Fernando Mendoza has engraved himself as the best quarterback coming out of the 2025 college football season with a Heisman Trophy as well as the national championship under his belt.
The Indiana QB led the team to an undefeated season, becoming the first team to go 16-0 in the sport’s history.
Mendoza ended the 2025 season by completing 72% of his passes, threw 3,535 yards and scored 41 impressive touchdowns, along with 6 interceptions.
Talking about his NFL Draft future, Mel Kiper Jr. didn’t hold back from predicting a successful future for the Indiana QB during his Wednesday appearance on the First Take. As per Kiper Jr, Mendoza is projected to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.
“Think about the biggest games, the Big Ten Championship against Ohio State, the three playoff games. He had 10 touchdowns and only one pick with a 74% completion percentage. This kid is ready for the NFL because he benefitted from 35 starts,” Kiper said. “He’ll be 23 in October. Think about the Raiders and that division and the AFC in general with all those great quarterbacks. This is a heck of a place to start [for the Raiders]. The future with Mendoza would look bright for Raider Nation. I’d lock it in with pen, with exclamations points.”
Mel Kiper Jr. Reveals Concerns About Ty Simpson Ahead Of The NFL Draft
The New York Jets ended the 2025 NFL season with a devastating 3-14 record but still ended up missing No. 1 overall pick for the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Jets now hold the 2nd, 16th and the 33rd pick in the draft. Talking about picking a quarterback with one of their picks, Mel Kiper Jr. predicted Ty Simpson as their potential selection.
Mel Kiper Jr. shared that he thinks the Jets won’t use their 2nd pick for Simpson and would rather wait till the No.16th overall pick to get the Alabama QB.
“Let’s be clear, though: I do have some concerns about Simpson. He has 15 career starts, which means this pick would come with a lot of risk. That’s just not enough game experience. We also can’t ignore his dip in performance in the second half of the 2025 season. But there’s also no questioning his upside. Simpson has good pocket presence, and he fired 28 touchdown passes and only five interceptions this past season. If the Jets can surround him with talent on offense and develop him, he has a high ceiling,” Kiper wrote.
Simpson joined Alabama in 2022 under Nick Saban and developed there as the backup quarter until the 2025 college football season, when he was named the QB1 under Kalen DeBoer.
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