Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Caleb Williams, Fernando Mendoza. The Indiana QB is being touted as a prospect on par with those former No. 1 overall picks as we edge closer to the 2026 NFL Draft in late April.
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But the thing about it this year is this: not only is Mendoza a seemingly faultless prospect coming off an undefeated National Title season and a Heisman Trophy with Indiana, but behind him, there is next to no worthy quarterback talent. That has some teams that don’t have the No. 1 overall pick (which belongs to the Las Vegas Raiders) suggesting some, let’s say unorthodox, tactics to try to nab the 22-year-old.
During NFL Scouting Combine week in Indianapolis, Mendoza, as the presumptive top pick, did not do much of anything physical. But he did meet and speak with some teams. When asked by NFL on CBS’s Aditi Kinkhabwala what the weirdest question he’d gotten so far was, he shocked the reporter and, no doubt, the viewing public.
“One about, ‘Hey, maybe you should get arrested,’ I was a little confused,” Mendoza revealed with a wry smile.
The most bizarre question that Fernando Mendoza has been asked during his draft interviews
“It was: ‘Hey, maybe you should get arrested.’ I was a little confused, but then it was like to slide.”
: @AKinkhabwala pic.twitter.com/33RaeHkaPT
— NFL on CBS (@NFLonCBS) February 27, 2026
At first, everyone but Mendoza was befuddled by what he said. But the meaning of the question (or perhaps, joke) becomes clear quite quickly when you consider his seemingly unassailable spot as the No. 1 prospect in this class.
“Mendoza: But then it was like to slide. So, hopefully I don’t get arrested. (Laughs)
Aditi: Oh, I don’t get that one.
Mendoza: It’s so I would slide in the draft. (Laughs)
Aditi: Can you tell us who said that?
Mendoza: It was not one of the teams I had a formal interview with. So, I’m not gonna—I don’t want to expose the team. (Laughs)”
We have seen players fall in the draft for much less than a simple arrest, so it wasn’t the worst idea. We’ve seen future All-Pros like Laremy Tunsil and Randy Moss slide way too far in the draft because of off-field issues they had. But with the kind of god-fearing, clean-cut image we’ve gotten of Mendoza—and it really does seem genuine—we have a hard time imagining him getting arrested. What could he even be arrested for? Aggravated praying?
One would have to assume that whichever coach or executive said that to Mendoza did so tongue-in-cheek. As if to say, “We know we have no chance of getting you based on where we’re picking.” And if that team doesn’t offer the Raiders a boatload of assets for that No. 1 pick, they’d be absolutely right.
