Dane Brugler· Apr 10, 2025
The Athletic's draft analyst laid out his expected top of the draft — Cam Ward first, Travis Hunter second to Cleveland, Abdul Carter third to the Giants — while predicting Shedeur Sanders slides outside the top 10 (a late first/early second grade), Jalen Milroe goes in round two, and all five of the class's top quarterbacks come off the board within the first 50-60 picks.
“I think there's a good chance we see cam Ward go one, Travis Hunter go two to the Browns, and then Abdul Carter three to the Giants.”
said on air or in an interview · The Herd with Colin Cowherd (podcast) · read the original →
The page this came from has changed since we captured it on Aug 5, 2026. The quote and evidence above are from our capture, not from what the page says today.
8 checkable claims — 8 mock draft picks — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet.
It names 10 players and teams, each linked to their own record.
4 of 8 have settled so far, averaging 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess at the same calls.
Their call against what happened
overall pickTheir call against what actually happened.
Where do you stand? Pick this and every open claim on Picks →
Who this take is about
8 checkable claims in this take
Each one is scored on its own against the published methodology. A pundit naming several outcomes is graded on each, not on all-or-nothing.
- Mock Draft PicksShedeur SandersApr 10, 2025
Shedeur Sanders to be picked “outside the top ten” (picks 1–10)
“the Browns at two, the Giants at three, the Saints at nine. If I have to make a bet today, I say he gets through those three spots and he's outside the top ten.”
Hit · 100Scored 100 on this pickthis mock ordered the draft 100 against a shuffle’s 50+50 skillHow this was scored
- draft:
- 2025
- naive:
- a shuffled mock scores 50
- skill:
- 50
- player:
- Shedeur Sanders
- season:
- 2025
- zero at:
- 32
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 50
- actual pick:
- 144
- difficulty:
- 1
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- pick accuracy:
- 100
- predicted pick:
- outside the top ten (NOT picks 1–10)
- weeks left when called:
- 0
- mock ordering score:
- 100
- Mock Draft PicksCam WardTennessee TitansApr 10, 2025
Cam Ward to be picked at number 1
“I think there's a good chance we see cam Ward go one, Travis Hunter go two to the Browns, and then Abdul Carter three to the Giants.”
Hit · 100Scored 100 on this pickthis mock ordered the draft 100 against a shuffle’s 50+50 skillHow this was scored
- draft:
- 2025
- naive:
- a shuffled mock scores 50
- skill:
- 50
- player:
- Cam Ward
- season:
- 2025
- zero at:
- 32
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 50
- actual pick:
- 1
- difficulty:
- 1
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- pick accuracy:
- 100
- predicted pick:
- 1
- weeks left when called:
- 0
- mock ordering score:
- 100
- Mock Draft PicksAbdul CarterNew York GiantsApr 10, 2025
Abdul Carter to be picked at number 3
“Abdul Carter three to the Giants... I just don't think he gets out of the top three when it's all set out.”
Hit · 100Scored 100 on this pickthis mock ordered the draft 100 against a shuffle’s 50+50 skillHow this was scored
- draft:
- 2025
- naive:
- a shuffled mock scores 50
- skill:
- 50
- player:
- Abdul Carter
- season:
- 2025
- zero at:
- 32
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 50
- actual pick:
- 3
- difficulty:
- 1
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- pick accuracy:
- 100
- predicted pick:
- 3
- weeks left when called:
- 0
- mock ordering score:
- 100
- Mock Draft PicksTravis HunterCleveland BrownsApr 10, 2025
Travis Hunter to be picked at number 2
“I think there's a good chance we see cam Ward go one, Travis Hunter go two to the Browns, and then Abdul Carter three to the Giants.”
Hit · 100Scored 100 on this pickthis mock ordered the draft 100 against a shuffle’s 50+50 skillHow this was scored
- draft:
- 2025
- naive:
- a shuffled mock scores 50
- skill:
- 50
- player:
- Travis Hunter
- season:
- 2025
- zero at:
- 32
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 50
- actual pick:
- 2
- difficulty:
- 1
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- pick accuracy:
- 100
- predicted pick:
- 2
- weeks left when called:
- 0
- mock ordering score:
- 100
- Mock Draft PicksJalen MilroeApr 10, 2025
Jalen Milroe to be picked “round two”
“If I'm a betting guy, I would say there's a better chance he goes round two, but sure you could see an avenue where he goes round one.”
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
- Mock Draft PicksTyler ShoughApr 10, 2025
Tyler Shough to be picked “off the board in the top fifty to sixty picks”
“There's a good chance all five of these quarterbacks talking about cam Wore, chaud or Sanders Jackson Dart, Tyler Shuck, and Jaln Milroe. There's a good chance all five of those are off the board in the top fifty to sixty picks.”
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
- Mock Draft PicksJaxson DartApr 10, 2025
Jaxson Dart to be picked “off the board in the top fifty to sixty picks”
“There's a good chance all five of these quarterbacks talking about cam Wore, chaud or Sanders Jackson Dart, Tyler Shuck, and Jaln Milroe. There's a good chance all five of those are off the board in the top fifty to sixty picks.”
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
- Mock Draft PicksShedeur SandersApr 10, 2025
Shedeur Sanders to be picked “a late one, early two”
“my evaluation of Shador has been pretty consistent since the season. I think he's a late one, early two.”
Not settled yet. This is graded once the result is in.
What others said about the same people
- Chris SimmsScore Predictions · New York GiantsHit · 98Simms went through the entire Week 3 slate with straight-up winners and predicted final scores, taking Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle, the Giants, Baltimore, New Orleans, Minnesota, San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia. He also expected Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua to sit, Kyler Murray to play, and said Marvin Harrison Jr. projects as no better than a good No. 2 or high-end No. 3 receiver.
- Connor RogersGame Outcome Picks · New York GiantsHit · 100Rogers picked Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle and the Giants to win their Week 3 games, saying the Chiefs win by two touchdowns and the Giants by a field goal.
- John MiddlekauffGame Outcome Picks · Tennessee TitansMiss · 0Middlekauff expects blowout wins for Seattle over Washington and Kansas City over Miami in Week 3, picks Cincinnati to beat Pittsburgh in the AFC North matchup, and takes Tennessee over the Giants if Jameis Winston is taking snaps.
- Richard ShermanGame Outcome Picks · New York GiantsHit · 100Sherman picked winners and several exact scores across the Week 3 slate, favoring Seattle, San Francisco, Cincinnati, Detroit, Green Bay, Carolina, New Orleans, Baltimore, the Rams, Philadelphia, Buffalo, Kansas City, Minnesota, the Giants, Jacksonville and Houston, and named Kenneth Walker his MVP.
- Colin CowherdGame Outcome Picks · Tennessee TitansMiss · 0The co-host (identified only as "Mitchell") made his own Week 3 picks, including blowout wins for Seattle and San Francisco, Cincinnati 27-17, Detroit 37-13, Denver 24-21 over the Rams, and predicted Jonah Coleman takes over the Broncos' running back role.
- Tom PelisseroGame Outcome Picks · New York GiantsHit · 100Pelissero said the Giants' upcoming schedule (home vs. Tennessee, Washington, home vs. Arizona) offers three winnable games even with a backup quarterback, and that Washington's Jayden Daniels likely won't be back for that stretch. He also expects the winless Commanders to fall to 0-3 against Seattle.
More mock draft picks
The same kind of call, about other players and teams.
- Ryan WilsonMock Draft Picks · J.J. McCarthyMiss · 37Recalling his pre-draft evaluation, Wilson notes he had ranked J.J. McCarthy as the fifth quarterback in the 2024 class and given him a second-round grade rather than a first-round one, citing the gap between Michigan's system and NFL demands.
- Lance ZierleinMock Draft Picks · Jeremiyah LoveHit · 100Zierlein laid out his final mock draft: Jeremiah Love at No. 3 to Arizona, Sonny Styles at No. 4 to Robert Saleh's team, and Caleb Downs to the Giants at No. 5. He also called Styles the only first-round linebacker in the class and said Ty Simpson is a lock to be a first-round pick, most likely to Arizona.
- Gregg RosenthalMock Draft Picks · K.C. ConcepcionClose · 68Rosenthal disagrees most with Casey Concepcion being left out of the first round, arguing he could go as high as the top 15 and certainly won't last past receiver-needy teams in the late twenties.
- Nick ShookMock Draft Picks · Dillon ThienemanClose · 57Shook walks through his full first-round mock draft, assigning a prospect to every pick from No. 1 to No. 32, headlined by Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders, David Bailey to the Jets and Jeremiah Love to the Cardinals in the top three.
- Daniel JeremiahMock Draft Picks · Keyron CrawfordHit · 81In discussing teams without first-round picks, Jeremiah projected specific Day 2 picks: Clemson WR Antonio Williams to the Falcons at 48, Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez to the Colts in the second round, Oklahoma edge R Mason Thomas to the Packers at 52, and Auburn edge Keiroon Crawford to the Broncos at 62. He also expects Riley Leonard to open as the Colts' starting QB and Travis Hunter to play cornerback full time in Jacksonville.
- Bucky BrooksMock Draft Picks · Carnell TateHit · 81In a mock draft covering the first 14 picks, Brooks made the odd-numbered selections: Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders at No. 1, a Miami offensive lineman to Arizona at No. 3, Caleb Downs to the Giants at No. 5, Ohio State's Arvell Reese to Washington at No. 7, Carnell Tate to Kansas City at No. 9, tight end Kenyon Sadiq to Miami at No. 11, and Spencer Fano to the Rams at No. 13.