​Aug 27, 2026; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) throws a pass against the San Francisco 49ers the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium. In the offseason, former Kansas City Chiefs coach Herm Edwards was highly vocal about starting rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza right away.Appearing on Good Morning Football, Edwards made a case that the Las Vegas Raiders must play their top draft pick immediately, rather than letting him sit behind a veteran Kirk Cousins.”When you draft a guy the No. 1 pick in the draft, you’re gonna say, ‘Well, you’re gonna hold a clipboard now for like a year or two and watch Kirk.’ No, you’re not. Go play. If he’s ready to play, play him.”But after seeing him in action during the preseason, Edwards completely changed his mind about whether Mendoza was actually ready. He backtracked, saying that the rookie is currently struggling:”No, he’s not ready yet. And I think the game is moving very fast for him right now. And at times, he gets lost in play action because he wasn’t a play action quarterback.””No, he’s not ready yet. And I think the game is moving very fast for him right now.”—@HermEdwards on if Fernando Mendoza is ready to be the Raiders starting QB 🏈 pic.twitter.com/fYv3RRu5A4— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 29, 2026Fernando Mendoza cannot manage an NFL offensePreseason statistics back up this new view, with Warren Sharp’s data proving that Mendoza cannot manage an NFL offense at this stage.Mendoza completed just 25 of his 51 preseason passes and was hit 14 times (the most in the league), which is a dangerously high 29% hit rate. He took too long to pass, averaging 3.0 seconds per throw (ranking 58th), which naturally drew heavy pressure from the defense. To make matters worse, blitzes led to pressure on 70% of his dropbacks and hits on 50%, which is far worse than the league averages of 36% and 16%.Aug 27, 2026; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) looks to handoff the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half at Allegiant Stadium.Mandatory Credit: Christopher Trim-Imagn ImagesAug 27, 2026; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) looks to handoff the ball against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half at Allegiant Stadium.In college, Mendoza almost exclusively played out of the shotgun formation and rarely snapped the ball from under center. Edwards explained that when a quarterback does under-center play-action, “you turn your back to the defense, it changes, and a lot of his throws are over the middle and all of a sudden it’s cloudy there”.Raiders fans saw this firsthand against the 49ers, where Mendoza went a poor 1-for-4 for just 6 yards on play-action, including an interception after turning his back on the dropback.Kirk Cousins avoids pressureLuckily, the Raiders have 38-year-old veteran Kirk Cousins as a temporary starter. Cousins avoided any pressure on four pr