No Joke; Heisman Winner Mendoza Set For Hoosiers’ Pro Day On April 1

Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza is the presumptive first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, a selection owned by the Las Vegas Raiders.

And Raider fans, hungry to turn around a franchise without a playoff win since the AFC Championship game on Jan. 19, 2003, are ready to hand Mendoza the keys to the offense.

But there are still 23 days before the NFL Draft and before anything becomes official, Mendoza will join the rest of the draft-eligible Indiana players on Wednesday (April 1) for the Hoosiers’ Pro Day.

Mendoza did not throw at the NFL Combine where NFL scouts’ notepads and iPads were bursting with observations, stats and musings on hundreds of potential draft picks. Anything they jotted down on Mendoza came only from team interviews and meetings, not from anything he did on the field.

Raider G.M. John Spytek is expected to be in attendance at Indiana’s Pro Day and shared this ahead of Mendoza’s workout: “We’ll watch him throw the football and get a chance to spend some time with him more than we have. We’ve had a couple of touch points, but just looking forward to getting on campus and seeing him operate in his building and having that be a big part of the evaluation.”

Mendoza, of course, will be among close to two dozen Hoosiers working out in Bloomington on Wednesday, all with NFL dreams, just like his. Nine Hoosiers were invited to the official NFL Combine and tomorrow will be joined by their other senior teammates, looking to make an impression on NFL teams.

It’s a heady time to be a Hoosier football fan. Coming off an historic national championship season under Mendoza, Coach Curt Cignetti’s Indiana squad has recently opened its 2026 Spring Practice with high hopes for another big season. They’ve also begun a national championship trophy tour this spring that will hit nine spots in Indiana where Hoosier fans can take photos with the trophy.

Hoosier pride will blossom anew during this year’s NFL Draft, when Mendoza will become Indiana’s first player taken in the first round since 1994, the first in the top 10 since 1988 and the first in the top 5 since 1966.

Should the Raiders take Mendoza to open the draft, he will not be Indiana’s first player ever taken first overall. That distinction belongs to fullback Corby Davis, who the Cleveland Rams selected to begin the 1938 NFL Draft.

Doing anything for the first time since 1938 is still noteworthy, so this is no shade on Mendoza.

Mendoza indicated in a February interview that his biggest impetus for throwing at Pro Day was to help out his Indiana receivers.

Said Mendoza: ”At the combine, you’re throwing to different receivers, it’s a whole different thing. And I want to make sure I give my guys the best chance. I want to throw at pro day with my guys, with my running backs and be there with the boys.”