The Las Vegas Raiders are going through all the right motions giving 37-year-old veteran Kirk Cousins the vast majority of first-team reps in practice, leaning into his experience despite the presence of a true franchise quarterback directly behind him. On paper, it makes sense to have the No. 1 overall pick and reigning Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza—who enters the league boasting an elite 90.3 College QBR and a 94th-percentile 9.3 College Yards Per Attempt—initially sit and cook with the rookies and third-teamers.

The brain trust of Klint Kubiak, John Spytek, and Tom Brady are unified in letting the elite rookie prospect marinate. Once the bullets start flying and Mendoza outperforms Cousins routinely in practice, he will be thrust into the starting lineup at least by the Raiders’ Week 13 bye week, though likely much sooner. The smart money is on Mendoza starting games sooner rather than later.