Colin Cowherd#54 of 87 NFL pundits · Sep 19, 2026
Cowherd repeats their claim that Caleb Williams will be viewed as a top four or five quarterback by the end of the season, restates their preseason pick of the Ravens to win their division, and expects a angry Houston defense to beat Cincinnati on Sunday.
Said on air or in an interview · The Colin Cowherd Podcast (podcast)Hear the original
What Colin Cowherd said
our reading, beside the words we read it fromI said, by the end of the year, Caleb will be a top four or five quarterback.
- Where it was said
- The Colin Cowherd Podcast (podcast)
- The episode
- Prime Cuts - Eli Manning Interview, Caleb Williams Top 5 QB? Chargers Look Terrible, Derrick Henry Still Elite
- The original
- Hear the original
- Read it wrong?
- Tell us and we will look
- SaidSep 19
- PlayedSep 20
- GradedSep 21
- 1Houston Texans to beat Cincinnati“All right, Bengals at the Texans on Sunday. I would not want to be Cincinnati, though I like them... The Texans' defense for the first time in, I don't remember, was kind of embarrassed. They'll be in a terrible, terrible mood. I think they'll take it out on Cincinnati.”
- 2Caleb Williams to finish 1–4 at his position, by an unstated measure“But I said this on FS1 not long ago. I said, by the end of the year, Caleb will be a top four or five quarterback. That's how we will view him.”
- 3Baltimore Ravens to win the division“I said all off season, the Ravens, I picked them to win their division.”
Box score
HitCloseMissWaiting| Verdict | Call | Kind | What happened | Score | Naive | Skill |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Texans to beat Cincinnati1 | Game Outcome Picks | Bengals 20–6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Caleb Williams to finish 1–4 at his position, by an unstated measure2 | Positional Finishes | — | — | — | — | |
| Baltimore Ravens to win the division3 | Division Winners | — | — | — | — | |
| 3 calls · 1 miss · 2 waiting | 0 | 0 | ||||
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 naive3 checkable claims — 1 division winner, 1 game outcome pick and 1 positional finish — 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.
1 of 3 have settled so far, averaging 0 out of 100, against 0 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.
1Game Outcome PicksHouston Texans
Houston Texans to beat Cincinnati
What happenedBengals 20–6Bengals at Texans0Miss · naive 00this call−0a naive guess=0better than naive×1.94difficulty=0skillClosing line (Sep 20): Texans by 3 · favorite pick, Texans 57%.
Think this is wrong?How this was scored
- won:
- CIN
- score:
- 20-6
- skill:
- 0
- they picked:
- HOU
- season:
- 2026
- accuracy:
- 0
- baseline:
- 0
- the naive pick:
- HOU
- difficulty:
- 1.94
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- weeks left when called:
- 17
2Positional FinishesCaleb WilliamsChicago Bears
Caleb Williams to finish 1–4 at his position, by an unstated measure
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
3Division WinnersBaltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens to win the division
VerdictWaitingNot settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
The game in this take
every pundit’s pick on eachWho this take is about
Others on the same people
John Middlekauff · Draft Bust Calls · Caleb Williams · Miss 0
Middlekauff expects either Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson to win this year's MVP, calling them the two best players in the league. They are pessimistic on the Bears, forecasting six or seven wins and saying they'd bet Caleb Williams doesn't work out as a franchise quarterback. They also see Oklahoma's John Mattier as a first-round pick who'll be in the Heisman mix.Bobby Skinner · Trade and Signing Calls · Stefon Diggs · Miss 0
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.Bryan DeArdo · Score Predictions · Chicago Bears · Hit 98
DeArdo picks the Bears to beat the Buccaneers on Sunday night in a defensive game, predicting a 20-16 final score.Danny Parkins · Game Outcome Picks · Chicago Bears · Hit 100
Parkins named the seven AFC teams they believe are already set as the playoff field, expects Chicago, Buffalo and Kansas City to win this week, took Green Bay over New England and Atlanta over Cincinnati outright, and kept Bills–Bears as their Super Bowl matchup with the Giants still winning the NFC East.
More division winners
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
Daniel DiBerardinis · Division Winners · Atlanta Falcons · Miss 0
Danny D predicts Sonny Styles goes in the top ten (maybe top five), doesn't think Ty Simpson goes before late first round, says Kenyon Sadiq lands with the Rams at 13, and picks the Falcons to win the NFC South while naming the Bengals an AFC bounce-back team. They also give a Final Four of Michigan, Florida, Purdue and Arizona with Michigan winning.Rich Eisen · Division Winners · Jacksonville Jaguars · Hit 100
Eisen forecast the Week 18 results and the entire wild-card field: Buccaneers over Panthers but Carolina still gets in as the 5 seed when Atlanta beats New Orleans, 49ers over Seahawks, Ravens over Steelers, Jaguars beating Tennessee to win the AFC South, and six wild-card matchups (Seahawks-Panthers, Bills-Jaguars, Texans-Ravens, Packers-Bears, Chargers-Patriots, Rams-Eagles), with Houston upsetting Baltimore. They also tabbed Saints rookie Tyler Shough as a possible Offensive Rookie of the Year.Rich Eisen · Division Winners · Jacksonville Jaguars · Hit 100
Eisen called the 49ers-as-NFC-favorites take an overreaction, picked the Jaguars to beat the Titans and win their division, leaned Ravens over the Steelers in the Week 18 Sunday night game, expects the Bills to beat the Jets even without Josh Allen, sees the Chargers as the AFC's seventh seed, agreed Tyler Shough could win Offensive Rookie of the Year with a good Saints 2026, said Malik Willis will be a starter somewhere next season, and insisted Detroit goes into 2026 with Goff.Chris Brockman · Division Winners · Philadelphia Eagles · Hit 100
Brockman called the Broncos-Packers game the best of the day, said Denver looks poised to lock up the AFC's No. 1 seed and reach the AFC Championship Game, predicted the Bears win the NFC North and the Eagles win their division (though they think they lose to a five seed from the NFC West), and said Philip Rivers will be in the NFL in 2026.Rich Eisen · Division Winners · New England Patriots · Hit 100
Eisen said the Patriots are still likely to win the AFC East and won't be one-and-done, that the Chargers will end Dallas' season next week, that TreVeyon Henderson should out-snap Rhamondre Stevenson, that the NFC East race is over in Philadelphia's favor, and that the winner of the NFC West will be the NFC's No. 1 seed.Rich Eisen · Division Winners · New England Patriots · Hit 100
Eisen previewed week 15 games, predicting Joe Burrow would play well in their first home start back against Baltimore, and speculated on a possible Colts-Steelers wild card matchup. They also asserted the Chiefs will not win their division for a tenth straight year, keeping the Patriots' record of 11 straight division titles safe.