​Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) prays before a NFL preseason game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers at Allegiant Stadium, Thursday August 27, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nev.HENDERSON, Nev. — Ready or not, it’s Fernando Time.With the Las Vegas Raiders have traded Kirk Cousins to Minnesota in exchange for a 2027 third-round draft pick Tuesday, just hours before the NFL trade deadline. It means coach Klint Kubiak will hand the keys to the offense to rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza when the Raiders host Seattle Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.Is Mendoza, the top player taken in the 2026 NFL Draft, ready? We have a very small sample size about what to expect. There was the preseason and also his fourth-quarter mop-up duty in the Raiders’ 45-17 loss at New England on Oct. 11. Mendoza was 6 of 8 for 48 yards in his NFL debut.Sunday, it’ll be a far different situation. He’ll be at home instead of on the road. He’ll be inside instead of playing outdoors. And he’ll be going up against the NFL’s best defense as the Seahawks allow just 244 yards a game.He’ll hope the Raiders’ running game, which seems to have been stuck in first gear all season, finally gets untracked to give him a chance to be a little less predictable. Perhaps the offensive line will block better for him than it did for Cousins, who was sacked 11 times in his nine games with the Silver and Black.At 4-5, the Raiders have not completely abandoned the season. And in playing Mendoza, they’re showing they have confidence in his ability to produce results and win games. And by moving on from Cousins, the speculation about when we’d see No. 15 back on the field has come to an abrupt end. It’s his team now and we’ll see what he can do going forward.Mendoza has said all the right things and more important, done all the right things as he prepped for his opportunity. He has been at the veteran Cousins’ side the entire time, supported him, learned from him.At some point, he was going to get his chance. That it comes in mid-November with the season half over isn’t a bad thing. He’s got the whole week to take the first-team snaps in practice, get his bearings, get the game plan refined with Kubiak and offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko and be ready to go with a warm reception he’ll receive from Raider Nation when he’s introduced with the offensive starters prior to kickoff Sunday.It’s a script I’ve seen before. When Eli Manning was acquired by the New York Giants in 2004, he didn’t get his first start until Nov. 21 against Atlanta. He sat behind a veteran in Kurt Warner and he got a little taste of NFL life on Sept. 12 in the fourth quarter of a 31-17 loss to the Eagles.Manning went on to have a great career, winning two Super Bowls. If Mendoza can accomplish anything close to that in his career, the Raiders will be over the moon.As for Cousins, he should be thanked and appreciated for what he did during his brief time as