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Rich Eisen#38 of 87 NFL pundits · Oct 23, 2026

Eisen ranked the 2024 first-round quarterback class with Caleb Williams first ahead of Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, Michael Penix and JJ McCarthy, and also picked the Vikings and Steelers to win their upcoming games while saying the Ravens and Patriots will both make the playoffs.

Said on air, transcribed by us · The Rich Eisen Show (podcast)Hear the original

2 of 2calls landed2 hits · 3 waiting
100Average accuracyout of 100, across 2 calls
50A naive guessthe same calls, no knowledge
2Games calledeveryone’s picks below
#38Rich Eisen’s rankof 87 ranked NFL pundits

What Rich Eisen said

our reading, beside the words we read it from
The Ravens are gonna make it, man.
Rich Eisen, the lead quote · each call’s own words are below
Where it was said
The Rich Eisen Show (podcast)
The episode
Hour 2: What’s More Likely, Mayfield’s Return, Cowboys-Eagles Stakes & Ranking the ’24 Draft QB Class
The original
Hear the original
Read it wrong?
Tell us and we will look
  1. SaidOct 23
  2. PlayedOct 25
  3. GradedOct 25
  1. 1Pittsburgh Steelers to beat Saints“this is a big game for the Steelers in Paris. This is winnable. They should they should beat the Saint...”
  2. 2Minnesota Vikings to beat Colts“It's the Vikings, Chris. Okay. The Vikings are at home... against the Colts team that just fired their general manager”
  3. 3Top Player Lists“Top five, quarterbacks from that draft class... right now, where we are right now, and for the future, I'm going with Caleb Williams... I'll go Drake May 2, obviously... Three is Jaden Daniels... I'll still have to go Bo Nix here... I'll go Penix here at five... JJ McCarthy, let's go, man.”
  4. 4Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs“The Ravens are gonna make it, man. They'll... They... They're gonna make it. I don't know if they win the division.”
  5. 5New England Patriots to make the playoffs“Because you're not putting the patriots out of the playoffs. I'm definitely two east.”

Box score

HitCloseMissWaiting
VerdictCallKindWhat happenedScoreNaiveSkill
Pittsburgh Steelers to beat Saints1Game Outcome PicksSteelers 16–101000+167
Minnesota Vikings to beat Colts2Game Outcome PicksVikings 16–101001000
“Top five, quarterbacks from that draft class... right now,…”3Top Player Lists————
Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs4Playoff Picks————
New England Patriots to make the playoffs5Playoff Picks————
5 calls · 2 hits · 3 waiting10050

Game calls show that game’s closing betting line under their grade: a dated fact from nflverse, for context and never part of a grade. MissedTakes takes no bets and earns nothing from any sportsbook.

How each call scored

a naive guessbetter than naive

5 checkable claims — 2 game outcome picks, 2 playoff picks and 1 top player list — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.

It names 4 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

2 of 5 have settled so far, averaging 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess at the same calls.

Each call is scored 0 to 100 against what happened, on its own, by the published methodology. The naive guess is what knowing nothing would have scored on the same calls; the gap, weighted by how hard the call was, is the skill.

  1. 1Game Outcome PicksPittsburgh Steelers

    Pittsburgh Steelers to beat Saints

    What happenedSteelers 16–10Steelers at Saints
    100Hit · naive 0
    100this call0a naive guess100better than naive1.67difficulty+167skill

    Closing line (Oct 25): Steelers by 3 · favorite pick, Steelers 59%.

    How this was scored
    won:
    PIT
    score:
    16-10
    skill:
    167
    they picked:
    PIT
    season:
    2026
    accuracy:
    100
    baseline:
    0
    the naive pick:
    NO
    difficulty:
    1.67
    weeks in the season:
    18
    weeks left when called:
    12
    Think this is wrong?

  2. 2Game Outcome PicksMinnesota Vikings

    Minnesota Vikings to beat Colts

    What happenedVikings 16–10Colts at Vikings
    100Hit · naive 100
    100this call100a naive guess0better than naive1.67difficulty0skill

    Closing line (Oct 25): Vikings by 6.5 · favorite pick, Vikings about 3 in 4 (73%).

    How this was scored
    won:
    MIN
    score:
    10-16
    skill:
    0
    they picked:
    MIN
    season:
    2026
    accuracy:
    100
    baseline:
    100
    the naive pick:
    MIN
    difficulty:
    1.67
    weeks in the season:
    18
    weeks left when called:
    12
    Think this is wrong?

  3. 3Top Player Lists

    “Top five, quarterbacks from that draft class... right now, where we are right now, and for the future, I'm going with Caleb Williams... I'll go Drake May 2, obviously... Three is Jaden Daniels... I'll still have to go Bo Nix here... I'll go Penix here at five... JJ McCarthy, let's go, man.”

    VerdictWaiting

    Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.

    Think this is wrong?

  4. 4Playoff PicksBaltimore Ravens

    Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs

    VerdictWaiting

    Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.

    Think this is wrong?

  5. 5Playoff PicksNew England Patriots

    New England Patriots to make the playoffs

    VerdictWaiting

    Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.

    Think this is wrong?
  6. All

    The take as a whole

    the average of 2 settled calls, each counted once

    100naive 50

The games in this take

every pundit’s pick on each

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