# Mark “Magic Mark” Willard: Mark, largely guessing, picked Justin Herbert for MVP, Ja'Marr Chase for OPOY, Fernando Mendoza for Offensive Rookie of the Year, David Bailey for Defensive Rookie of the Year, the Bears' coach for Coach of the Year and Jayden Daniels for Comeback Player.

**Claimed:** Aug 30, 2026
**Pundit:** Mark “Magic Mark” Willard — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/mark-magic-mark-willard
**Outlet:** Fox Sports Radio (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/fox-sports-radio-podcast
**How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview
**Original:** https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/551c44d9-d7e8-4da3-bacd-ae2e0038717f/956be755-0b6f-4484-bc7f-b4b600d94ab5/audio.mp3?in_playlist=be0668fc-1028-4ce5-80eb-ae2e00387188

5 checkable claims — 5 award picks — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.

It names 10 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in.

> I'm going to go with Herbert because he's a charger, and we'll see if he can get it done.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Ja'Marr Chase to win Offensive Player of the Year**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Ja'Marr Chase, Cincinnati Bengals
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Justin Herbert to win MVP**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Fernando Mendoza to win Offensive Rookie of the Year**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Fernando Mendoza, Las Vegas Raiders
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Jayden Daniels to win Comeback Player of the Year**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **David Bailey to win Defensive Rookie of the Year**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: David Bailey, New York Jets
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Ja'Marr Chase — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/ja-marr-chase
- Cincinnati Bengals — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/bengals
- Justin Herbert — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/justin-herbert
- Los Angeles Chargers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/chargers
- Fernando Mendoza — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/fernando-mendoza
- Las Vegas Raiders — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/raiders
- Jayden Daniels — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/jayden-daniels
- Washington Commanders — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/commanders
- David Bailey — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/david-bailey
- New York Jets — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/jets

## What others said about the same people

- Nate Gosney on Daiyan Henley: After the Broncos rescinded the trade, Gosney expects Daiyan Henley to remain with the Chargers for the rest of the 2026 season, but believes the awkward fallout has effectively killed any chance of them signing a new contract with Los Angeles after the season. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/60272861-4ad0-4749-b36a-dcdf09b9213f (scored 0)
- Jordan Dajani on Washington Commanders: Dajani picks the Commanders to edge the Giants 21-20 on Thursday and the Chiefs to beat the Falcons 26-20 in Week 10. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/46f7646f-2c64-4827-a522-67975af79fb6 (scored 95.24)
- Tyler Sullivan on Washington Commanders: Sullivan takes the Commanders 24-21 over the Giants on Thursday night and calls for a Steelers upset of the Bengals, 27-24, in Week 10. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1bb32676-c3b3-4b8e-8a03-b58396cf98bf (scored 100)
- John Breech on Washington Commanders: Breech picks the Commanders to upset the Giants on Thursday night, 24-17, and takes the Texans to beat the Browns 24-16 in Week 10 behind a pass rush that should batter Deshaun Watson. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/9fddc8e1-3823-4252-bdd7-f81ef11b1da3 (scored 90.48)
- Jordan Dajani on Washington Commanders: Dajani picked seven Week 10 games with final scores, including a Commanders upset of the Giants, Lions over the Patriots in Munich, Chiefs over the Falcons, Packers edging the Vikings, 49ers over the Cowboys, Bengals over the Steelers and Ravens over the Chargers. They also suggested Joe Burrow could win MVP this season. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/e2531f3a-2140-40ac-9831-5ff8224e090f (scored 95.24)
- Eva Geitheim on Washington Commanders: Geitheim picked the Commanders, Lions, Chiefs, Texans, Vikings, Jaguars, Colts, Panthers, Bills, Seahawks, Rams, 49ers, Bengals and Ravens in Week 10. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c011abef-0b18-41ad-acad-6a67dfbd41fd (scored 100)

## 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)

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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.

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