Fernando Mendoza, the 22-year-old rookie quarterback backing up Kirk Cousins on the Las Vegas Raiders, says he leans on ChatGPT to help plan his daily meals, right down to deciding whether he should have an Uncrustable or applesauce between practices. The Raiders staff already provides Mendoza with a nutrition plan, but he says the AI chatbot helps him fill in the gaps day to day, factoring in things like the Las Vegas weather and what he has already eaten that week.
Mendoza, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, described the process in detail to OregonLive, explaining that ChatGPT also accounts for his limited dairy preference when suggesting food. His typical lunch and dinner includes eight to 10 ounces of protein, about a half cup of carbohydrates, a cup of vegetables, a cup of fruit, and a protein shake, according to the same report. On a normal day at the Raiders facility, breakfast is a four-egg omelet with half an avocado.
It is not just meals. Mendoza also uses AI tools for game preparation, including help determining how long to nap before a game, per OregonLive's reporting. The quarterback has a partnership with OpenAI, the company that owns and operates ChatGPT.
A Nutrition Habit That Mirrors a National Trend
Mendoza's reliance on a chatbot for daily diet decisions fits into a wider pattern. A national survey published in January 2026 by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that nearly half of Americans now rely on AI-generated recommendations, social media, or unaccredited online sources for daily diet advice, a trend that pushed the group to launch a multi-year public advocacy campaign, according to PR Newswire.
That popularity has not settled the science. A June 2025 peer-reviewed study in PLOS One evaluated large language model chatbots on sports nutrition knowledge and found their factual accuracy was moderate and inconsistent across different AI models, with researchers recommending that elite athletes continue relying on registered dietitians for customized meal plans. Sports dietitians writing for Training & Conditioning in October 2024 raised a related concern, cautioning that generic AI meal plans miss physiological context such as individual gut microbiota, metabolic responses, and dynamic training loads, the kind of detail captured only through the four-step Nutrition Care Process used by certified performance dietitians and not replicated by AI platforms, per Training & Conditioning.
From College Star to Backup Role in Las Vegas
Mendoza arrived in the NFL with plenty of hype to match the AI headlines. He led the Indiana Hoosiers to a 16-0 undefeated season and the 2025 College Football Playoff national championship, finishing his senior year with 3,535 passing yards and 41 touchdowns after transferring from UC Berkeley, where he earned a business degree from the Haas School of Business, according to FOX Sports. That run also earned him the 2025 Heisman Trophy before the Raiders made him the second quarterback taken No. 1 overall in franchise history, following JaMarcus Russell in 2007, and the 11th former Heisman winner to join the team, per Raiders.com.
Despite the pedigree, Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak named 38-year-old veteran Kirk Cousins the Week 1 starter on September 2, officially slotting Mendoza in as QB2 for the season opener against the Miami Dolphins. That made Mendoza the first No. 1 overall quarterback pick since 2018 not to start his rookie season opener, as reported by NFL.com. The preseason numbers offered a clear explanation: Cousins completed 76.4 percent of his passes for 101 yards and one touchdown across two games, while Mendoza completed 55.5 percent for 240 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions across three games, according to FOX Sports' reporting on the decision.
Mendoza Stays Publicly Supportive of Cousins
Mendoza has not pushed back on the decision publicly. Appearing on Good Morning America two days before Sunday's opener, he said he was “all in” on supporting Cousins while continuing to work for future reps, according to Athlon Sports. The comment echoed his measured public demeanor from earlier in the year, when he addressed pre-draft chatter that his articulate, formal speaking style sounded like ChatGPT, telling A to Z Sports that the persona actually came from public speaking classes, leadership books, and communication videos rather than any AI tool, and noting that NFL front offices had asked him about it during combine interviews.
The Raiders enter Sunday's home opener against Miami with plenty of intrigue already surrounding their rookie quarterback, both on the field and off it. Las Vegas minority owner Tom Brady underscored that intrigue in August, paying an undisclosed six-figure sum for the only 1-of-1 autographed Fernando Mendoza “My 1st NFL Auto” card, a purchase Hoodline reported came after Topps received more than 126,000 orders for the card during its 48-hour window.
