Getting Fernando Mendoza, Aidan O’Connell game-ready vital for Raiders

· Yahoo Sports

HENDERSON, NEVADA - JUNE 09: (L) Fernando Mendoza #15 and Aidan O'Connell #12 of the Las Vegas Raiders warmup during mandatory minicamp at the Las Vegas Raiders Headquarters/Intermountain Health Performance Center on June 09, 2026 in Henderson, Nevada. (Photo by Louis Grasse/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Kirk Cousins as the starting quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders should provide no shock value.

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Not with minority owner Tom Brady adamant that a rookie signal caller sit, watch, and learn during their first year in the NFL. That modus operandi (MO) is echoed throughout Las Vegas as head coach Klint Kubiak and general manager John Spytek expressed the same philosophy.

And thus, it’s the 37-year-old Cousins (who turns 38 on Aug. 19, by the way), who is QB1 and headlining Kubiak’s Raiders offense this coming season. The familiarity that the veteran signal caller has with not only Kubiak, but offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko and offensive line coach Rick Dennison help expedite the learning curve for Cousins and the early returns are promising.

Cousins age alongside being a short-term bridge quarterback to highly touted Fernando Mendoza — the Indiana product that the Raiders selected No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft — and the oft-unpredictable nature of the NFL game where injuries happen within a blink of an eye, getting both Mendoza and fellow backup signal caller Aidan O’Connell game-ready is vital for the Silver & Black.

Like anything else in pro football, there’s significant challenges to accomplish this. Namely: Practice rep limitations, the learning curve mentioned above, and the career trajectories both backup quarterbacks have. And as our Matt Holder explored in his most-recent mailbag piece, there are viable reasons as to why O’Connell may be the first man up if something awry occurs to Cousins.

That all noted, it’d be in the Silver & Black’s best interest to simulate situations to prep the backups and a tiff between Cousins and elite edge rusher Maxx Crosby — that resulted in both sitting out team sessions during the Raiders’ Saturday practice — gave the team that golden opportunity. As our Marcus Johnson observed, Mendoza had a sharp outing as de facto QB1 with Cousins held out.

“Well, I think as much as he has opportunities that are going to put him in realistic situations, and it could be with the threes or the twos or the ones. Also, along those same lines as the defensive players because the speed picks up a little bit,” Raiders quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan said when asked how important it is to get Mendoza reps with the first team like Saturday’s practice. “So, I think it’s important that he doesn’t get too far ahead of himself, which a young man like that doesn’t do that, and he is locked in on the process and just trying to improve. And so those are the things that we’re looking for to help him take those next steps.”

That development process is likely with the second- and third-team unit as Sullivan noted above. Which is an opportune time to talk about the biggest impediment of getting Mendoza or O’Connell first-team reps as practices are geared towards next week’s preseason opener and the regular season.

The QB1 Tax

Due to the NFL collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the players union placing strict limits on practice, full-contact, and padded sessions — with eyes on reducing injury, off-setting season expansion to 17 regular-season games, and allow for player recovery — snaps for backup quarterbacks with first-team offense is severely dampened.

This was the case long before the new CBA and 17-game expansion — the starter took over 90-percent of the reps to prep, hence, QB1 tax — and now it’s even more limited as there’s only so many snaps to go around for all 32 teams.

Prior to Saturday’s practice that saw Cousins sit during the team sessions, Mendoza and O’Connell split the scraps. Meaning, the two did the most with the meager opportunities given to them as the elder statesman of the quarterback room readies himself for being the starter. This compounds both Mendoza’s and O’Connell’s ability to establish chemistry and rhythm with the rest of the offense. But it’s not all doom and gloom in this regard as the reps the backup quarterbacks do get help them establish rapport with other second- and third-team elements, fellow Raiders who would also be thrust into the spotlight if starters ahead of them became suddenly unavailable.

Learning Curve

While Cousins uphill trek in assimilating to the Kubiak system once more has built-in familiarity, the current Raiders coaches he’s worked with prior evolved over time when they were apart from the quarterback. Thus there’s an acclimation period even for the 15-year veteran.

Now exponentially multiply that for both backup quarterbacks. And the growing pains are evident for the entire quarterback room so far in camp. Each has taken their turn impressing the coaching staff alongside miscues that provide both on-field instruction and valuable teach tape.

While Mendoza comes from a Hoosiers’ pro-style offense, the assimilation to a dominantly under-center operation that Kubiak runs to create play-action success is a big transition. Mendoza’s processing skills and ability to learn certainly help but alongside that are missteps that all rookie quarterbacks go through.

“There’s 60 to 80 plays in a game and there’s going to be ups and downs,” Kubiak said regarding Mendoza after one of the team’s practices last week. “So, what quarterback can get the rest of the other 10 players playing at their best. That’s what we’re looking for. There will never be a perfect game or a perfect practice. I think he’s doing a good job. I don’t expect him to be perfect right now.”

Flip it to O’Connell and the fourth-year veteran is doing much of the same. He’s also starting from square one with zero prior experience in Kubiak’s offense and while he has critical NFL experience (21 games total with 17 starts), much of his veteran advantage is zapped due to newness. What does help him is he’s no stranger to assimilating to complex offenses as he cut his teeth as a 25-year-old rookie in 2023 under then-head coach Josh McDaniels’ complex scheme.

Now mix in divergent paths for Mendoza and O’Connell and things get a bit more complex. As the top pick in the 2026 draft, the former is viewed as the long-term heir apparent at the Raiders’ quarterback position. O’Connell, meanwhile, will be a 28-year-old on the final leg of his rookie contract as the team’s fourth-round pick (135th) in the 2023 draft.

“Yeah, it’s been fun. Obviously, when you’re in a quarterback room, you spend a lot of time with each other, talking about football a lot, but also talking about life a lot too. So, it’s been fun to get to know those guys on a personal level, and I think then when you do talk about football, it’s a better relationship because of that,” O’Connell said when asked about the competition amongst the quarterbacks. “And we can all learn from each other. We’ve all seen different things and had different experiences. So, I think it takes a growth mindset from each one of us, and I think that’s what each of us have.”

Kubiak has long said he expects both Mendoza and O’Connell to push Cousins and there’s also undrafted free agent Jacob Clark (6-foot-5, 220 pounds, Missouri State) rounding out the quarterback room. And for Kubiak, it’s imperative the coaching staff to challenge themselves and the entire roster — not just the quarterbacks — to stress the importance of attention to detail so everyone is in the best possible position to succeed.

“He’s very coachable, all the quarterbacks are. Really, all of our players are,” Kubiak responded when asked about Mendoza. “We’ve got guys that want to get better. So, when they’re eager to get better, you better make sure you’re on it as a coach. So, we’ve got to challenge ourselves as coaches and make sure that we’re giving them the right coaching points and helping them get to where they want to get to.”

The opportunities for Mendoza and O’Connell is without question finite during practices with Cousins as the alpha of the quarterback wolfpack. Getting to observe, intake, and learn from the relationship the QB1 has with the head coach and primarily play caller is valuable. And leaning on that when its their turn is vital.

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