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Former IU football quarterback Fernando Mendoza selected first overall in 2026 NFL draft

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Photos from IU football's 27-21 win against Miami (FL) in the CFP national championship game.

For the second time in program history, and first in 88 years, Indiana football has a number one overall pick in the NFL draft.

The Las Vegas Raiders selected quarterback Fernando Mendoza on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. He joins Corbett “Corby” Davis (1938, Cleveland Rams) as the only two Hoosiers to be picked first.

Mendoza becomes the first Indiana player in Curt Cignetti’s tenure to be drafted in the first round. He is the first Hoosier to be picked on the first day of the draft since Thomas Lewis was drafted 24th overall to the New York Giants in 1994.

The No. 1 pick wasn’t in the Steel City to greet commissioner Roger Goodell on stage, opting to stay in Coral Gables, Florida, with his family and his mother, Elsa.

In his lone season in town, Mendoza lit Bloomington on fire on and off the field. He completed 273 passes for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns, winning the program’s first Heisman trophy in December.

Every time the Indiana offense needed a big play, Mendoza delivered. During the regular season, he led game-winning drives on the road at Iowa, Oregon and Penn State en route to the program’s first undefeated regular season.

In the Big Ten championship game against No. 1 Ohio State, Mendoza went 15-of-23 for 222 yards. His third-quarter touchdown pass to Sarratt was the difference in the game, while his 33-yard completion to Charlie Becker sealed Indiana’s first conference title since 1967.

It was only the beginning of the Miami native’s postseason tear.

The junior completed 74.6 percent of his passes for 555 yards and eight touchdowns in the team’s three-game sprint to its first national title. His touchdown in the fourth quarter of the national championship game against Miami solidified him as one of the best Indiana players of all time, across any sport.

The Hoosier signal caller dazzled in front of a large audience, including members of the Raiders front office and coaching staff, at Indiana’s Pro Day in early April. Though he didn’t need to participate, he returned to Bloomington for a reunion with his teammates while helping improve their own draft stock.

Mendoza now has the opportunity to learn from his favorite quarterback, Raiders minority owner Tom Brady, in Sin City. He will compete with veteran Kirk Cousins for the starting job over the next four months.

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