Raiders draft QB Fernando Mendoza with 1st overall pick in hopes of turning around their fortunes

Many things with the Las Vegas Raiders date back to 2002. The good old days. A year before Fernando Mendoza was born.

That’s the last time the Raiders won a playoff game, and they’ve made the playoffs only twice since their appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII. That’s also, arguably, the last time the Raiders had elite quarterback play, with Rich Gannon winning NFL MVP. They had some good years from Derek Carr and Carson Palmer.

But it has mostly been a parade of guys like Andrew Walter, Terrelle Pryor, Aidan O’Connell and Geno Smith. And, of course, JaMarcus Russell. The Russell pick in 2007 was the only time the Raiders have held the first overall pick in the NFL Draft before this year.

And this time around they took another quarterback with the first pick, this one with a better track record of college success and a much different reputation. To no one’s surprise, the Raiders selected Mendoza with the first overall pick of the NFL Draft on Thursday night. That pick has been widely anticipated for months, after the Raiders started shutting down players in an effort to lose and clinch the top pick.