by Eric Smithling, Yardbarker
Following last season's breakthru, INDIANA Hoosiers aren't sneaking up on anyone in 2025. In the most recent episode of "First Draft" Mel Kiper & Field Yates discussed some of the most intriguing pro prospects entering the 2025 CFB season. Among those mentioned INDIANA QB Fernando Mendoza who transferred from Cal. this off-season.
"You think about head coach Curt Cignetti & what he's done with QB's wherever he's been" Kiper said.
He noted INDIANA's weapons, including WR Elijah Sarratt, RB Roman Hemby & INDIANA's OL which should protect Mendoza better than Cal's OL in 2024.
Yates observed that Mendoza has multiple seasons of eligibility remaining & could return to INDIANA in 2026. The kind of success he has & the other NFL QB prospects have, will likely influence his draft decision.
Love all this chatter about our QB1. If he can get through the Illinois game he should be the talk of the entire country.
BEAT PURDUE
I would love for Fernando to have a solid year, for a great team, and return to Bloomington for another year.
But I suppose if he has a great year, gets some Heisman publicity, AND wins big, then gets drafted in the first round... that's probably the best thing for our program, long term.
As long as the common denominator in all this is IU winning a lot of games... Kiper's evaluations don't always equate to wins. He routinely has guys like Shedeur Sanders and Jaxon Dart rated higher than guys like Will Howard and JJ McCarthy, as examples.
He & Field Yates are solid on Fernando.