{"id":132765,"date":"2026-05-20T17:19:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765"},"modified":"2026-05-20T17:19:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T21:19:13","slug":"fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765","title":{"rendered":"Fernando Mendoza’s Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Fernando Mendoza<\/a> may be the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, but the Las Vegas Raiders don\u2019t plan on having him under center in Week 1.<\/p>\n

At least, that\u2019s the hope of new head coach Klint Kubiak<\/a>, who said as much in March.<\/p>\n

“You\u2019d love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That\u2019s in a perfect world,” Kubiak said at the time during the NFL Scouting Combine.<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

But when might Mendoza make his NFL debut? ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter believes it could come much later than fans expect, especially given the brutal stretch of games midway through the season.<\/p>\n

“I think they\u2019re going to want Kirk Cousins to start the season,” Schefter said on his podcast<\/a>. “And if you\u2019re going to want to turn to Fernando Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick, at some point in time, I don\u2019t know if you\u2019re going to want to do it in November when you have to go play four road games.”<\/p>\n

EX-NFL STAR CALLS FERNANDO MENDOZA ‘THE MOST COMPLETE PLAYER’ OF THE 2026 DRAFT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Raiders\u2019 November schedule begins with the New York Jets on the road, followed by a trip to San Francisco to face the 49ers. Then, it\u2019s a home game at Allegiant Stadium, but against the reigning Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks.<\/p>\n

Finally, the Raiders have their divisional bout with the Denver Broncos<\/a> on the road before heading to Cleveland to face the Browns.<\/p>\n

“That\u2019s not a great time to have to go to your rookie quarterback if you haven\u2019t gone to him by then. So, we could be seeing Kirk Cousins up until about December 1,” Schefter added.<\/p>\n

After the Browns game, the Raiders have their bye week before three straight home games against the Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>, Denver Broncos and Tennessee Titans, respectively. They end the season on the road with the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17 and Kansas City Chiefs in Week 18.<\/p>\n

Mendoza, the national champion and Heisman Trophy winner for the Indiana Hoosiers this past collegiate season, will have a bright spotlight in Las Vegas considering his draft stock and how the franchise believes him to be their quarterback of the future.<\/p>\n

But the signing of Cousins, as well as Kubiak\u2019s statement, points to there not necessarily being an open quarterback competition to begin training camp this summer.<\/p>\n

Of course, that could change. But Kubiak is hoping his ideal world, where Cousins starts and Mendoza learns and develops behind a tested veteran quarterback, is the direction now for the Raiders.<\/p>\n

Time will surely tell when Mendoza takes over under center, but perhaps Schefter is on to something when looking at the schedule and trying to pinpoint when that NFL debut will come for him.<\/p>\n

Follow Fox News Digital\u2019s<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0sports coverage on X<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and subscribe to<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/sports\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-happen-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fernando Mendoza may be the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, but the Las Vegas Raiders don\u2019t plan on having him under center […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-132765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFernando Mendoza's Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN's Adam Schefter suggests - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fernando Mendoza's Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN's Adam Schefter suggests - Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fernando Mendoza may be the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, but the Las Vegas Raiders don\u2019t plan on having him under center […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T21:19:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/businessman-showing-business-evolution1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"715\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"423\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36\"},\"headline\":\"Fernando Mendoza’s Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggests\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T21:19:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765\"},\"wordCount\":505,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Market News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765\",\"name\":\"Fernando Mendoza's Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN's Adam Schefter suggests - Wall Street PR\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T21:19:13+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Fernando Mendoza’s Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggests\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\",\"name\":\"Wall Street PR\",\"description\":\"Latest News From WallStreet\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Wall Street PR\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png\",\"width\":537,\"height\":70,\"caption\":\"Wall Street PR\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/WallstreetPRs\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/author\/admin\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Fernando Mendoza's Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN's Adam Schefter suggests - Wall Street PR","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Fernando Mendoza's Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN's Adam Schefter suggests - Wall Street PR","og_description":"Fernando Mendoza may be the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, but the Las Vegas Raiders don\u2019t plan on having him under center […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765","og_site_name":"Wall Street PR","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/","article_published_time":"2026-05-20T21:19:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":715,"height":423,"url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/businessman-showing-business-evolution1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36"},"headline":"Fernando Mendoza’s Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggests","datePublished":"2026-05-20T21:19:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765"},"wordCount":505,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Market News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765","name":"Fernando Mendoza's Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN's Adam Schefter suggests - Wall Street PR","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-05-20T21:19:13+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/fernando-mendozas-raiders-debut-may-not-happen-until-december-espns-adam-schefter-suggests-132765#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Fernando Mendoza’s Raiders debut may not happen until December, ESPN’s Adam Schefter suggests"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/","name":"Wall Street PR","description":"Latest News From WallStreet","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#organization","name":"Wall Street PR","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/brand-logo.png","width":537,"height":70,"caption":"Wall Street PR"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WallStreetPR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/WallstreetPRs"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/#\/schema\/person\/6e00efa2abc413bdc0bca51a90c54d36","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/360_F_336393115_5gCUfwn76x3MJaCJMYDKLoRebkC8QyrL-300x300.jpg","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/author\/admin"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132765\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132765"},{"taxonomy":"stock_ticker","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/stock_ticker?post=132765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}