The Raiders want to begin asking themselves what they need to salvage from this season.
A fading likelihood at sneaking into the playoffs?
Or something that could really assist them become a playoff group for years to come?
After 4 consecutive defeats, including Sunday’s 35-21 loss to the Rams to fall to 3-4, the dialog about turning the offense over to Fernando Mendoza wants to become significantly more critical.
Las Vegas Raiders’ Fernando Mendoza warms up prior to an NFL soccer sport against the Los Angeles Rams at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. Getty Images
Perhaps as quickly as this week, as the Raiders start preparation for a journey to New York to play the Jets.
This has nothing to do with blaming veteran Kirk Cousins for the shedding streak. The Raiders have unfold duty for that across too many positions and assembly rooms to pin it on the quarterback.
This is about priorities.
And whether preserving whatever stays of a playoff chase should outweigh getting the first total choose, and presumed future face of the franchise, significant expertise.
It was clear Raiders coach Klint Kubiak contemplated a change Sunday against the Rams. But as the Raiders lower into the deficit in the second half, the risk of a comeback meant staying the course with Cousins.
That explains the rapid determination. The larger one still awaits.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins passes against the Los Angeles Rams during the third quarter of an NFL soccer sport at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. Getty Images
Asked about Mendoza’s timeline and making the change, Kubiak said all choices are on the desk.
“I think at this point we’re thinking about everything,” said Kubiak. “How to fix our problems. How to fix our issues in the red zone, in the third quarter. Personnel, scheme. We’ve got to talk about all of it.”
As they should. Four consecutive losses demand a arduous look at the total operation, including whether it’s time to flip to the quarterback they drafted first total to lead them out of the wilderness.
At some level, the Raiders have to cease defending the risk of this season at the expense of getting ready for the next one. And all the others after that.
They are getting awfully shut to that level.
And spare me the frightened query about whether placing Mendoza into a troublesome scenario might crush him.
Did it crush Eli Manning?
Las Vegas Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak leaves the discipline after an NFL soccer sport against the Los Angeles Rams at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. Getty Images
The Giants lost six of his seven begins as a rookie in 2004. A 12 months later, he led them to the NFC East title. Somehow, struggling against NFL defenses did not destroy his skill to ultimately beat them.
Jared Goff endured a depressing introduction to the league in 2016. By the finish of his second season, he was main the Rams to a division championship. They went to the Super Bowl in his third season.
The quarterback who seemed overwhelmed turned someone a successful group could construct around.
Caleb Williams absorbed 68 sacks during a five-win rookie season, then led the Bears to a division title and a playoff victory in his second 12 months. Drake Maye endured his own troublesome rookie apprenticeship before taking the Patriots to the Super Bowl the following season.
None of that ensures Mendoza will comply with the same path. Coaching, safety and the expertise around a quarterback matter enormously.
But these examples should put a dent in the notion that rookie struggles robotically depart everlasting scars.
Sometimes, they depart information.
The interception a quarterback throws in November becomes the mistake he acknowledges the following September. The safety he fails to modify becomes the strain he sees coming. The pace that overwhelms him becomes something he learns to course of.
There is worth in experiencing that before next season, when the Raiders will expect Mendoza to lead them somewhere.
And if rookie turbulence is enough to wreck him, perhaps the analysis that made him the first total choose wants inspecting anyway.
The Raiders drafted someone they believe can carry a franchise. That requires surviving a dangerous Sunday with out permitting it to become a dangerous profession.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza enters the discipline before the sport against the New Orleans Saints at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Trust that analysis.
And, please, spare us the compulsory Tom Brady comparability.
Brady arrived in New England as a sixth-round choose. Nobody constructed the franchise’s rapid future around getting him prepared to take over. His circumstances bear little resemblance to these of a quarterback chosen first total to change an group’s course.
Patrick Mahomes is a more affordable comparability, but context issues there, too.
The Chiefs were coming off a 12-4 season when they drafted him. With Alex Smith still at quarterback, the Chiefs won 10 video games and returned to the playoffs during Mahomes’ rookie 12 months, giving the teenager one begin in the finale.
They had a functioning current to protect.
What, precisely, are the Raiders preserving?
Fernando Mendoza of the Las Vegas Raiders runs against Mike Brown of the New England Patriots during the fourth quarter at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. Getty Images
They missed the playoffs last season. And many more before that. Barring a substantial turnaround, they are not headed there this season, either. With powerful video games looming against the 49ers, Seahawks, Broncos and Chiefs, it’s getting more durable to envision an obtainable path to the playoffs.
Kubiak still has a duty to win video games. But creating Mendoza belongs close to the high of the listing of methods to make the Raiders higher. And creating him should embody really taking part in, rather than just watching and studying from Cousins.
Give him a workable plan. Establish solutions against strain. Demand that the gamers around him do their jobs. Coach him through the errors.
Cousins can stay an invaluable useful resource. His expertise does not disappear because Mendoza begins taking the snaps.
Cousins understands the project: Hold down the fort until the Raiders determine Mendoza is prepared, then assist him take possession of the offense. If that transition comes this season, Cousins’ function shifts to backup, sounding board and mentor.
Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza appears to cross against the New England Patriots during the second half at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Those are obligations every bit as necessary to the future the Raiders are making an attempt to construct.
None of which has to be defined to Cousins, who signed with the Raiders with eyes vast open to the scenario.
“The organization will do what they feel is best,” Cousins said. “I feel that Fernando has done a great job and has a bright future ahead. I’m going to try to go out there and play as well as I possibly can to help us win and give him a great example to learn from until he does go out there.”
As it relates to Mendoza, sure, there are dangers in taking part in a younger quarterback. There are also prices to suspending classes he ultimately has to study.
The Raiders have a lot to repair over the the rest of this season.
Getting their most necessary funding onto the discipline should be chief among them.
Sooner rather than later.
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