College football is now all about transfer portals, constant quarterback reshuffling, and NIL negotiations. But there are still some players who manage to break through the noise by simply balling out. And one of them is Fernando Mendoza, who was once a backup quarterback option in the California Golden Bears and ended up becoming one of the most intriguing QB prospects heading into the 2025 season.
Mendoza wasn’t a player who came in with five-star hype; he earned this reputation through his performance. After taking over California’s starting quarterback Sam Jackson V in the middle of the 2023 season, Mendoza gave the Golden Bears a much-needed jolt, racking up 1,708 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in just eight games. Then came a full breakout campaign in 2024, where the 6 feet 5 inches, 220-pounder eclipsed 3,004 passing yards, 16 touchdowns, and just six interceptions.
One of his top performances in 2024 came against Auburn, helping Justin Wilcox’s team orchestrate an upset over the Tigers (21-14). Completing 25 passes out of 36 attempts, Mendoza earned 233 passing yards for the team, including two touchdowns as well. That particular performance helped him remain consistent throughout the entire season, and now the scouts have started taking note.
Now, as Mendoza has transferred to the Indiana Hoosiers for the 2025 season, he’s expected to be the starting QB for Curt Cignetti’s squad. And not just that, discussion around his NFL future is also heating up. In a recent appearance on NFL on CBS, former NFL GM Ran Carthon offered an optimistic projection for the young QB. When asked if Mendoza had the potential to crack the top 32 picks with another remarkable campaign. He responded, “I think he will probably go in that 15 to 20 range right now. However, he’s going to have a full season to allow himself to grow and be pushed up.” That’s some high praise coming from someone who’s been in the NFL war room.
Carthon even gave a reality check, pointing out how the draft process often favours quarterbacks, even beyond their actual talent. “It’s what we do in the National Football League. We run the quarterbacks up the board. So, all these guys end up getting drafted a little bit higher than probably their skill set says,” he said. In simple words, NFL teams like to prioritize QBs so much that even mid-tier players can go up to the first round. And, if Mendoza manages to deliver even better performance than last season, he can even see his draft stock rise higher, probably into the top 10. And now, with Cignetti’s guidance, Mendoza is well-positioned to take his career to new heights.
Indiana aims to prove 2024 was no fluke with Fernando Mendoza on the roster
The Indiana Hoosiers’ 2023 season was rocky, to say the least, and ended with just three wins and nine losses under HC Tom Allen. Then came Curt Cignetti, who turned around the entire program in the 2024 season with double-digit wins and just two losses. Although many still believe that it was a hollow achievement for the Hoosiers as they couldn’t defeat the two top teams, Ohio State (15-38) and Notre Dame (17-27). But still, it was a far better performance than what they delivered in the 2023 season.
And now that they have Mendoza on the roster, they must be riding high on confidence. But by now, they’ve likely learned that a single man can’t win you matches, you need your entire team to work collectively for the victory, and that’s what Mendoza will expect. However, it wasn’t easy for the young QB to leave Berkeley.
“It was a very tough decision to leave Berkeley. I love the community there, the school, the Calgorithm—all great supporting factors of the Cal community—and the Berkeley, you know, education system was just splendid. So before I left, I needed to make sure that I got my degree, having such a prestigious degree at the Haas Business School, and that’s something that I’m working on right now to finish around the summertime at this point,” Mendoza said.
Fernando Mendoza now has an experienced coach and a B1G conference program behind him, which should be enough to elevate his game further. Now, all the eyes are on him for the upcoming fall, and if he delivers, it shouldn’t be surprising if you see his name in the top charts of the 2026 NFL drafts.
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