00:00Well, the Raiders made it official today.
00:01Kirk Cousins will be their starting quarterback
00:03when they take the field against the Miami Dolphins
00:05in their season opener at Allegiant Stadium on September 13th.
00:09No big surprise, that was the plan all along.
00:11All right, what does this mean for Fernando Mendoza,
00:13the first overall pick in the NFL draft?
00:15Nothing, really.
00:15This was always part of the plan.
00:17The Raiders want to bring Fernando along prudently, not frantically.
00:21They got Kirk Cousins, so they didn't have to rush the quarterback
00:24in there before he or they, quite honestly, were ready.
00:27But what does this mean for Fernando in terms of the long range?
00:30Will he play this year?
00:31I say yes, short of some pixie dust being dumped on the Raiders
00:35and they go on a magical run under Kirk Cousins.
00:37If that happens, they're going to ride that out as long as possible.
00:39They owe it to themselves, their fan base, everybody in the locker room.
00:42But more realistically, maybe about five, six weeks into the season
00:46when it looks like the Raiders are going to be maybe out of the playoff race
00:50by that point, they'll turn to Fernando Mendoza, get him on the field
00:53and get him real-time reps in real-time games
00:56because that's going to be how he truly develops.
00:59But that's a story for another day.
01:01For now, it's Kirk Cousins as the Raiders' starting quarterback.
