Scouting report
Mendoza, the grandson of Cuban immigrants, is a former three-star quarterback from Miami, Florida. A multi-sport athlete who also played tennis, he emerged as a natural leader early in his career, serving as a team captain from his sophomore through senior seasons. Mendoza was originally committed to Yale before flipping his commitment to Cal, where he redshirted before starting eight games in 2023 and 11 more in 2024.
He transferred to Indiana ahead of the 2025 season and delivered one of the most remarkable campaigns in college football history, leading the Hoosiers to an undefeated national championship while capturing the Heisman Trophy as the program’s starting quarterback.
At 6-foot-4½, Mendoza has adequate size for the NFL with a longer, slender frame and extended arm length. Despite that build, his throwing mechanics are clean and repeatable, producing a quick, snappy release. He generates strong velocity on short and intermediate throws, particularly outside the numbers, where he does his best work.
Mendoza is the best back-shoulder thrower in the class, consistently winning with pre-snap recognition, coverage and leverage identification, precise timing and elite ball placement. His plus-accuracy throw rate led all draft-eligible quarterbacks. He was also highly effective under pressure and in third-and-long situations.
Indiana’s offense limited his opportunities throwing over the intermediate middle of the field, and he has relatively few snaps under center, both of which will be areas of evaluation at the next level. And while Mendoza is not a true dual-threat quarterback, he has enough functional mobility to operate RPO concepts efficiently and pick up first downs with his legs when needed.
Player Traits
- Decision-making & ball security: 8/10
- Poise & out-of-structure IQ: 8/10
- Accuracy from a clean pocket: 8/10
- Out-of-structure accuracy & touch: 8/10
- Velocity: 8/10
- Distance: 8/10
- Progressions: 9/10
- Poket management: 7/10
- Field mobility: 6/10
- Mechanics: 8/10
Strengths
- Adequate NFL frame (height and weight)
- Good velocity on short and intermediate passes
- The best back-shoulder passer in the class (NFL-caliber), with elite timing and placement.
- Has some natural touch for sideline passes with extra air
- Knows how to be patient with progressions
- Has some excellent ball placement. He boasts the highest “perfect” accuracy percentage in the class at 36.7%.
- Overall, he is an intelligent player. He avoids negatives, reads coverages and leverage, and he plays calmly under pressure
- Good enough of an athlete to run some RPOs with effectiveness
- Long arms, but he still has a snappy throwing motion
Weaknesses
- He has a good arm but not a great arm. He can get in trouble if he's throwing fade-away passes or is late on reads
- Sack rate is on the higher side, but much improved in 2025
- He took just two total snaps under center in 2025
Grades by Facet
Stable metrics
Stable metrics tend to be more predictive of future success than unstable metrics. The most stable facets of quarterback play are those with the biggest sample sizes, even though they intuitively seem “easier.” Unstable metrics are more volatile when it comes to projecting quarterback play, as results tend to vary from year to year.
2025 Advanced Data (Ranks among 168 FBS qualifiers)
| Season Stats | Value | CFB Avg. | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adjusted completion % | 79.0% | 72.7% | Tied 8th |
| Big-time throw % | 5.7% | 4.3% | Tied 29th |
| Turnover-worthy play % | 2.6% | 3.5% | Tied 37th |
| Pressure to sack % | 18.9% | 16.9% | Tied 103rd |
| Average time to throw | 2.67 | 3.17 | Tied 53rd |
| Air yards % | 60.6% | 51.3% | Tied 29th |
Three-year Grades
Grading profile
Each point on this scatterplot represents a quarterback, charted using PFF’s play-by-play grading scale. Every throw is graded from -2.0 to +2.0 in 0.5 increments, allowing us to capture both the frequency and quality of a quarterback’s decision-making. The X-axis shows a quarterback’s negatively graded throw rate, while the Y-axis shows their positively graded throw rate. Quarterbacks in the top-left portion of the chart pair high-end positive outcomes with fewer mistakes — the most efficient and sustainable profile — while movement toward the bottom-right reflects a growing imbalance between mistakes and impact plays.
Big-time throws are defined as passes graded +1.0 or better, while turnover-worthy plays are throws graded -1.0 or worse. Quarterbacks in the top-left quadrant pair a below-average turnover-worthy play rate with an above-average big-time throw rate — the ideal blend of aggressiveness and control. The top-right quadrant features passers with above-average rates in both categories, representing a gunslinger profile in which explosive plays carry greater risk. The bottom-left quadrant comprises more conservative quarterbacks, with below-average rates of both big-time throws and turnover-worthy plays. The bottom-right quadrant highlights the least desirable profile: quarterbacks who combine an above-average turnover-worthy play rate with a below-average big-time throw rate, where risk consistently outweighs reward.
This bar chart shows the distribution of quarterback grades on PFF’s -2.0 to +2.0 play-by-play scale, illustrating how often each quarterback produces throws at each grading threshold. You can read more about the details of our grading system by clicking here.
Player Comp: Matt Ryan
Bottom line
Mendoza doesn't have rare physical gifts, but his football IQ, football character and ball placement are top-class, making him worthy of a first-round selection as an early-impact projection and potential franchise quarterback.
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