NFL
Mendoza Clear QB1 as Raiders Ignore Trade Calls for No.1 Selection
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College Football Playoff Quarterfinal - Rose Bowl Presented by Prudential: Alabama v Indiana by Ronald Martinez | Getty Images
NFL general managers are working the phones this week ahead of the draft, laying the groundwork for trades and making contingencies for possible moves when they are on the clock to make a first-round selection.
One area that does not extend to is the first overall pick.
The Raiders are taking Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with the first pick in the draft and there is not going to be any surprising moves in that regard.
The draft effectively opens with the second-overall selection and the Jets.
League sources said the Raiders took some exploratory phone calls on the topic, but they didn't go anywhere and other teams are not pushing to change that.
What’s Preventing Last Minute Drama?
Several NFL executives, including one who is definitely in the quarterback market in this draft and thanks very highly of Mendoza, but said that there is no chance that the Raiders receive an offer that would give them consideration to drop down and let some other team take Mendoza with the opening selection of the draft.
While Mendoza is undoubtedly the best quarterback in this draft, and that evaluation is not close, despite what some talking heads have been trying to push during incessant pre-draft television coverage.
“Nobody is giving them two ones,” said the NFL decision maker who is deep in this quarterback draft market.
“It's not happening. They aren’t going to get what it would take to move off him. Their fans expect it now. and their locker room expects it. Tom Brady (Raiders minority owner) is getting his quarterback.”
Chatter continues to swirl about when the second quarterback in this draft will be selected, and, again, no shortage of analysts continue to push for Alabama’s Ty Simpson to be that pick and for it to occur in the first round.
No trusted evaluator SportsBoom have chatted with is buying it.
“I’d take Carson Beck in the third round before I took Simpson in the second round,” one general manager said.
"He is not a first-round quarterback. That doesn't mean someone won't reach for him, but I don't see it."
La Canfora has covered over 20 Super Bowls and League Meetings and NFL drafts, building a wide network of sources throughout all aspects of the game. He was an award winning print journalist as well, working at The Detroit Free Press and The Baltimore Sun prior to his first stint at The Washington Post. He has covered sporting events around the world, including two Winter Olympics and all of the 2006 World Cup. He attended his first NFL game in 1978, and would soon kindle what has become a lifelong love and appreciation of the sport. La Canfora is also a professional handicapper, specializing in the NFL, creating a daily sports wagering game show - "Wanna Bet?" He also hosts nationally broadcast NFL radio shows in the US, as well as a daily sports radio show in his hometown of Baltimore, Maryland.