Former Raiders Pro Bowl fullback Marcel Reece believes the team is handling the development of quarterback Fernando Mendoza in the best way possible.

Drafted first overall by Las Vegas earlier this year, Mendoza entered the NFL off the back of a stellar senior season, guiding Indiana to National Championship glory. However, the opening portion of the 2026 NFL season has seen him back up veteran Kirk Cousins, with the team keen to ensure his development is not hindered by any early-career struggles.

In Cousins, Las Vegas has a capable NFL starter who can run first-year head coach Klint Kubiak's offense. While Las Vegas has lost its last three games after opening the year 3-0, two of those losses came in one-score defeats to the Kansas City Chiefs (33-30) and to the Buffalo Bills (33-30), a clear sign that Cousins has the offense functioning well.

At some point this season, however, Las Vegas will turn to Mendoza. The Raiders did not select him with the first overall pick earlier this year to not play him.

Mendoza has seen some playing time this season, with him coming in during Las Vegas' 45-17 defeat to the New England Patriots earlier this month. He went 6-of-8 passing, throwing for 45 yards.

In the eyes of Reece, who spent eight years with the Raiders when they were in Oakland, the team is handling Mendoza's development perfectly, with him of the opinion that they may look to increase his first-team practice reps in the coming weeks before turning the keys of the offense over to the Heisman-winning quarterback.

"We saw him come in and see a little time [against New England] when the game was a little bit out of reach a couple of weeks ago, and I think that can work both ways. Now we do it the other way, where [you say], 'Hey Kirk, you go out there, and you go start really getting up on a team, and you blow them out, and you let the young kid take over in the fourth quarter and take you home.'"

He continued: "I think those are ways you get to steal reps from him. Then you look at a bye week where you can really steal some reps for him ... give him some first-team reps against a first-team defense, and you let Kirk go rest a little bit. I think those are ways you can steal reps for him and live reps."

For Reece, the best-case scenario for Las Vegas, however, would be a transition to Mendoza similar to the Green Bay Packers' move from Brett Favre to Aaron Rodgers.

"I think the Raiders are doing the right thing now ... the best-case scenario would be the Brett Favre-Aaron Rodgers scenario, and we saw how that worked out for A-Rod. I think they're on the right track," he added.

Back in 2005, the Packers selected Rodgers as Favre's successor, a move Green Bay repeated in 2020 by drafting Jordan Love to succeed Rodgers. In succeeding Favre, Rodgers did not start an NFL game until his fourth season in the league in 2008.

The NFL is a completely different league in 2026 than it was in 2005. There is no world in which Mendoza sits out three seasons before taking over from Cousins.

However, Las Vegas' cautious approach may pay dividends if Mendoza does come in later this year and proves to be the franchise quarterback the organization has craved.