# Todd McShay: McShay projects the 2026 draft's top of the board: Mendoza first overall to the Raiders, Jeremiah Love inside the top five, Sonny Styles inside the top 10, Ty Simpson as the second quarterback and a first-rounder, and UCF edge Malachi Lawrence as a top-100 pick.

**Claimed:** Mar 2, 2026
**Pundit:** Todd McShay — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/todd-mcshay
**Outlet:** The Rich Eisen Show (podcast) — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/the-rich-eisen-show-podcast
**How it reached us:** said on air, transcribed by us
**Original:** https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.megaphone.fm/ESP8852140414.mp3?updated=1772479492

6 checkable claims — 5 mock draft picks and 1 position order call — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.

It names 6 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

All 6 have settled, averaging 100 out of 100, against 48.3 for a naive guess at the same calls.

> The Jets are gonna take a defensive player, and the Raiders at one are gonna take Fernando Mendoza.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Sonny Styles to be picked “top 10” (picks 1–10)**
  - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Sonny Styles
  - 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, Las Vegas Raiders
  - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess
- **Jeremiyah Love to be picked “top five” (picks 1–5)**
  - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Jeremiyah Love
  - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess
- **Ty Simpson to be 2nd quarterback off the board**
  - Kind: Position Order Calls · About: Ty Simpson
  - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 39.7 for a naive guess
- **Ty Simpson to be picked “first round” (picks 1–32)**
  - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Ty Simpson
  - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess
- **Malachi Lawrence to be picked “top 100 pick” (picks 1–100)**
  - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Malachi Lawrence
  - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess

## Who this take is about

- Sonny Styles — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/sonny-styles
- Fernando Mendoza — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/fernando-mendoza
- Las Vegas Raiders — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/raiders
- Jeremiyah Love — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/jeremiyah-love
- Ty Simpson — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/ty-simpson
- Malachi Lawrence — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/malachi-lawrence

## What others said about the same people

- Chris Broussard on Las Vegas Raiders: Broussard picked the Ravens to beat the Bills in a shootout, 38-34, took the Raiders to upset the Jets, and said Detroit would beat the Vikings. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/69de6faa-8bec-4a79-9d86-5dbc5bae0573 (scored 100)
- Connor Rogers on Las Vegas Raiders: Rogers picked straight-up winners across the Week 8 slate, siding with the Bills over the Ravens, the Lions, Steelers, Jaguars, Bengals, Falcons, Raiders, Broncos, Rams, Patriots, Commanders and the Bears in Seattle. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/14b3a81b-ba4d-4270-b122-8cfe7fc959b0 (scored 100)
- John Breech on Las Vegas Raiders: Breech's Week 8 score predictions include Bengals over Titans, Raiders over Jets, Rams over Chargers and Patriots over Dolphins. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a57cb0eb-708d-41aa-9bb8-dbc16f7d3ded (scored 95.24)
- Tyler Sullivan on Las Vegas Raiders: Sullivan's Week 8 upset alert column flags five favorites they expect to lose: they pick the Falcons over the Buccaneers, the Raiders over the Jets, the undefeated Vikings over the Lions, the Ravens (with Lamar Jackson returning) over the Bills, and the Browns over the Steelers. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/1ca06895-a1db-4f4e-b814-270f5ecea69c (scored 100)
- Ezekiel Trezevant on Las Vegas Raiders: Trezevant argues that if the Raiders are as improved as they appeared at 3-0, they should beat the Jets in Week 8 on the road and end their four-game losing streak. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/132fd631-95ef-4af2-8836-d5281f3f9fc8 (scored 100)
- Richard Sherman on Las Vegas Raiders: Sherman kept their top five unchanged in concept but shuffled it to 49ers, Bills, Vikings, Chiefs, Bears, and made Week 8 picks across the slate, including Seattle over Chicago 27-17 and a begrudging Lions pick over Minnesota. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/ab6b4f5f-1083-43b1-a29c-b30795ddf69f (scored 100)

## More mock draft picks

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- Chris Simms on Malachi Corley: Simms named the Bears the NFL's best overall offense and best rushing offense, the Bengals the best passing offense, Seattle the best total defense, Minnesota the best pass defense and Tampa Bay the best run defense; they also called Tristan Wirfs the league's best offensive lineman, projected Miami's Malachi Toney as a top-15 pick, and predicted a 30-14 Jaguars win in Baltimore. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/c0fd4647-2de8-4a5f-bac2-950fed303ee9 (scored 11.46)
- Philip Hughes on Kyle Kennard: Evaluating edge rusher Kyle Kennard ahead of the draft, the account projected them as a Day 2 selection. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/605a686a-b5f1-4611-82b4-961abf8de93e (scored 33.86)
- Blaine Grisak on Brian Thomas Jr.: Grisak argues the Rams should not trade a second-round pick for Jaguars receiver Brian Thomas Jr., calling it too great a risk and too high a cost. In an embedded tweet of their own from the 2024 pre-draft period, they suggested the Rams could select Thomas at pick No. 19. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/627bcf5d-9f1d-4a34-a1b7-53b8f0aebc40 (scored 84.09)
- Charlie Campbell on Xavier Williams: Campbell's draft stock report projects Indiana WR Charlie Becker as a top-10 pick in 2027, Mississippi State CB Kelley Jones as a first-rounder, Tennessee DT Xavier Gilliam as a top-15 pick, and Texas OT Trevor Goosby as a top-10 pick, while suggesting Arch Manning could still be a first-rounder if they declare. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2dd4bf46-e5eb-4dff-8500-95d9fdbd2986 (scored 0)
- Walt on Garrett Nussmeier: In a running series of coach/GM hiring and firing grades, Walt projects Fernando Mendoza as the No. 1 overall pick of the Raiders in the 2026 draft and has LSU's Garrett Nussmeier going No. 2 overall in their 2026 mock draft. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/29bb2d31-fbe3-40db-b378-be5ba5d990b0 (scored 0)
- Charlie Campbell on Xavier Williams: Reviewing Week 7 college games, Campbell projects a slate of draft outcomes: Tennessee's Xavier Gilliam as a top-15 pick in 2026, Alabama's Bray Hubbard as a Day 2 pick and Yhonzae Pierre as a potential first-rounder, Jeremiah Smith as one of the very first players drafted, Charlie Becker as a top-10 pick in the 2027 draft, Colin Simmons and Trevor Goosby as top-10 picks, and Jadan Baugh as a first-round pick. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/d2c00414-086d-4a40-bb69-7584be496742 (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.

Full method: https://missedtakes.co/methodology

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