He's just a good guy, goofy, and proof they exist. He's super detail orientated, literally thinks of everything, etc. Kind of reminds me still of a kid who is just enjoying life, every moment, and to me it's admirable. He's essentially Ken Dorsey in a lot of ways and is stone cold calm out there.
He throws darts, was good last year, but **** what an improvement this year. He's going to have an amazing NFL career and I hope he keeps that full of wonder attitude. We all lose it at some point.
Make him uncomfortable and his mind will wander. He tries to control every situation, preps for it, so get him off his game.
Stop, just stop.
Mendoza straight up sounds like he lives on LinkedIn, because he does. Anyone that has dealt with a LinkedIn robot knows how irritating they can be, because it's almost like they don't understand that everything isn't a MBA case study. There's also a lot of performative nonsense with those people, because they are desperate to appear to be much more intelligent than they are, hence the use of buzzwords and jargon. I think Fernando is quite bright, but watching his interview tonight with SVP, it was a bit off putting.
There's a line between polished and disingenuous and Mendoza consistently crosses it. The fact that he can't even say the word "Me" when grammatically it's the only word that would fit in a sentence, is weird, and proof that he took media training way too seriously. Now, that doesn't mean he is a bad person, I don't know the young man. That said, grown men aren't going to want to listen to the leader of the team talk about synergy all day.
I've said it multiple times that Mendoza is going to get an NFL GM fired, and the more film I watch, the more that initial impression is justified. Indiana has an offensive system that doesn't translate to the NFL, and Mendoza doesn't have superlative physical gifts that will allow him to get by as he develops.
I know Heatherman will have a gameplan that forces Mendoza off his spot, especially in regards to reads. Mendoza rarely has to go through progressions, it's not even a thing in the IU system. He's a one read guy. He doesn't have high end arm talent, and from what I've seen, when he does have to make a big time throw, it's more about his receivers bailing him out, than him putting it on the money. That said, he does have some athleticism and doesn't make mistakes, which is a huge part of winning football. Mendoza won't beat himself, and in a game where the margins are going to be tight, that may be enough to win.
I will also say this, tonight's game is the ultimate "Scoreboard and what actually happened are very different from each other" game. Indiana was gifted 28 points through Oregon blunders(Pick 6, 2 Fumbles, Blocked Punt). Think about that, had the IU offense not done anything else all night but punch those 3 non Pick 6 blunders in for TDs, that would have been enough to win. They didn't have to consistently put together drives, at least not long ones. As long as Miami doesn't consistently do stupid stuff, IU will have to put together some drives, and it's tough to do that against this Miami D, especially with the speed and power on the defensive line. The more snaps you take, the more likely it is that Bain or Mesidor wrecks your drive.
