Major Good News For The Indiana Hoosiers Football

May 7, 2025 Nero Scoffield College Sports 0

The Miami, Florida native and Cal transfer is looking to become a first round pick in this years upcoming 2026 NFL Draft

On Christmas Eve, the Indiana Hoosiers received a major gift, securing former Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza from the transfer portal.

Mendoza had an impressive season for Cal under head coach Justin Wilcox, finishing third in the ACC in passing with 3,004 yards. He completed 68.7% of his passes and accounted for 18 total touchdowns with just six interceptions across 11 games.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to report the transfer news.

With Kurtis Rourke heading to the NFL as a seventh-round pick of the 49ers, Mendoza steps into the spotlight in Bloomington. Expectations are high — so high, in fact, that some are already projecting Mendoza as a top prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Both Sports Illustrated and The Athletic included Mendoza in their early 2026 mock drafts, projecting him as a first-round selection.

Sports Illustrated has Mendoza going 16th overall to the Pittsburgh Steelers. SI’s Bryan Fischer highlighted Mendoza’s NFL-ready frame — 6’5″, 225 pounds — and noted that his transition to the Big Ten could boost his stock. Fischer even suggested Mendoza could become the Steelers’ long-term answer at quarterback post-Ben Roethlisberger.

The Athletic‘s Dane Brugler placed Mendoza at No. 27 overall to the Los Angeles Rams, calling him the fifth quarterback taken in his mock draft. Brugler praised Mendoza as a breakout performer at Cal and noted that his development under new Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti will be worth watching closely.

“Mendoza made the move from Cal to Indiana, aiming to guide the Hoosiers to the same level of success that Kurtis Rourke achieved before being picked by the 49ers in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft,” said Max Chadwick of PFF.

“He posted a respectable 75.7 passing grade from PFF during his time with the Golden Bears last season.”

Fernando Mendoza is one of five quarterbacks widely projected to go in the first round, according to most NFL Draft analysts, including Dane Brugler. He joins a group led by Texas’ Arch Manning (No. 1), South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers (No. 2), Penn State’s Drew Allar (No. 5), and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier (No. 16).

This upcoming quarterback class is expected to be both stronger at the top and deeper overall compared to last year’s group, which saw 14 quarterbacks selected but only two taken in the first round.

Standing at 6-foot-5 and weighing 225 pounds, Fernando Mendoza possesses the ideal size, athleticism, and arm strength that NFL teams covet in today’s quarterbacks. The junior signal-caller still has two years of eligibility left at Indiana.

So far, Mendoza draws NFL comparisons to a high-end version of Daniel Jones, with flashes reminiscent of Justin Herbert.

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