Fernando Mendoza Stumbles in First Start as Jalon Daniels Steals Preseason Week 2
The No. 1 overall pick went 8-for-15 for 86 yards with a pick-six, while undrafted arms turned heads across 15 rookie QB showings.
No path to snaps with Cousins entrenched — a redraft non-factor for now.
- Mendoza: 8-of-15, 86 yds, 80-yd pick-six in first start
- Jalon Daniels led a Bucs comeback in Week 2
- Joey Aguilar: 9-of-10, 130 yds, 29-yd TD to Pena
- Jack Strand: 212 pass yds, 1 pass TD, 1 rush TD
- Cousins had 1,721 yds, 10 TD in 2025 (10 games)
The debut reel for the 2026 draft's top pick isn't the one Las Vegas wanted to run back. Fernando Mendoza opened his first NFL start by watching an interception get returned 80 yards the other way on the Raiders' first possession, and he never really found his footing after that, finishing 8-for-15 for 86 yards and eating an 11-yard sack. It was, in a word, forgettable.
Context matters here. Mendoza was up against a strong defense, and this preseason was never about him closing the gap on Kirk Cousins, who posted 1,721 passing yards and 10 touchdowns across 10 games in 2025 (104 PPR points, actual). The Raiders have no incentive to accelerate the timeline, and Cousins is trending up — plus 3.1 fantasy points per game over his last five outings. Mendoza's rookie leash, if he sees the field at all, likely comes in the back half of the year.
While the headliner scuffled, the undrafted crowd put on the more entertaining show. Jalon Daniels engineered a comeback win for the Buccaneers and scored in back-to-back games, and Joey Aguilar kept his roster case alive by hitting on 9 of 10 throws for 130 yards, including a 29-yard touchdown to Trebor Pena. Both went from afterthoughts to legitimate depth conversations in the span of two weeks.
The Sleepers Who Actually Popped
Atlanta may have unearthed something in Jack Strand. The Division II product out of Minnesota State-Moorhead followed a Week 1 rushing score with a 212-yard passing effort that included a touchdown through the air and another on the ground, plus 22 rushing yards on nine carries. He and Cooper Rush — who limps in off a 2025 line of 303 yards, zero touchdowns and four picks (2 PPR points, actual) — combined to hit 16 of their first 17 attempts.
Elsewhere, Joe Fagnano threw 48 times across two games for a Ravens staff clearly auditioning him, tossing an 8-yard score to LaJohntay Wester in a 13-3 win. Athan Kaliakmanis outpaced Sam Hartman 162 yards to 67 to strengthen his grip on Washington's No. 3 spot, and Cade Klubnik held up behind a leaky Jets line despite drawing Geno Smith (our No. 88 overall, QB24) as a tough act to follow.
For fantasy purposes, none of this moves the redraft needle yet. Mendoza is a bench stash in deep dynasty formats only — Cousins is the Raiders' quarterback, full stop, and there's no clear runway to meaningful snaps this fall. Let the buy-low crowd panic; you can afford to wait until the coaching staff signals a change. In redraft leagues, leave every rookie on this list on the wire.
