The Indiana quarterback, who starred for the Hoosiers in their championship win last season, explained that family reasons played a central role in his choice, particularly his desire to share the moment with loved ones who could not easily travel.

His mother, Elsa Mendoza, lives with multiple sclerosis, a health condition that has also been widely reported as a key factor influencing the decision, making a home setting more practical and meaningful for the draft night experience.

Did Fernando Mendoza’s decision affect his draft stock?

No — Fernando Mendoza’s decision did not meaningfully hurt his draft stock. In fact, it has been largely neutral, because he was already locked in as the top quarterback prospect before any major “decision” narrative developed.

His draft position has been consistently stable throughout the 2026 cycle. He is widely projected as the QB1 and a top overall pick, with multiple major draft analysts and outlets placing him at or near No. 1 on their boards.

ESPN evaluators have repeatedly described him as the clear top quarterback in the class thanks to his physical tools, production and championship pedigree. Even broader draft coverage shows the same trend: His Heisman-winning season and national title run at Indiana actually solidified his status.

What team is most likely to draft Fernando Mendoza?

Right now, the strongest and most consistent projection is that the Las Vegas Raiders are the most likely team to draft Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft order.

This alignment is also supported by broader draft consensus: analysts consistently describe him as the “consensus QB1”, and when a prospect holds that status, the team picking first typically becomes the default fit unless a trade disrupts the board.

Per Jordan Reid of ESPN, the Jets view Omar Cooper Jr. “as an ideal complementary WR2 to Garrett Wilson.” Reid also reported that the team is “extremely high” on Cooper. He just won the Natty with Indiana at CFP.

The Jets are also battling with the Eagles and Ravens over Jordyn Tyson, but if Cooper is grabbed, they might as well just forget about Tyson. They already have a great WR1 in Garrett Wilson, and Cooper could be the best partner in crime according to Reid.

Omar Cooper Jr.’s profile

At 5’11”, 204 lbs, Cooper is a slot receiver with huge yards-after-catch (YAC) skills. He forced 27 missed tackles in 2025, where he racked up 937 yards on 69 receptions alongside a whopping 13 touchdowns.

There are doubts about him being undersized, and not having the most-polished route-running repertoire. He is a physical, strong wideout with very reliable hands. He might be short, but he is stocky, and that’s what allows him to be a YAC machine.

Where will Omar Cooper Jr. be drafted?

Projected as a late first to early second-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Cooper might overlap with the Jets’ other shortlisted wideout in Jordyn Tyson. Tyson can be seen as a bit more polished and versatile wideout. Cooper has a champion pedigree, and also is more durable and reliable than Tyson.

The fact is that Cooper is seemingly over Tyson on the Jets’ shortlist. Therefore, the Jets are making drafting a wideout a big priority. Hence, this means they are likely to take a WR with the 16th, 33rd, or 44th overall pick.

In an Instagram post, Fernando Mendoza announced that he will be entering the NFL Draft. Mendoza was already the favorite to go first overall this upcoming draft and rumors about the Raiders really wanting him had just grown more and more after the Natty.

Mendoza ended his 2025 season with a 72% pass completion, 3,535 yards, led the country with 41 touchdowns and only threw six picks. The QB also led the country with a 182.9 rate and led the Big Ten in yards per attempt too.

The Raiders need to do some work before drafting Mendoza

It’s pretty much a done deal that the Raiders will draft Mendoza. However, this team needs more than just a quarterback to go back to its winning ways. The fact is they need to find a head coach, an offensive coordinator and reestructure this thing from top to bottom.

Tom Brady is the co-owner of the team, so the rebuild will be fast, as he doesn’t like losing at football. He is in charge, alongside general manager John Spytek, of looking for a new head coach to take the reigns of the team and likely coach Mendoza for the next few years. In fact, Mendoza also hinted at his desired destination in the NFL.

The Raiders play in the toughest division in football

While some might say the NFC North is a tough division, and it is, the AFC West is just a plain war. The Kansas City Chiefs are rebounding after missing the playoffs this year but with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes, they are perennial contenders.

The Broncos are playing the AFC Championship this season and there is no reason to believe that they’ll fall down all of a sudden. The other team is the Chargers, who have a top-5 QB in Justin Herbert, a top-tier HC in Jim Harbaugh, a solid roster and looking to get over the hump in the playoffs. Hence, the Raiders need to make good decisions and do them fast.

Indiana is witnessing several key members enter the transfer portal in college football. In addition to losing Fernando Mendoza successor after the 2026 National Championship, the Hoosiers could be waving goodbye to a key member of the offensive line.

Consequently, Manning and the Longhorns could land a key reinforcement to protect the heir of football’s royal quarterback family. According to reports, Indiana guard Bray Lynch is considering a transfer to the University of Texas in Austin.

“Multiple sources leading up to the game this weekend said that [Lynch] wants to come back home to Texas for his final season of eligibility,” as reported by Hook’Em Headlines.

Lynch’s background

A three-star recruit out of Austin Westlake High School in the class of 2022, Lynch has spent his entire college football career at Indiana. He arrived in Bloomington in June 2022, time before Curt Cignetti—who signed in November 2023—took over and completely changed the narrative around the program.

If he chooses to stay for another year in college football, Lynch would be a redshirt senior. Moreover, he could complete a uniquely Austin-bred quarterback gauntlet, having played alongside five-star recruit Cade Klubnik in high school and potentially joining Manning in what could be the final NCAA season for both players.

Lynch is a cornerstone of Indiana football

According to CBS Sports, Lynch had logged 1,935 snaps for the Hoosiers prior to the 2026 National Championship. Indiana ran 72 offensive snaps in the title game, meaning Lynch could now have taken the field as many as 2,007 times for the Hoosiers.

Now, Lynch is weighing his options between staying at Indiana, transferring to his hometown school, or declaring for the 2026 NFL Draft. With Arch Manning and a roster built to contend for a title next season, Lynch may be inclined to fulfill a childhood dream by playing at Darrell K. Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium and becoming a Longhorn before going pro.

There are a couple of plays Miami can look back on and blame for the 27–21 loss to Indiana in the biggest game of the 2025 college football season. There is no use crying over spilled milk, though, and Cristobal reminded Beck and company of that with his postgame comments. Still, he couldn’t help but feel like the night could’ve ended differently.

“Like to have that last one back,” Cristobal admitted about Beck’s game-sealing interception during his postgame media availability.

“But again, a lot of the plays made throughout the course of the year from the guys up here on stage to the guys in that locker room got us here to this moment and gave us an opportunity all the way to the end. So, proud of him.”

CJ Daniels sends message to Beck

It’s been a roller coaster of a year for Beck. From suffering a UCL injury that had many questioning whether he’d ever be able to throw a football as accurately again, to leading a storied college football program all the way to the national title game. Obviously, the ending is what fans across the nation will remember, but the journey deserves as much recognition.

On that note, wide receiver CJ Daniels voiced a heartfelt comment about his quarterback. “The whole world wrote him off,’’ Daniels admitted. “He got us here.” Beck didn’t quite get to complete his redemption arc, but he put the NCAA on notice, and he now has a chance to make the NFL after showcasing his leadership and skillset in college football’s biggest stage.

With zeros on the clock, crimson confetti raining down at Hard Rock Stadium, and the visiting team—despite having more fans in attendance—celebrating in Miami Gardens, Beck walked off the field, as the walls closed in on his college football career. Even for an experienced quarterback like Beck—who many wonder how he is still playing college football— it was a lot to process in the flesh. Now, the graduate transfer has broken his silence with a sincere statement.

“It really hurts,’’ Beck admitted after the game, via The Miami Herald. “It’s hard the way it ended. It’s really tough — especially to battle the way we did in the second half after not coming out too strong in the first half.

“But for a group that faced adversity early on and battled our way back to even have a chance to win the game at the end says a lot about this team. Just super proud of these guys and super thankful for them.”

Beck thanks the ‘U’

Though it didn’t end the way Beck and the University of Miami hoped, there’s plenty for the school in Coral Gables to be proud of. For the seasoned college football quarterback, the Hurricanes allowed him to reconnect with himself and the sport after going through a tough final semester with the Georgia Bulldogs.

“For me, my entire life changed. I was in a really dark place and trying to see the light at the end of the tunnel was a difficult thing,” Beck admitted on his personal journey. “Just a lot going on mentally, physically and emotionally.

“To be able to fight through the roller coaster that life is, I really couldn’t have done it without all these people around me. This university truly saved me and helped me rebuild into the man I am today. It hurts really bad, but it was a hell of a season.”

Thanks to Beck, the ‘U’ is back

At the end of the day, Fernando Mendoza and the Indiana Hoosiers got their movie-like ending to the 2026 NCAA campaign. Meanwhile, Beck and the Hurricanes must deal with the sorrow of coming just short of the finish line. However, there is nothing left for Miami to prove.

The Canes shocked the nation when many didn’t believe they even deserved to make the postseason. Instead, Miami tuned out the noise, went to work, and engaged in a showdown for the ages against Indiana, one of the best-built rosters in recent college football history.

There is plenty to like about the Hurricanes going forward, with Malachi Toney set to become one of the biggest names in the sport. While Beck will not be around Coral Gables to see it or be a part of it, his impact won’t be taken for granted. After getting so close yet so far, Miami will only feed off this feeling—and make no mistake: The U will be back in full gear when fall comes around in 2026.

Indiana’s backup quarterback behind Fernando Mendoza—his brother Alberto Mendoza—has announced his decision to enter the transfer portal ahead of the 2026 college football season, as reported by Matt Zenitz and Chris Hummer.

After being limited throughout his two years in Bloomington, the three-star recruit is now off to his next destination in the NCAA. During his time with the Indiana Hoosiers, the Heisman trophy winner’s brother only made appearances in garbage time as Indiana blew its competition out of the water.

Where will Mendoza play in 2026?

According to On3, Alberto Mendoza is headed out of the Big Ten Conference. Instead, the former James Madison commit who followed Curt Cignetti to Indiana is reportedly signing with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets as a transfer. Georgia Tech is coming off a promising year with Haynes King under center.

However, King is headed to the NFL Draft, leaving the starting job race wide open in Atlanta. Mendoza will vie to earn the QB1 role, as the Yellow Jackets boast an exciting offense—one that has become even more appealing after Alabama and Michigan RB transfer Justice Haynes joined their backfield.

Who will Indiana start at QB in 2026?

With the Mendoza brothers headed for the exit door—Fernando trending to be the No. 1 selection in the 2026 NFL Draft and Alberto looking for an opportunity to be a starter in college football—Cignetti and Indiana will stare at a depleted quarterback room in Bloomington. However, all hope is not lost. Instead, the Hoosiers believe they have found their next great quarterback in the portal.

The Indiana Hoosiers have signed TCU transfer Josh Hoover, who was expected to be the starting quarterback in 2026 even if Alberto Mendoza stayed with the program. With the younger sibling of the Heisman winner out of the picture, all signs indicate the redshirt senior out of Rockwall, Texas will run away with the first-string job.

Mendoza and the Hoosiers faced their biggest competition of the year against the Hurricanes in the National Championship Game. Nobody said it would be easy, and Indiana wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. At the end of the day, the Hoosiers are the best program in the NCAA, and Mendoza could only reminisce about the journey he went through to get here.

“Shoutout to Miami defense. It was going to be a physical game, we had to play physical, and we did. We elevated it. This victory is so sweet for everybody, for the entire Hoosiers nation, but it’s also super sweet for myself,” Mendoza said after the game. “I was a two-star coming out of high school, I got declined a walk-on offer to the University of Miami. Full circle moment here, playing in Miami.”

Mendoza’s stats

In the biggest game of the year, Mendoza didn’t put up the outstanding numbers he had previously yielded in the Rose Bowl and Peach Bowl against Alabama and Oregon, respectively.

Still, Mendoza did everything Curt Cignetti and his team asked—and more. As the game to a close, Mendoza finished the night 16/27 for 186 passing yards, and a rushing touchdown on a fourth-down play that proved the difference.

As a result, Mendoza put the cherry on top on a college football season for the ages. The California transfer is now on track to join a select group of players to be Heisman trophy winners, national champions, and become the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.

Perfect ending for Mendoza and Indiana

They say reality often outperforms fiction, and Indiana is a testament to that. Who would’ve guessed the Cinderella story in Bloomington would lead to a national title in less than two years? An overlooked kid out of Miami, FL took the school that once registered the most losses in college football history and placed it at the top of the hill.

As if it wasn’t a perfect enough ending, Mendoza did it in front of his family and friends, alongside his younger brother, in the city that saw him grow—and against the school that once shut the door in his face. Now, Mendoza and the Hoosiers are hoisting the most coveted trophy in the Hurricanes’ backyard.

Only a handful of players have ever completed this trifecta. After his sensational year with the Hoosiers, Mendoza is now well on track to etch his name onto the selected group. Following Indiana’s victory over the Miami Hurricanes in the National Championship, we take a look at the five players who have won the Heisman, a natty, and went on to be drafted with the No. 1 pick.

The list consists of the following college football stars: Angelo Bertelli (Notre Dame), Leon Hart (Notre Dame), Cam Newton (Auburn), Jameis Winston (Florida State), and Joe Burrow (LSU). If Mendoza is indeed drafted with the first overall selection in the 2026 NFL Draft, the quarterback out of Miami, FL will be the latest talent to add his name onto the mix.

Who owns the No. 1 pick in the Draft?

After Mendoza and the Hoosiers finished the job with their dominant victory over the Hurricanes, the ball is now in the Las Vegas Raiders’ court. The organization in Sin City finished the 2025 NFL season with the league’s worst record (3–14) and was awarded the first overall pick in the upcoming draft because of it. There are no doubts that Mendoza will be declaring for the NFL Draft, as he has ran out of years of eligibility.

Since then, the Raiders have been heavily linked to Mendoza. And for good reason. The selection makes too much sense, as Las Vegas has long been in need of a franchise quarterback after severely underwhelming stints with Jimmy Garoppolo, Gardner Minshew, Aidan O’Connell, Geno Smith, and others attempted as the No. 1 quarterback.

None worked out, and Mendoza presents a skill set the Raiders haven’t come across in a very long time. All signs indicate Mendoza will be selected first overall by the Raiders, but anything can happen. Once in a blue moon, the house sometimes loses—even in Las Vegas—and no one really knows for certain what the Raiders’ next move will be.

Backup quarterbacks in college football must always be alert and with their head in the game. At any given moment, their number may be called up. When it comes to Indiana, their QB situation may be unlike any other in the NCAA.

The Hoosiers know their best chance at hoisting their first national championship lies in the hands of the Heisman winner, Fernando Mendoza. However, Cignetti may be just as confident in his program’s backup as he has been cut from the same cloth as Fernando.

Indiana’s second-string quarterback is none other than Alberto Mendoza, Fernando’s younger brother. The third stringer is Old Dominion senior transfer Grant Wilson.

Alberto Mendoza’s journey

Although it took a while for Fernando to make his way to the school in Bloomington, Alberto jumped directly from Christopher Columbus High School (Miami, FL) to Indiana University.

Alberto was ranked a three-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class and is now classified as a redshirt freshman. So far in the 2025 NCAA campaign, Mendoza has made several appearances late in games thanks to his brother and teammates blowing out almost every opponent in college football.

The youngest Mendoza at Indiana has completed 18 passes for 256 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception. In that regard, Alberto Mendoza has a bit more of experience than Miami’s backup quarterback behind Carson Beck, Emory Williams, who has rarely seen the field this year.

However, Alberto Mendoza has never seen the field in a game in which the opponent scored more than 10 points. Barring a crisis at the quarterback position, Alberto Mendoza won’t be thrown into the fire at Hard Rock Stadium.

The Mendoza brothers return to The Magic City

Fernando and Alberto Mendoza don’t care how many fans will be attending the National Championship Game at Hard Rock Stadium—they know they have something to prove to their hometown.

Back in the 305 to take on the Hurricanes in Miami Gardens, with the most coveted silverware in college football on the line, represents everything the two brothers have ever dreamed of. Needless to say, it’s set to be a memory the Mendoza brothers—and their family—will never forget.

Now, it’s about proving that one can indeed be a prophet in their own land — though in a different way — and that Miami made a costly mistake by not offering scholarships to the Mendoza household.

Both quarterbacks may have been the primary reasons their teams reached this stage, leading many to begin wondering whether the future of both Mendoza and Beck could lie in the NFL once this season comes to an end.

While there has been no official confirmation regarding this situation—understanding that the focus is squarely on what may happen in today’s final—it is expected that both Fernando Mendoza and Carson Beck will declare themselves eligible for the upcoming NFL Draft.

There is plenty of talk surrounding projections, and the Hoosiers’ leader and reigning Heisman Trophy winner is expected to be a high draft pick, even with the chance of being selected by the Las Vegas Raiders with the No. 1 overall pick. Beck’s fate, for now, remains to be seen.

The Heisman Trophy is well deserved

Fernando Mendoza solidified his place in college football history by becoming the first Indiana Hoosier to win the Heisman Trophy, delivering a season for the ages in 2025.

Leading Indiana to a perfect 15-0 record and a No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, Mendoza showcased elite precision and playmaking ability. He finished the campaign with 3,349 passing yards, an incredible 41 touchdowns against only 6 interceptions, and a dominant 90.2 Total QBR.

Beck emerging as a big name

Carson Beck has once again placed himself firmly in the first-round conversation for the 2026 NFL Draft after a resurgent senior season at Miami. Commanding the Hurricanes‘ offense with veteran poise, Beck displayed the elite accuracy and processing power that scouts have long admired.

He capped off the campaign with 3,581 passing yards, 29 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions, all while maintaining an efficient 81.4 Total QBR. Having led Miami to the national title game, his ability to perform on the biggest stages has solidified his status as one of the premier pocket passers in this class.