00:00Do you think that Mendoza-Cousins is a competition?
00:06Do you think that Vegas should start Kirk week one
00:11and then eventually go to Mendoza?
00:13How do you see that likely quarterback situation setting up?
00:19Well, I think because you have a first-year head coach
00:23and you have a rookie quarterback,
00:24they're going to make him, I believe, compete for the job.
00:28And that's why you bring in a veteran like Kirk Cousins.
00:31But I'm in the camp of you start him right away.
00:34As long as he's healthy, you want to get as much game experience
00:38for Fernando Mendoza as possible, ready for year number two, right?
00:44Now, I don't have a problem if they start him, let's say,
00:47after the month of September,
00:49if you want to give Kirk Cousins maybe four or five starts.
00:53I get that.
00:54It's similar to what Russell Wilson did for the New York Giants.
00:58And then, obviously, they moved on to Jackson Dart.
01:01But as long as he's healthy, what is the downside?
01:05If he gets beat up, I get that.
01:07I understand that.
01:08And, obviously, offensive line is a concern.
01:11But you want to set him up for year number two.
01:14And the difference between, let's say, you know, Jackson Dart and maybe Cam Ward
01:20is at least Jackson Dart had weapons out there.
01:23You know, Malik Neighbors was a clear-cut number one wide receiver.
01:27When you look at Las Vegas, outside of Brock Bowers,
01:30they have major needs at the wide receiver position.
01:33Hopefully, they draft in the later rounds to potentially address that.
01:37But look at Cam Ward.
01:39I mean, you need to be ready for year number two.
01:42And you need that talent to gel with the starting quarterback.
01:46So, again, I have no problem with Kirk Cousins starting the month of September
01:51and then moving on and then giving the reins to Fernando Mendoza.
01:55But with a first-year head coach and the big three, potentially,
01:59Gentty, Bowers, and Fernando Mendoza,
02:02you want all three of those players to develop at the same time as a cohesive unit.
02:08So, again, I would start him from game number one, but we'll see how it plays out.
02:13I think it's difficult because we just never are able to reach consensus
02:18on what is best for the development of a young quarterback.
02:22So, I think people then just say, well, just play him.
02:25I want to see him play, right?
02:27Or if he doesn't start, like, I must be terrible.
02:31Couldn't beat out Kirk Cousins.
02:33But you mentioned a year one head coach.
02:36There might be some learning on the job.
02:39Well, I may want him to learn how to...
02:41Look, I think that you can speak to it.
02:45You're a father.
02:46There's probably some things that you were able to learn from the first kid
02:50that made things a little bit easier for the second kid, right?
02:53I'm just saying, for Kubiak, are there some things he can learn, Joe,
02:58to set himself up better for when it's time to really be coaching Fernando Mendoza?
03:03I think that's on the board, right?
03:05No, it's possible.
03:06Yeah.
03:06I mean, Kevin, you're absolutely right about the learning curve, right?
03:11And we're talking about an organization in Las Vegas that the expectation in the bar is extremely low, right?
03:18I mean, we saw that play out with Pete Carroll.
03:21That's why he's no longer there.
03:23They don't have any foundation potentially right now.
03:27They're starting from the ground up.
03:29Now, does Max Crosby stay or does he go?
03:31We'll see how that potentially plays out in the next couple of weeks.
03:35But my point is, yeah, you can obviously allow Fernando Mendoza to sit behind Cousins and learn and potentially be
03:43ready.
03:44I'm just in there's no duplicate, right?
03:49When you look at game experience, you could practice against it.
03:52You could be in a preseason type of game.
03:55But in an NFL regular season game, that valuable game experience is unprecedented.
04:02So, again, look at Tyler Shuck.
04:05He got better as the season progressed.
04:07Jackson Dart had his highs and had his lows.
04:10Cam Ward potentially started the whole year and is still now looked at as the guy.
04:16But he needs weapons.
04:17So, when you look at Fernando Mendoza, he is the best quarterback in this draft class.
04:23He possesses leadership skills.
04:25Is he the best pure passer that we've seen over the last four or five years?
04:30No, I think Caleb and obviously Jaden Daniels had a much higher ceiling from a physical attribute.
04:36But from a leadership perspective, he can learn on the job.
04:41And I think that's the biggest thing that he proved last year.
04:43He went to a new scheme.
04:45He went to a new team and elevated them to a national championship.
04:48And now he is now in the championship.
Comments