JP Acosta#40 of 87 NFL pundits · Mar 2, 2026

Acosta gave draft ranges for combine risers — Nussmeier in the third round, Kenyon Sadiq in round one, Chris Johnson in round two — and made picks 2, 4, 6 and every other selection in a post-combine first-round mock draft.

Said on air, transcribed by us · Pushing the Pile (podcast)Hear the original

9 of 20picks landed9 hits · 7 close calls · 4 misses · 6 waiting

85.54The orderagainst a shuffled mock’s 50

+35.54Skillthe mock as a whole

67.2Per pickaverage, out of 100

#40JP Acosta’s rankof 87 ranked NFL pundits

What JP Acosta said

I think the third round is where about is about where I draft him.

JP Acosta, the lead quote

Where it was said: Pushing the Pile (podcast)
The episode: Biggest Draft RISERS From The Combine + NEW 2026 NFL Mock Draft | Full 1st Round
The original: Hear the original
Read it wrong?: Tell us and we will look

SaidMar 2
GradedOct 1

Box score, round by round

HitCloseMissWaiting

Group	Hits	Close	Misses	Waiting
Round 1	8	6	2	0
Picks 0–0	1	1	2	6
All	9	7	4	6

How the mock scored

26 checkable claims — 26 mock draft picks — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing call.

It names 38 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

20 of 26 have settled so far, averaging 67.2 out of 100, against 50 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.

Mock against the draft

Across: where the mock put each player. Down: where the player went, with undrafted players (UDFA) on the bottom row. The shaded band is where a pick earns credit, within 32 picks. Squares landed, half-squares were close and slashes missed.

The mock as a whole

85.54this mock’s order50a shuffled mock35.54better than naive1difficulty+35.54skill

The skill comes from how well the whole mock ordered the draft, so it is not any one pick’s score minus 50.

Every pick’s score

0a pick’s naive guess: 50100

Think a pick here is graded wrong? Tell us which.

Draft board

HitCloseMissWaiting

Round 1 · picks 1–328 hits · 6 close calls · 2 missesShow ▸

Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Went	Score
2	NYJ	Arvell Reese	linebacker	5	88
4	TEN	Rueben Bain	edge	15	62
6	CLE	Monroe Freeling	left tackle	19	57
8	NO	Jeremiyah Love	running back	3	81
10	CIN	Caleb Downs	safety	11	96
12	DAL	Mansoor Delane	cornerback	6	77
14	BAL	Olaivavega Ioane	interior offensive lineman	14	100
16	NYJ	Makai Lemon	wide receiver	20	84
18	MIN	Caleb Banks	defensive tackle	18	100
20	DAL	C.J. Allen	linebacker	53	24
22	LAC	Keldric Faulk	edge	31	68
24	CLE	K.C. Concepcion	wide receiver	24	100
26	BUF	Dillon Thieneman	safety	25	96
28	HOU	Blake Miller	tackle	17	62
30	DEN	Cade McDonald	defensive tackle	UDFA	0
32	SEA	Denzel Boston	wide receiver	39	74

Picks 0–01 hit · 1 close call · 2 misses · 6 waitingShow ▸

Team	Player	Pos	Went	Score
—	Garrett Nussmeier	quarterback	249	0
—	Kanye Savic	tight end	UDFA	0
—	Chris Johnson	cornerback	27	77
—	Jacob Rodriguez	linebacker	43	100
—	Cole Payton	quarterback	—	—
—	Deion Burks	wide receiver	—	—
—	Malachi Lawrence	edge	—	—
—	Dillon Thieneman	safety	—	—
—	Dennis Sutton	edge	—	—
—	Chase Pizzantes	guard	—	—