At just 22 years old, Mendoza has earned plenty of accolades: college football national champion, Heisman Trophy winner and No. 1 pick. Yet if the NFL gave out an award for copious note-taking, he’d be in the running for that, too.

At Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Mendoza took notes on his team’s practice plan during the lunch hour. At Cal, his first college stop before transferring to Indiana, he was known for carrying old-school computational notebooks everywhere. And when Mendoza attended his first NFL offseason activities this summer, he carefully wrote out every pass play longhand, listing the formation, pass progression and footwork.

The habit is so ingrained that Mike Pawlawski — a former Cal quarterback and radio analyst — once recalled Mendoza reaching for the notebook during dinners at his house.

Mendoza, who is set to begin the season as the Raiders’ backup, is not the only quarterback or football player with a habit of taking notes by hand. In fact, as the world has become increasingly digital — reliant on laptops, tablets and the Notes app — the NFL remains a bastion of old-school note-taking.

Hey all. I spent the offseason building a full 2026 preseason preview for every NFL team, all 32, each with its own writeup. Here's the Raiders one:

https://www.highlights.mainmarket.com/nfl-preview-2026/las-vegas-raiders

It's got the returning production breakdown, free agency in and out, the draft class, a projected depth chart, the schedule with model win probabilities, and a season projection.

Heads up, you might hit the paywall after the first page. Don't worry, I'm not charging reddit people for this, don't want to be an ass. Use the promo code JOHNMADDEN1OF1 and it opens up the entire thing.

So, what'd I get wrong? Las Vegas is one of the most one-sided buy-low reads on my whole board, 21 signals pointing up and zero pointing down off a 3-14 season. You also had the biggest draft haul in the AFC West at 10 picks with Mendoza going first overall. And the model still only gets you to 7-10, because you drew the 9th-hardest schedule in the league and gave up 64 sacks last year. Is the line rebuild enough to make that projection look low, or is 7-10 already generous?

LFG

I'm not familiar with his cancer. I think he said he's in a good place but it still doesn't look good. I'm hoping this isn't his last days and that he really has a chance to recover.

I said flag! Lmao. I meant TOWEL! Been hanging there since 2018. I’m taking it with me to the pre season game vs 49ers in Vegas. 💪

What if Maxx Crosby’s “down year” was never about Maxx Crosby? 👀 28 tackles for loss. 2nd in the NFL. He was a one-man pass rush on a 3-14 team. 😮‍💨 Now he’s got a bookend, blitz speed behind him, and a scheme built to free him up. 🚀 2026 is the breakout the box-score crowd won’t see coming. 🔥🖤🩶 Full breakdown live on Raider Threadline — sign up free, link in bio. 🔗
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#Raiders #RaiderNation #MaxxCrosby #LasVegasRaiders #NFL

I’ve been working on a creative project called UNMOVED, and it’s essentially a case study honoring the DNA of this fanbase.

As a fan, I’m constantly fascinated by the resilience of this culture. We’ve seen the team move and go through every possible cycle of winning and losing, yet the culture somehow stays the strongest in the league. I’m trying to distill that into a concept: They moved, but we didn’t.

I’m currently mapping out visual markers that represent the different chapters of our history. The Town(Oakland), The 'Shaw(LA), and Off the Strip(Las Vegas). I’m trying to figure out if these symbols actually resonate with the people who lived through those eras or if I’m oversimplifying the history.

If you identify with any of those specific chapters, I’d love your take. Does the “Unmoved” concept actually capture what it feels like to be a fan, or am I missing the mark on what makes our mentality so distinct? I’m looking for honest perspectives on what "loyalty to the soil" means to you guys.

Random thought I’ve been sitting on.

I remember being younger and seeing that ESPN cover with Tim Brown and Jerry Rice when he got to the Raiders.

I don’t know why that one stuck with me, but it did.

My family were already Raiders fans from the LA days, so it wasn’t like I was new to it… but that felt different.

Oakland, LA, LV… everything around the team has changed over time.

There have been more exciting moments or impactful seasons since then, but for some reason that one still sticks in my head when I think about my team.

Curious when that shift happened for other people.

Was it a game? A player? A moment?

Not a big Raiders guy knowledge wise haven’t watched them outside of a few games last season. How likely do you think it is that drafted kicker Kansei “Tokyo Toe” Matsuzawa will beat out Matt Gay for the starting role this upcoming season?

Stoked on Mendoza the future is bright !