The 2026 NFL Draft has come and gone, and, for collectors, it is time to guess who will be the hot rookies that everyone is going to be speculating on. Like the NBA, many of those drafted this year will head straight to the bright lights of the NFL without a minor-league development process to go through, like the one baseball has. So, for those in the hobby, the search is on for impact players at skill positions who are likely to make their presence known in the NFL right away. Fernando Mendoza, chosen first overall, is at the top of the list for good reason.
Mendoza burst onto the scene in the past year after leading Indiana to an undefeated season and a national title. He is widely considered to be the best quarterback in the draft class, which, in turn, made him a heavy favorite to get picked first overall, which is exactly what happened. While we will have to wait a bit for Mendoza’s first cards in an NFL uniform, there are some autographs of his out there for collectors to chase in the meantime.
Raiders top NFL Draft pick Fernando Mendoza has plenty of autographs to chase
You will notice that the focus here is on licensed autographs. Mendoza does have autographs in unlicensed products like 2025 Wild Card, 2025 Leaf Vivid, and 2025 Leaf Optichrome, which are more budget-friendly, but are also generally valued significantly less than the licensed autos. For the moment, we are going to ignore those options.
Mendoza’s current licensed autos range from reasonably common to exceedingly rare, and there are parallels for many of them if you are looking for high-dollar investment opportunities. For now, we are going to be focusing on his base and insert autos instead of listing every parallel for all of them. All prices contained here are accurate at time of publish, courtesy of Sports Cards Pro. Please save the emails with screenshots of eBay sold listings. We already know that prices can and will change.
Let’s get into the Mendoza autos that collectors should be on the lookout for at the right price.
2025 Bowman Chrome University Chrome Prospect Auto BCA-FME
- Raw Price: $425
- PSA 10 Price: $2,028
Unlike baseball, which has actual prospects with team affiliations, football’s foray into the Bowman 1st craze is focused on players that are in college. Mendoza’s 1st autos from 2025 Bowman Chrome University are already moving extremely well, and after the draft, you can bet that the $400-450 the base versions were getting are going to look cheap in a hurry.
2025 Bowman Chrome University 1955 Bowman Auto 55AV-FM
- Raw Price: $475
- PSA 10 Price: $2,138
While not technically a 1st auto, which limits the ceiling a bit, collectors love autos on retro cards, especially if they are on-card. Mendoza’s autos here are numbered to /99 or lower, so scarcity has helped the market for these, but it has also made them pretty tough to actually find in the wild. This is only going to get worse.
2025 Bowman Chrome University Big Kahuna Auto BK-FM
- Raw Price: $510
- PSA 10 Price: $2,301
Insert autos can be hit or miss. Some of them can command big dollars, while others can be worth less than base autos. It is a fickle market sometimes. However, the Big Kahuna inserts have been received pretty well by collectors, especially with subjects that don’t have many cards. The autographed versions of Mendoza’s entry in the line are tough pulls, and a raw version will set you back over $500, although that number seems to be climbing in a hurry.
2025 Bowman’s Best University Best Of 2025 Auto BOA-FM
- Raw Price: $371
- PSA 10 Price: $1,725
For those that don’t quite want to shell out what it takes to get a Mendoza 1st auto, 2025 Bowman’s Best has some options available that are a bit less pricey, with his Best of 2025 autos in the set among the most readily available. They still don’t come cheap, as they were approaching $400 the week of the draft, but they are at least a little more approachable among the licensed Mendoza auto options.
2025 Bowman’s Best University Greatness Awaits Auto GA-FM
- Raw Price: $200
- PSA 10 Price: $935
Remember where we said that insert autos can be worth less than regular base autos? Here is a classic example of that, with Mendoza’s Greatness Awaits autos ranking as probably the best bang for your buck at the moment. As of the week of the draft, you could get raw copies for around $200, although examples in high grades are already pushing a grand.
2025 Bowman’s Best University Dual Auto (with Lee Beebe Jr.) DA-IND
- Raw Price: N/A
- PSA 10 Price: N/A
This is for the true masochists out there, as, like almost every other dual or higher auto, Mendoza’s dual auto with Lee Beebe Jr. is tough to come by. After all, even the base versions are only numbered to 25. Still, there were some available, both raw and graded, before the NFL Draft, and they could be quite the prize for serious collectors out there, even if Beebe Jr. doesn’t end up being anything.
2025 Bowman’s Best University Prospect Dual Relic Auto DRA-FM
- Raw Price: $450
- PSA 10 Price: N/A
While not as rare as the dual auto or most parallels of Mendoza’s autos in this product, the relic autos from Bowman’s Best are a nice little step up from a standard base auto for those that are looking for something a little flashier. Base versions have been selling for around $450, and parallels were starting to pop up ahead of the draft. Based on how auctions have been going, you might require some luck to get one for less than $500.
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