Agreed.
I like Mendoza more than I liked Ward last year. But then I try to control my "upside muscle" when I look at QBs because it seems to me that ends up weighing too much with these guys. Also I was quite high on Dart but I don't think Dart was as strong a prospect as Mendoza is.
I like him more than I liked Williams in 2024 because Williams is a bit on the short side. Daniels and Maye who went after Williams were pretty close to Mendoza I think, because both can win from the pocket and have all the tools. Bears just fell in love with Williams.
I like him more than I liked Young in 2023, because Young is too short for my taste as a 1 overall pick. I see Young as a reach so Mendoza is a much better prospect. Stroud who went 2 overall is much more in Mendoza's class as a prospect, has all the tools, played in big games in a big program, etc. Mendoza's considerably bigger though.
2022 draft was a hot pile of shit at QB.
2021 draft was the last QB taken at 1 overall who I see as a clearly higher rated prospect than Mendoza, that being Trevor Lawrence who was undoubtedly one of the highest graded QBs in years.
So while I am no scout to my eye this dude is a legit 1 overall QB. Zero doubt about it in my mind. But as it pertains to 1 overall QBs there's a difference in the rarely graded types like Lawrence and the rest of these guys. And Mendoza is not in that rare group which means it will be possible to trade up for him.