In one season at Indiana, quarterback Fernando Mendoza won 2025 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year honors, the 2025 Heisman Trophy Award, the College Football Playoff National Championship and could very well now be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, a selection possessed by the Las Vegas Raiders.
What does Tom Brady, who was in attendance for Indiana’s National Championship victory over Miami, see in Mendoza?
“He’s played tremendous all season,” Brady said about Mendoza, who declared for the draft on Friday morning, on Friday’s edition of “The Herd.” “Sixteen-0, leading his team. He’s another guy that when you hear him speak — [when] I always kind of judge quarterbacks, I go, ‘How would I have answered that?’ — and he’s just a very mature young man. He’s got a bright future. Everybody coming into the league, there’s still so much room for development. Nobody’s a finished product. I don’t care whether you won the Heisman or you’re the 199th pick in the draft. It’s ‘what do you do when you get there? How important is this to you? Are you obsessed with your job? Are you obsessed with being the best you can be?’
“These young men, whether it’s Fernando or a lot of other players that were on the field the other night [in the National Championship], they have a great opportunity to do something in their life to enhance their family’s life, to go impact a community in a positive way by playing great football and bringing joy to the fan base, and that’s a job you take very seriously.”
Across Indiana’s 16 games this season, Mendoza totaled 3,535 passing yards, 41 passing touchdowns, six interceptions and a 182.9 passer rating, while completing 72.0% of his passes. He also rushed for 276 yards and seven touchdowns.
In Indiana’s first two playoff games (quarterfinal round win over Alabama and semifinal round win over Oregon), Mendoza threw a combined eight touchdowns, completed 86.1% of his passes and had zero interceptions over the Hoosiers’ three playoff games.
In Indiana’s National Championship win over Miami, Mendoza rushed for a bruising, 12-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-4 with 9:18 remaining in the game, giving the Hoosiers a 24-14 lead that would prove to be enough to win.
Mendoza spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career at California (2022-24), with whom he was the Golden Bears’ primary quarterback over his last two seasons with the program.
As for Mendoza’s potential next team, the Raiders are coming off a 3-14 season and searching for a new head coach in the wake of moving on from Pete Carroll after one season. Last offseason, Las Vegas acquired Geno Smith from the Seattle Seahawks, reuniting him with Carroll – Smith was coached by Carroll on the Seahawks from 2019-23 – and signed the quarterback to a two-year, $75 million extension. With that said, the 35-year-old Smith threw an NFL-high 17 interceptions in 15 starts.
“All these young prospects, I hope they go to environments that embrace them completely that can help them develop into the best player they can be,” Brady said about Mendoza and any player that enters the 2026 NFL Draft. “That’s how I kind of grew up in the league [with the New England Patriots]. I found a great environment. It was all about football. It was about, ‘how can you be the best teammate? How can you work hard? How can you play smart? How can you play tough? How can you play well under pressure? How well can you play in tough conditions?
“And then, ultimately, how well can you play in championship games?’ And all those things remain to be seen.”
Tom Brady on Rams vs. Seahawks, Jarrett Stidham vs. Drake Maye, Indiana
