Fernando Mendoza just reminded Jets fans what could have been

Fernando Mendoza’s fourth-down touchdown run in Monday night's National Championship Game will live forever in Indiana history. It capped a storybook night and helped lead the Hoosiers to their first national championship.

The city of Bloomington and the state of Indiana celebrated last night's triumph, but for New York Jets fans, Mendoza's late-game heroics served as an unfortunate reminder of what could have been. It was a reminder of exactly what they’re about to miss.

The Jets finished the 2025 season with a league-worst 3–14 record, tied with the Las Vegas Raiders. The difference between picking first and second came down to a strength-of-schedule tiebreaker of 0.14.

That tiny margin — combined with an untimely muffed punt in the Atlanta Falcons game earlier in the season — is why the Jets won’t be in a position to draft Mendoza, who is widely expected to go No. 1 overall to Las Vegas.

Fernando Mendoza's National Championship win was a painful reminder for Jets fans

Mendoza's final stat line from Monday's win may not jump out on paper, but the Cal transfer put his team on his back late in the game and showed exactly why he's the projected No. 1 pick in April's draft.

He finished 16-of-27 for 186 yards and added a clutch 12-yard rushing touchdown on fourth-and-4 late in the fourth quarter that gave the Hoosiers the lead in their eventual 27–21 victory over the Hurricanes.

That run became the defining play of a perfect 16–0 season and helped cement Mendoza’s status as a college football legend in one of the most unlikely campaigns in recent memory. Indiana’s 2025 season will go down in history, and Mendoza’s heroics will be remembered right alongside it.

Unfortunately for the Jets, they'll likely have to search for a different solution at the quarterback position. The reality is, though, that this is viewed as a one-quarterback class.

Oregon’s Dante Moore could have been an option at No. 2, but he chose to return to school. The Jets are now staring at top defensive prospects like Arvell Reese or Rueben Bain Jr., who are excellent players in their own right, but they're not quarterbacks.

Perhaps the cruelest part is that the Jets seem to finally have the infrastructure to support a young quarterback, at least when compared to what the likes of Sam Darnold and Zach Wilson were forced to work with.

They have a solid offensive line and a true No. 1 receiver in Garrett Wilson. And yet, external factors haven't cooperated. The free agent market is bare. The trade market isn’t much better. Maybe they take a swing on Day 2. Maybe they wait.

But as Fernando Mendoza lifted a trophy Monday night, Jets fans were left wondering what could have been in an alternate reality.