What Raiders GM John Spytek Is Watching at Fernando Mendoza’s Pro Day

Raiders General Manager John Spytek was interviewed on ESPN’s ‘NFL Live’ on March 30 regarding the Raiders heading to the pro day of the presumptive No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza.

Quarterback pro days are often set up to benefit the quarterback, which Spytek is well aware of, noting that “Most of the time, you walk away being like, ‘That was a pretty good pro day’. 

Usually after a hyped quarterback pro day, the agents circulate a nice deep ball clip from the day, use it to get people excited and ideally cement the stock where it is. It’s more of a “don’t mess this up” situation than one that truly causes a rise.

It’s also not always predictive of great quarterbacks.

You can look back to Zach Wilson or Anthony Richardson’s Pro Days, two quarterbacks who were top five picks this decade and are now current backups, and see posts about how pretty both of their deep balls are. Of course, they were, they were in the perfect conditions. Once they got in game, things were undoubtedly different.

There are certain qualities that Spytek and the average football fan should be on the lookout for, and Spytek knows it.

Effort: Part of why the flashy highlight plays get the attention of GMs and journalists is because even more than the traits, it shows they’re not coasting on hype. They’re putting in work, pushing the limits of their arm, and succeeding. Oftentimes at these Pro Days you don’t need the traits confirmed as much as you need the attitude. If a guy is lackadaisically tossing check-downs and goofing around most of the day, maybe he’s not someone you want in the locker room.

Teammate Support: Spytek was quoted in his interview saying “you just want to see guys…be there for their teammates”. Indiana’s got a lot of offensive players that Mendoza should be helping make look good, which is another reason he has to turn it on at his Pro Day, where the conditions aren’t always as kind for linemen and receivers as they are for quarterbacks. If Cooper and Sarratt have good days, that’s better for Mendoza than any individual throw or designed run Mendoza puts on the field.

Interviews and On-field Observation: The Raiders are going to be watching Mendoza’s demeanor all Pro Day, likely even pulling him aside for a quick interview-style chat. It’s very important that he does not say anything stupid. This is one of the last chances the Raiders have to gather info from Mendoza himself and see him with a team before he’s added to theirs. Mendoza’s known as a strong leader, so this should not be a challenge, but if there’s an out-of-character outburst, it could spell trouble.