Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Number one NFL draft pick Fernando Mendoza will not begin this season’s opening game as the Las Vegas Raiders on Wednesday named experienced quarterback Kirk Cousins as their starter. Heisman Trophy winner Mendoza will have to wait his turn after new coach Klint Kubiak put his early faith in 38-year-old veteran Cousins, who will start for his fourth NFL franchise.
“Kirk’s going to be the starting quarterback,” Kubiak told a press conference. “He has played really good football…Kirk has had a really good offseason, very good camp. He earned it.” Barring any last-minute changes, it will mark the first time since Baker Mayfield in 2018 that a quarterback drafted with the first overall pick does not start the following season.
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Having watched their team finish a distant last in the tough AFC West division for back-to-back seasons, Raiders fans have high hopes that Mendoza can make an impact. The Cuban-American Mendoza last season led Indiana to the United States college football crown and bagged the Heisman as college football’s top player. He inspired the Hoosiers to an unbeaten campaign and their first national title, completing 273 of 379 passes for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns with only six interceptions. The 22-year-old also ran 90 times for 276 yards and seven touchdowns.
While Kubiak evaded a question about whether Mendoza is expected to play at all this season, Cousins — entering his 15th NFL season — got the nod. Across the Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, and Atlanta Falcons, Cousins has 167 career starts and 88 wins, with 44,700 passing yards and 298 passing touchdowns.
The Raiders have not won a post-season game since they captured the 2003 Super Bowl and have not even reached the post-season for four years. They sacked coach Pete Carroll after last season’s disappointing campaign and traded former starting quarterback Geno Smith to the New York Jets. The Raiders begin their season against the Miami Dolphins in Las Vegas on September 13.
© 2024 AFP
