# Zachary Pereles: Writing up the staff poll, they argued Will Anderson Jr. is positioned to win their first Defensive Player of the Year award. **Claimed:** Nov 12, 2026 **Pundit:** Zachary Pereles — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/zachary-pereles **Outlet:** CBS Sports — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/cbs-sports **How it reached us:** published in writing **Original:** https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2026-nfl-midseason-awards-expert-picks-super-bowl-mvp-coach-of-year-opoy-more/ One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened. It names 2 players and teams, each linked to their own record. Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in. > After a runner-up finish last year, he's in strong position to earn his first Defensive Player of the Year *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Will Anderson Jr. to win Defensive Player of the Year** - Kind: Award Picks · About: Will Anderson Jr., Houston Texans - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Will Anderson Jr. — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/will-anderson-jr - Houston Texans — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/texans ## What others said about the same people - Bobby Skinner on Stefon Diggs: Skinner predicted Daniel Jones signs with and wins the starting job in Indianapolis, Milton Williams to New England, Lavonte David back to Tampa, Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams to the Giants, DJ Reid to Arizona, Hassan Reddick to Washington and Justin Fields staying in Pittsburgh, plus alternates they had listed. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/6bc51663-60f7-4897-b5dc-40e284f869a2 (scored 0) - Pete Prisco on Houston Texans: Prisco gives score predictions for every Week 9 NFL game, picking the Bengals to rout the Falcons in Madrid, the Cowboys to rebound at Indianapolis, and the Jaguars to win in Baltimore without Lamar Jackson. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/dc43909b-bc7f-47aa-b208-5cf7c95844bc (scored 54.76) - Jared Koch on Houston Texans: Koch predicts the Texans will beat the winless Chargers on the road in Week 9 by at least 10 points, with Houston's defense forcing a couple of turnovers to set up a multiple-score win. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e2861ce9-d1de-4f34-b001-83e64c3f5770 (scored 100) - Chris Simms on Houston Texans: Simms gave a predicted final score for every Week 9 game, picking the Bengals, Chiefs, Broncos, Lions, Giants, Rams, Cowboys, Saints, 49ers, Patriots, Seahawks, Texans, Bears and Bills, and also said they wouldn't be shocked to see Jacksonville reach the AFC Championship Game. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/17eb747a-90b1-472f-bb6d-e71c0c69133a (scored 80.95) - Connor Rogers on Houston Texans: Rogers picked straight-up winners in every Week 9 game, agreeing with Simms on all of them, and gave a 24-20 Bills score over the Vikings on Monday night. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/11646f69-18dd-4831-a7de-e4115ded875c (scored 100) - Nick Wright on Houston Texans: Wright made several outright game calls for Week 9 alongside their spread picks: Kansas City beating the Jets 31-20, Detroit winning at Miami, New England edging Green Bay by a field goal or so, Carolina winning outright over Denver, and Houston blowing out the Chargers 27-12. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/14c1f8dd-d8ff-498f-b705-4b468ff964f8 (scored 83.33) ## More award picks The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Nick Wright on Sam Darnold: Wright picks Seattle to beat New England in the Super Bowl by a 27-17 final score, describing a semi-comfortable win, and names Sam Darnold as their Super Bowl MVP pick. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/8ff42b18-5a45-40e1-b3b6-17612cfca395 (scored 0) - Eric Mangini on Drake Maye: Mangini picked the Patriots 23-20 with Drake May as Super Bowl MVP, and earlier named Kayshon Boutte ("Kaeshawn Booty") as their dark horse MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/332dce8c-f71c-4f26-a976-8f4615a9f9bd (scored 0) - Chris Broussard on Drake Maye: Broussard picked New England to beat Seattle 24-21, with Drake May winning Super Bowl MVP, and named Cooper Kupp as their dark horse MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1247ee30-3338-4940-8fc9-977cc215ff59 (scored 0) - Willie Colon on Sam Darnold: Colon picked the Seahawks to win 24-14 with Sam Darnold as Super Bowl MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b6655a6f-9a44-46d4-8c76-0d96b7334211 (scored 0) - Nick Wright on Rashid Shaheed: Nick picked Seattle to win the Super Bowl 27-17, citing Seattle's defense, coaching against young quarterbacks and schedule strength, and named Rasheed Shaheed as their dark horse Super Bowl MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1fe4abc6-28e3-412b-ab6e-d2f65f25682f (scored 0) - Danny Parkins on Jaxon Smith-Njigba: Parkins picked Seattle to win 27-16 with Jaxon Smith-Njigba as Super Bowl MVP. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3667c28e-88b0-4d8e-bebd-6ef088550e4f (scored 0) --- 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=zachary-pereles