The Las Vegas Raiders almost certainly will make Indiana Hoosiers star quarterback Fernando Mendoza the first overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Previous comments made by first-year Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak and team minority owner Tom Brady suggest that Mendoza will enter his rookie season as a backup for veteran Kirk Cousins.
It sounds like first-year Arizona Cardinals head coach Mike LaFleur could go down a similar route with the handling of Alabama Crimson Tide signal-caller Ty Simpson if the Cardinals grab Simpson at some point during this year’s player-selection process.
How Cardinals may develop Ty Simpson, different rookie QB
“I think there’s something to be said about that,” LaFleur recently said about drafting a quarterback and then sitting him through the subsequent season, as ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss shared on Thursday. “It seems like there’s no factual statement with what I’m about to say, but the college game and the pro game are just so different. And then, where did that college player play? Was the competition as high as it was at School A compared to School B? And, so, there’s so many factors in there. Ultimately, you’re going to play the best player that you think is going to give you the best chance to win, period.”
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban is among the noteworthy members of the NFL community who believe Simpson “needs to go someplace where he has a chance to develop and not play right away.” The Cardinals are on track to have journeymen Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew II on their roster this fall, so they theoretically could give Simpson such a home.
Weinfuss and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler were among those who thought as of Thursday morning that Simpson could fall to the second round of the draft. The Cardinals began Thursday holding the second pick of the draft’s second round (No. 34 overall). Still, the New York Jets are one spot ahead of Arizona and reportedly could trade their selection to a team interested in Simpson if he is still on the board at that time.
Cardinals make one promise to a rookie quarterback
“If all things are equal, then yeah, you’d rather have that veteran kind of show that guy,” LaFleur added about helping a rookie quarterback develop as a pro. “But, again, if we all believe as an organization that the young guy is going to give you the best chance during that 60-minute game to win, then you’re going to throw him out there.”
In short, it appears that Simpson or a different to-be rookie could impress LaFleur and Co. during training-camp practices and preseason games enough that the quarterback is named Arizona’s starter before Labor Day weekend arrives.