# John Middlekauff: After the NFL Combine, Middlekauff predicted Fernando Mendoza goes No. 1 overall, that Notre Dame running back Jeremiah Love won't fall out of the top 10 (as high as No. 4 to the Giants, no further than the Saints at No. 8), plus top-10/top-20 landing spots for Caleb Downs, Carnell Tate and Oregon's tight end. He also forecast quarterback movement: Tua and Kyler Murray being cut, Kyler as a backup, someone trading for Tyson Bagent, and the Saints becoming a sleeper playoff team if they land Love. **Claimed:** Mar 2, 2026 **Pundit:** John Middlekauff — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/john-middlekauff **Outlet:** The Herd with Colin Cowherd (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/the-herd-with-colin-cowherd-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff/jeremiyah-love-at-the-combine-speed-is-taking-over-the-nfl-ais-impact-on-the-nfl 10 checkable claims — 5 mock draft picks, 3 trade and signing calls, 1 depth chart call and 1 surprise team call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 9 players and teams, each linked to their own record. 5 of 10 have settled so far, averaging 94.6 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess at the same calls. Of the 1 unsettled call enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands above the rest of the room. > He's not sniffing falling out of the top ten. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Caleb Downs to be picked “lock top ten pick” (picks 1–10)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Caleb Downs - Verdict: scored 95.76 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Carnell Tate to be picked “top twenty” (picks 1–20)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Carnell Tate - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Fernando Mendoza to be picked at number 1** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Fernando Mendoza - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Jeremiyah Love to be picked “not sniffing falling out of the top ten; goes as high as four with the Giants, farthest fall would be the Saints at eight” (picks 1–10)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Jeremiyah Love - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Kenyon Sadiq to be picked “top ten” (picks 1–10)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Kenyon Sadiq - Verdict: scored 77.11 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Tua Tagovailoa to move** - Kind: Trade and Signing Calls · About: Tua Tagovailoa - Verdict: not settled yet - **Kyler Murray to be 2nd on the depth chart** - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Kyler Murray - Verdict: not settled yet - **New Orleans Saints to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: New Orleans Saints - Verdict: not settled yet - **Tyson Bagent to move** - Kind: Trade and Signing Calls · About: Tyson Bagent - Verdict: not settled yet - **Kyler Murray to move** - Kind: Trade and Signing Calls · About: Kyler Murray - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Caleb Downs — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/caleb-downs - Carnell Tate — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/carnell-tate - Fernando Mendoza — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/fernando-mendoza - Jeremiyah Love — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/jeremiyah-love - Kenyon Sadiq — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/kenyon-sadiq - Tua Tagovailoa — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/tua-tagovailoa - Kyler Murray — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/kyler-murray - New Orleans Saints — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/saints - Tyson Bagent — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/tyson-bagent ## What others said about the same people - Chris Simms on New Orleans Saints: Simms went through the entire Week 3 slate with straight-up winners and predicted final scores, taking Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle, the Giants, Baltimore, New Orleans, Minnesota, San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia. He also expected Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua to sit, Kyler Murray to play, and said Marvin Harrison Jr. projects as no better than a good No. 2 or high-end No. 3 receiver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/662b7ba3-1bf6-4ad0-9f93-9f2ab83143fd (scored 47.62) - Nick Wright on New Orleans Saints: On his Week 3 pick show, Nick Wright gave straight-up final-score predictions for five games, calling blowouts by Seattle over Washington and Kansas City over Miami, a Jacksonville home win over New England, a narrow New Orleans win over the Raiders and a low-scoring Baltimore win over Dallas in Brazil. He also called Seattle the best team in the NFL with the league's best defense. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/afa6070a-4229-4b28-a922-31d609ad1adf (scored 33.33) - Dan Beyer on New Orleans Saints: For his Week 3 survivor pick, he took the Saints to beat the Raiders at home, saying he doesn't see Las Vegas staying unbeaten. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/fdedf503-5121-4109-b003-d5c980b00456 (scored 0) - Darrion Gray on New Orleans Saints: Predicted the Saints beat the Raiders 27-17 at home. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/778eb604-cf02-49f1-8468-fbc8b0798375 (scored 45.24) - John Hendricks on New Orleans Saints: Predicted a lower-scoring Saints win over the Raiders, 24-19, with the defense carrying them. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/5d6f55b1-d993-4659-a8b9-d95c6942875e (scored 42.86) - Lance Moore on New Orleans Saints: Called for a Saints victory over the Raiders by a score of 27-20. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/92c9e860-f1af-4e13-a82c-80d31fa7be6e (scored 47.62) ## More mock draft picks The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Ryan Wilson on J.J. McCarthy: Recalling his pre-draft evaluation, Wilson notes he had ranked J.J. McCarthy as the fifth quarterback in the 2024 class and given him a second-round grade rather than a first-round one, citing the gap between Michigan's system and NFL demands. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/44cc5859-8b2b-4fbf-b5c0-62c635f2e357 (scored 36.92) - Nick Shook on Max Iheanachor: Shook walks through his full first-round mock draft, assigning a prospect to every pick from No. 1 to No. 32, headlined by Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders, David Bailey to the Jets and Jeremiah Love to the Cardinals in the top three. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/7d4209aa-2e2d-47a2-b6e5-791d16d209cb (scored 87.81) - Gregg Rosenthal on K.C. Concepcion: Rosenthal disagrees most with Casey Concepcion being left out of the first round, arguing he could go as high as the top 15 and certainly won't last past receiver-needy teams in the late twenties. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/8fae9a3a-7fd8-454c-99cc-0a8400c35d7d (scored 67.71) - Daniel Jeremiah on Keyron Crawford: In discussing teams without first-round picks, Jeremiah projected specific Day 2 picks: Clemson WR Antonio Williams to the Falcons at 48, Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez to the Colts in the second round, Oklahoma edge R Mason Thomas to the Packers at 52, and Auburn edge Keiroon Crawford to the Broncos at 62. He also expects Riley Leonard to open as the Colts' starting QB and Travis Hunter to play cornerback full time in Jacksonville. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/f60c916c-1b5f-4252-8733-1770c7809577 (scored 80.52) - Jeff Cavanaugh on Lorenzo Styles: Streaming from the NFL Combine, Jeff pegged safety Dylan Thienemann's draft range at roughly picks 20-35, said LSU safety AJ Halsey would cost a second- or third-round pick, and insisted Sonny Styles' brother would not be a top-50 selection despite a fast 40. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/f1f48cc1-f9d5-44ca-b130-2c6447b49bc6 (scored 0.51) - Scott Bogman on Olaivavega Ioane: He gave David Bailey to Tennessee at 4, Sonny Styles to Washington at 7, Caleb Downs to Cincinnati at 10, Carnell Tate to the Rams at 13, Denzel Boston to the Jets at 16, Kayden McDonald to Carolina at 19, Vega Ioane to the Chargers at 22, Peter Woods to Chicago at 25, Emmanuel Pregnon to Houston at 28 and Romello Height to Denver at 31, and insisted both Bailey and Downs are top-10 locks. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/0b0cd1a9-31f7-40d9-9b9e-f52957c10494 (scored 70.71) --- Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages. Full method: https://missedtakes.co/methodology We summarize what a pundit said and quote a short span for attribution; we never republish their article. If this is wrong, tell us: https://missedtakes.co/corrections?pundit=john-middlekauff