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Fernando Mendoza

Memnon said:
I don't see Ewers hitting the Portal given Texas is likely gonna make the National title game.

But he looks like a shot fighter; Maybe a change in Offense could reinvigorate his capabilities, but throughout this entire season, outside of the Michigan & Florida games, he's looked extremely pedestrian.

There are throws that he's blatantly not making in his progressions, either because he's been told not to, or (even worse) he's scared to make them.

There were multiple plays in the Arkansas & in both UGA games where he was completely gunshy. He had a man running WIDE OPEN on a post pattern against Arkansas & he literally just refused to throw it. It would've been an easy walk in the end zone TD, because they had caught Arkansas slipping in a Cover 2 look & the Safety had drifted over out of his shell leaving the middle of the field wide open. Ewers saw him, had time & just flat out didn't throw it.
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He looked like he was pushing the ball rather than throwing when I saw Texas last play, so I assume his arm is shot.
 
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Memnon said:
I'm not really a fan of Mendoza, but I'd take him in a heartbeat over the alternative of starting Emory.

There's also very few options left at QB.

Unless we're gonna be poaching someone else's starter who hasn't hit the Portal yet, Mendoza is really the only viable option available to us right now.

And given the connection already in place, it's pretty much a no-brainer.
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I guess this is where I’m at. I appreciate the writeup @TheOriginalCane just gave. I was at the Cal game also up close and had a different take. And I think it’s deceptive to not include the rushing yards Mateer has when making comparisons. But overall I’ll buy that Mendoza is one of the best options available given a lot of inconsistent QB play across college football. And we certainly need a portal QB to elevate the room.
 
IndayArtHauz said:
Of that group, I’d pick Mendoza.

But the question needs to be properly framed: after barely winning 10 games with a generational QB and an elite offense, is there a QB available who can come close to reproducing the results of 2024, let alone improve upon them? People look at 2024 and rightly assess we needed the best QB in college football to miss the ACC Championship and the playoff. They also look at who we are losing on offense and quickly realize the next guy’s job will be harder than Cam’s was.

Now, it’s possible to improve upon the next season’s result with a lesser QB. Tennessee won in ‘98 with Tee Martin, the year *after* Peyton Manning left. But that roster was loaded on both sides of the ball, with a proven staff.

People aren’t indiscriminately dumping on decent QBs. They recognize it took Cam freaking Ward to win 10 games, with a better offensive roster than we will have in 2025, and question how QBs who are 2-3 levels below him will produce similar results. Let alone reach the playoff.
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What we are watching is the realization that there is no QB that has eligibility that can take us to where were this year. It’s cope to say “so and so is a no” when we just did all the things you said and didn’t win. There is no savior this year and it’s hard to deal with mentally. Even the guys we got in the portal will not put us at the level needed to win without a Cam Ward
 
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Beck has #11 QBR this season. Mateer 33rd. Mendoza 52nd. Ewers 29th.

We all know who #1 was :cool:

All above options would be excellent portal pick-ups given what's available and what our in-state competition is rolling out: Castellanos (112th) and Lagway 69th.

In terms of lining up week one against ND, you have to get one of those guys up top and only Mendoza is available.
 
Kansas Cane said:
Beck has #11 QBR this season. Mateer 33rd. Mendoza 52nd. Ewers 29th.

We all know who #1 was :cool:

All above options would be excellent portal pick-ups given what's available and what our in-state competition is rolling out: Castellanos (112th) and Lagway 69th.

In terms of lining up week one against ND, you have to get one of those guys up top and only Mendoza is available.
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Emory?
 
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Odysseus said:
Seriously the staff better quit playing around portal ends this week no other Serious QB is in the portal for us except Mendoza that can win you 10 games depending on how we close on portal targets
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#1 Players only have to ENTER the portal by the 28th and then can sign whenever they want thereafter.
#2 Players on playoff teams have 5 days AFTER their season has ended to ENTER the portal (not sign).
#3 There is a Spring window that will see a lot of potentially good QBs that come in 2nd in their QB competition for whatever reason that will transfer though admittedly that's not ideal for the QB position.
 
OldhamA said:
He looked like he was pushing the ball rather than throwing when I saw Texas last play, so I assume his arm is shot.
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If it was prior to yesterday he's been nursing a high ankle sprain (tough to push off) and earlier in the season had a rib area injury
 
ssvir said:
#1 Players only have to ENTER the portal by the 28th and then can sign whenever they want thereafter.
#2 Players on playoff teams have 5 days AFTER their season has ended to ENTER the portal (not sign).
#3 There is a Spring window that will see a lot of potentially good QBs that come in 2nd in their QB competition for whatever reason that will transfer though admittedly that's not ideal for the QB position.
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It's 8 teams left, who of these have QBs that would leave that we would target.
Boise st
Penn st
Norte dame
Georgia
Arizona st
Texas
Oregon
Ohio st
 
AlexCane said:
You know what? It ain't our money. There's no budget.

Put it this way.

I'm not sure what these kids command, but if you think Ewers > Mendoza > Emory, how much more would you pay for an extra win or two or three? $100,000 per win?
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Of course it’s not our money but there is a budget and I think Ewers commands probably 2mil. So in a vacuum I like Ewers most in that situation but the budget may in fact dictate it’s best to take Mendoza if we can’t pay for an Ewers as well as upgrade the other serious deficiencies on the roster.
 
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DMoney said:
So far, I’ve heard no to Mendoza, no to Beck, no to Ewers.

Aside from Cam Ward and John Mateer, who is worthy of playing QB for our program that just won 10 games for the second time in two decades?
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All 3 woud have a good chance in getting Miami back to 10 wins.

Ewers intermidiate accuracy would thrive in this offense.
Beck would be interesting in a system outside of Mike Bobo but his lack of mobility worries me and the UCL injury.
Mendoza might not be as talented as the other two, but is a gamer and can end up being a solid NFL backup.
 
bobbydigius said:
Of course it’s not our money but there is a budget and I think Ewers commands probably 2mil. So in a vacuum I like Ewers most in that situation but the budget may in fact dictate it’s best to take Mendoza if we can’t pay for an Ewers as well as upgrade the other serious deficiencies on the roster.
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Sure, but that assumes that there is other portal talent that is deserving of cash and I'm meh on that.
 
Odysseus said:
It's 8 teams left, who of these have QBs that would leave that we would target.
Boise st
Penn st
Norte dame
Georgia
Arizona st
Texas
Oregon
Ohio st
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Ewers, Beck, and every non-starting QB on the Penn St, ND, UGA, Tenn, Oregon, Ohio State, and Clemson teams.

No idea if these are any better than Emory or Mendoza but there could be several options to looks at.
 
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bobbydigius said:
Of course it’s not our money but there is a budget and I think Ewers commands probably 2mil. So in a vacuum I like Ewers most in that situation but the budget may in fact dictate it’s best to take Mendoza if we can’t pay for an Ewers as well as upgrade the other serious deficiencies on the roster.
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We have to pay someone we can't get a QB for free and it's no salary cap
 
ssvir said:
Ewers, Beck, and every non-starting QB on the Penn St, ND, UGA, Tenn, Oregon, Ohio State, and Clemson teams.

No idea if these are any better than Emory or Mendoza but there could be several options to looks at.
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Only guys that are high quality are Rashada & Dante Moore but have very limited experience. Then Ewers, Beck or Nico
 
grover said:
I guess this is where I’m at. I appreciate the writeup @TheOriginalCane just gave. I was at the Cal game also up close and had a different take. And I think it’s deceptive to not include the rushing yards Mateer has when making comparisons. But overall I’ll buy that Mendoza is one of the best options available given a lot of inconsistent QB play across college football. And we certainly need a portal QB to elevate the room.
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I was in the 5th row behind the Cal bench. The way his team responded to him was fantastic, they had a lot of faith in Mendoza.

The supposedly all-world running back Jaydn Ott? He had 7 carries for 2 yards. Jaivian Thomas had 7 carries for 20 yards. Jonathan Brady had 1 carry for 20 yards.

So we can all agree that Cal almost beat us with their passing game. Mendoza was only sacked twice and threw for almost 300 yards (with 2 TDs). In addition to the fact that Mendoza had FOUR passes go for longer than 50 yards against us, he also had six receivers to whom he completed at least one pass longer than 10 yards.

Of course, Miami also had 6 receivers with at least one catch longer than 10 yards, though Cam threw for about 50% more yardage than Mendoza did.

The point is, do we see Jack Endries or Trond Grizzell or Corey Dyches or Mikey Matthews drawing a ton of interest in the Portal? And before you accuse me of making those names up, those are the 2 WRs and 2 TEs that Mendoza hit against Miami. In fact, Trond Grizzell (if that is his real name) was a walk-on.

So, hey, what do I know, maybe JUST MAYBE Mendoza could hit 70% and 4,000 yards throwing to JoJo and Ny and Chance instead of the guys he had at Cal.
 
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