A new era of Raiders football is set to begin after Las Vegas took quarterbackFernando Mendoza with the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL draft. And Maxx Crosby, for one, couldn’t be more excited.
The Tuesday after the draft, Crosby hopped on his podcast The Rushto share his unfiltered thoughts on Mendoza joining the organization and potentially developing into the franchise’s quarterback for the future.
After welcoming Mendoza to the black and silver, Crosby got honest about how the former Indiana signal-caller can succeed in the NFL and earn his teammates’ respect.
“It's a whole another game, coming to the NFL, it's the highest level—there's no other level higher. And you have to realize that you're there for a reason,” Crosby said. “You can't let that be intimidating. It's easy to say, but harder to do. And you just got to be 100% bought in on the process because your time, it's not on your timing. … You don't know when it's going to be your name's going to be called. And that's one of the toughest things in this league, you know what I mean? I've seen it break a lot of people.
“… With Fernando, he didn't have the easiest road. He started at Cal, and then he transferred. He wasn't considered the number one pick going into this past season, but he handled the adversity incredibly. He goes and wins every single game, wins a natty, wins a Heisman and now look at what it's done for his life, you know what I mean? So anytime you get an opportunity to go out there and just compete and just put your best foot forward, that's what it all comes down to and that's where you earn respect from the guys.”
Despite taking Mendoza as the top pick, the Raiders may not opt to start him right away and could slowly ease him into the position while using Kirk Cousins as a bridge quarterback.
"You want to limit the amount of pressure you have on that guy on the start. If you have a young quarterback, I’m not necessarily in favor of running him out there right away either,” Raiders general manager John Spytek said before the draft.
Mendoza is coming off a historic, Heisman-winning campaign with the national champion Hoosiers, though he, like any other NFL rookie, will likely face his own share of growing pains come this fall. A few quarterbacks in recent history, such as Texans’ C.J. Stroud, immediately thrived in their first years, while others, like Panthers’ Bryce Young, endured bumpier starts to their pro careers.
Regardless of how Mendoza kicks off his Raiders’ tenure, Crosby imparted a very simple piece of advice to the rookie: Be yourself.
“I think for him, just come in and just be himself. That's what I told him. Just just be yourself. Come in and do what you do,” Crosby said.
“… Even if you're not the starter, still carry yourself like you're the starter. … Don't wait until you're out there on the field to go and lead. Like even if you're the second-string guy, if you're the third-string guy, whatever it is, still be 100% yourself and let your personality show and just be authentic. I think that's the most important thing.”
Mendoza, for his part, made clear he wasn’t taking anything for granted in his rookie year and planned to work his way up to the top, no matter the challenges along the way. And that journey for him starts now.
“Whatever everyone is ranking me, I don’t know those specifics, but I’m at the bottom of the totem pole right now, and I’ve got to first earn the respect to my teammates, earn that equity, and I’ve also just got to immerse,” Mendoza told reporters after his draft selection. “And I’m just ready to do whatever the team needs and calls me to do to help them win.”
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KRISTEN WONG
Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020 and has a bachelor’s in English and linguistics from Columbia University. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. She is a lifelong Liverpool fan who enjoys solving crossword puzzles and hanging out at her neighborhood dive bar in NYC.
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