By Nick Baumgardner, Dane Brugler and Matthew Ho
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza declared for the 2026 NFL Draft, he announced Friday, capping a whirlwind rise to college football legend after winning the Heisman Trophy and leading the Hoosiers to their first national championship.
Mendoza was projected to go No. 1 in The Athletic’s latest 2026 mock draft, the clear-cut top prospect of a quarterback class that got thinner last week when Oregon’s Dante Moore announced he would return to school. The Las Vegas Raiders hold this year’s first pick and are widely expected to draft Mendoza.
The 6-foot-5, 225-pound quarterback capped his college career with 186 passing yards and one heroic fourth-down rushing touchdown in a 27-21 win over Miami.
NFL Draft analysis
A big-bodied passer who looks straight out of Central Casting, Mendoza blends legitimate NFL arm talent with fluid athleticism and quick eyes in the pocket. He is a dynamic dual-threat quarterback capable of fitting into any pro system.
Mendoza’s feel and touch over the middle of the field, be it off play-action or not, is reminiscent of Lions quarterback Jared Goff. His biggest improvement with coach Curt Cignetti and the Hoosiers this year came in his general processing from the pocket, as he had a tendency of playing too fast during his time at Cal. He proved himself as a clutch player who doesn’t shrink in big moments, and his trustworthy play was a constant throughout his college career.
Mendoza has first-round talent, but he’s also a first-round performer who shows up and leads by example every day. He deserves to be QB1 in this draft class. — Nick Baumgardner
The rise of Fernando
Mendoza was the 134th-ranked QB in his graduating class, according to 247Sports, out of Christopher Columbus High in Miami. He initially planned to sign with Yale, but Cal came in late in the process after a previous QB recruit committed elsewhere, and Mendoza signed with the Golden Bears under former head coach Justin Wilcox.
Mendoza redshirted the 2022 season and made his first start in Week 6 of 2023 against Oregon State and kept the job the rest of the season, finishing with 1,708 yards and 14 touchdowns as the Golden Bears reached the six-win mark to play in their first bowl game in four years.
In 2024, his first full season as a college starter, he passed for more than 3,000 yards and 16 touchdowns as the Golden Bears went 6-6 and again made a bowl. After the season, Mendoza transferred to Indiana over interest from Georgia and Miami among others, choosing the Hoosiers on the heels of their unexpected run to the College Football Playoff on the arm of Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke.
Mendoza became the first Heisman Trophy winner in Indiana history after throwing for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions and leading the Hoosiers to their first outright Big Ten championship. He and his team continued to shatter expectations in the CFP heroics that followed.
In Week 4, Mendoza threw only two incompletions in a 63-10 domination of then-No. 9 Illinois. The Hoosiers picked up another signature win at Oregon in Week 6 to show they could compete with national title hopefuls. In the fourth quarter of that showdown, Mendoza bounced back from a game-tying pick-six to lead a 12-play drive for the game-winning touchdown.
Another signature moment came in Week 10 against a Penn State team that was foundering but still loaded with talent. On a third-and-goal at the 7-yard line in the final minute, Mendoza lofted a pass in the back of the end zone to Omar Cooper Jr., who made an incredible grab to give the Hoosiers the go-ahead score.
In the Big Ten title game, Mendoza took a big hit on the first play of the game, returned to action and lifted the Hoosiers to a gutsy 13-10 win against No. 1 Ohio State.
The Hoosiers earned the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff and ran No. 9 Alabama off the field at the Rose Bowl in a 38-3 beatdown, then routed Oregon 56-22 in the Peach Bowl semifinal.
Mendoza had arguably his biggest moment at Hard Rock Stadium in the national championship game. The Hoosiers held a 17-14 lead over Miami with under ten minutes left. On a fourth-and-4, Cignetti put his field goal unit in before calling a timeout and instead opted to go for it. In a game where Miami’s defensive front gave the Hoosiers fits, Mendoza called his own number and plunged up the middle. He made multiple defenders miss, ran over another and then dove sideways into the end zone as a Hurricanes defender delivered a shoulder to his back to put the Hoosiers up 24-14. The touchdown proved to be the deciding points.