Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza
officially declares for the NFL draft and could be the No. 1 pick
[January 24, 2026]
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — The Las Vegas Raiders are on the clock, and
Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza is officially available.
Mendoza formally declared for the NFL draft Friday and could be
headed to the Raiders with the No. 1 pick in April. Mendoza led
Indiana to a 16-0 season and its first national championship with a
27-21 victory against Miami on Monday night.
“Let's get to work,” Mendoza wrote in a social media post that
included a highlight video. “I'm humbled to announce that I am
officially declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft!”
The junior completed 72% of his passes this season for 3,535 yards,
with 41 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also ran for seven
scores and played some of his best football in the College Football
Playoff, with eight TD passes and no picks while scoring a key late
touchdown on a highlight-reel 12-yard run on fourth-and-4. It
extended Indiana’s lead to 24-14 in the fourth quarter.
Mendoza's first and only season with the Hoosiers was capped by
memorable moments.
In October, he beat an Iowa blitz by throwing the tiebreaking
49-yard TD pass to Elijah Sarratt with 88 seconds left in a 20-15
win. Two weeks later, after throwing a Pick-6 that allowed then-No.
3 Oregon to tie the score at 20 early in the fourth quarter, he
responded by leading the Hoosiers down the field and connected with
Sarratt on an 8-yard TD pass in a 30-20 victory.
At Penn State in November, Mendoza threw a perfectly placed 7-yard
TD pass to Omar Cooper Jr., who toe-tapped the back line in the end
zone with 36 seconds left to give the Hoosiers a 27-24 victory. Then
in December, Mendoza's 17-yard TD pass to Sarratt midway through the
third quarter proved the decisive score in a 13-10 victory over No.
1 Ohio State, ending Indiana's 30-game losing streak in the series
while giving the Hoosiers their first outright Big Ten title since
1945.
And in the playoffs, Mendoza helped hand No. 9 Alabama its worst
postseason loss in school history, 38-3, and rout No. 5 Oregon 56-22
before defeating No. 10 Miami 27-21 on the Hurricanes home field —
thanks in part to his incredible scoring run.
Along the way, Mendoza became a respected leader inside the locker
room, a humble but well-known personality outside of it and
Indiana's first Heisman winner as he capped what some called the
greatest two-year turnaround in college football history. Mendoza
also is the third Latino player to win the Heisman.
None of it surprised Mendoza's teammates or coaches.
“When you have this much success year in and year out, your teams
are always close, but this team was exceptionally close,” coach Curt
Cignetti said Monday. “I think Fernando had a big part of that, and
I think (center Pat) Coogan and (linebacker Aiden) Fisher and going
on the road with some of those guys — the Penn State game, what that
did for this team, I can’t measure, when we were down and out and
all the odds were against us, second-and-17, running clock, 1
minute, 30 (seconds), and all of a sudden we recomposed and found a
way to get that done.”
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Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza speaks during the champions
news conference after theiir win against Miami in the College
Football Playoff national championship game, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026,
in Miami. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Mendoza’s decision to turn pro was considered a formality. The
Hoosiers seemingly tipped his NFL intentions when they signed TCU
quarterback Josh Hoover during the open transfer portal window.
Mendoza is considered the clearcut top QB in the draft after
Oregon’s Dante Moore announced he would return to school for the
2026 season. And the Raiders desperately need better quarterback
play after going 3-14 in 2025 and clinching the No. 1 overall pick
with a loss to the New York Giants in Week 17. The franchise will
have a new coach after firing veteran Pete Carroll after one season.
It's not just Mendoza's arm, either. Cignetti has spoken multiple
times about the quarterback's uncanny ability to extend plays like
the decisive one he had Monday night.
Mendoza was a lightly recruited player coming out of a traditional
powerhouse prep program, Christopher Columbus, in Miami. His first
offer came from Yale. His only FBS offer came from California, where
he started for two seasons before leaving the program to join his
younger brother, Alberto, at Indiana.
Alberto Mendoza announced this week he's transferring to Georgia
Tech.
And now Fernando Mendoza, after appearing on Jimmy Fallon's
late-night show Thursday and “Good Morning America” on Friday, one
more celebration — Saturday in Bloomington — before heading to the
NFL.
“When I first stepped in the locker room, you could tell that they
believed, and if you didn’t believe, you’re kind of, like, outcasted,”
Mendoza said. “So in a way it was either our way or the highway. At
that point once you know and you see everybody truly believe, not
just believe because they want more catches or more stats but
because they truly believe in the goal, I think it’s infectious, and
it’s infectious throughout the locker room, and I’m so blessed to be
a part of it.”
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