A Quick Look at Fernando Mendoza's Preseason Debut
I’ll probably preface every breakdown this preseason with the “it’s just preseason so calm down” disclaimer, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to take away from the performances we’ll see over the next couple of weeks.
What you’re looking for, particularly in rookies, is for the traits that you saw on their college tape to show up at the NFL level, just to at least confirm that their game translates.
Fernando Mendoza easily passed that test in his debut on Thursday night.
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Mendoza showed good processing and the ability to navigate the quick passing game effectively like we all saw last season at Indiana:
He also showed great ball placement, which you could see pretty clearly on his most impressive throw of the night:
What I love most about that ball is that Mendoza’s receiver settled behind the linebacker. He wasn’t open based on where he was out of his break. But Mendoza saw the soft spot in the coverage and put the ball there, effectively throwing his receiver open. Take another look: