding out how soon he could get them there.
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