The McShay Show - Nico Iamaleava vs. Jayden Maiava. Plus, Our Rough Draft 2027 QB Rankings.

Episode Date: July 13, 2026

Welcome back to The McShay Show! Today, the guys are continuing their Building the Board series with UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava and USC QB Jayden Maiava. To close the show, the guys rank the 12 quarterback prospects they’ve scouted this summer. (00:00) Welcome to The McShay Show! (11:18) Building the Board: Nico Iamaleava vs. Jayden Maiava (12:38) Takeaways from the tape (18:30) Nico Iamaleava's biggest strengths (25:55) Jayden Maiava's biggest strengths (38:01) Offseason development needs (46:23) Preseason QB Rankings Make your rise with the MVP Bundle. Available now. The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Host: Todd McShay Guest: Steve Muench Producers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, and Daniel Comer Social: Abou Kamara Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Part six of our summer series. Building the Board, the 27 quarterback class continues today. It's the Battle of L.A. Nico Iiomaliava for UCLA versus USC's Jaden Mayava. I'm pumped for this, man. Their tape was better than I expected. I'm just going to be honest, right?

Off the top. There's 290 days until the NFL draft. Met you good? I'm good, man. Roll the thing, Tuck. This episode is presented by EA Sports. college football 27 where you can engineer your team the way you want. And if you want the full football experience, try the MVP bundle.

I'm already getting pressure from the boys in this house. We got to get it. We got to get it, right? Well, I'm going to cave. You get college football 27, Madden NFL 27, plus deluxe edition rewards in both games to help you go from campus legend to NFL superstar. Make your rise with the MVP bundle available now. Conditions and restrictions apply.

C.EA.com slash games slash EA dash sports dash college dash football slash college dash football dash 27 slash game dash disclaimers for details. How was your weekend, brother? It was great. Had a great dinner last night with Tyler and his fiancee Gabby. Went to like a wedding vendor event. What about you? I know you, uh, I know you had a good one, huh?

I did. Went to Noah Khan. That was the weekend. It was Wednesday night. Oh, was it? Yeah, it was Wednesday night. I was originally supposed to go Friday night. No concept of time right now.

Yeah, and then we wound up swapping nights because some family friends were coming into town. And so we went Wednesday night. It was me, Marissa, and our two daughters and two of their friends. So it was me and five females going to Noah Khan. A little bit like, okay, here we go. What an awesome show. Nice.

I know I was, I was, you, you weren't like stoked until the day of. I feel like the day of you're like, you know, like, what am I doing? This is going to be great. I was just a little, like, I've always liked Noah Khan. Like, he's brilliant, right? And I love going to see music live. Like, doesn't matter the venue, doesn't matter. Like, I just love it.

Everyone in this family does. Like, we just, we're music loving people in a venture even more so. So I know you understand. I didn't love his. most recent album, you know, Great Divide, and it started to feel a little, like, teeny bop.

And I'm like, all right, we're like five girls. Like, not the music, the music felt a little bit like, like, stuff that you love, you know,

I was making fun of you, like, a little bit more depressing. Yeah, a little bit more of that. And then, and then, like,

it's kind of like this year's Taylor Swift, if you will, you know, like is it just more about like saying i was at no one con's concert because it's what everyone every other teenager is doing especially teenage don't girls don't pick a fight but i but i got there and it was just awesome man it's fenway park sun's going down like you literally i'm staring at the sun it's going behind fenway park it's the the sky is lit up it's beautiful i'm looking at these four girls who are like it's the greatest night of their life you know and i'm like i'm like i'm like

watching it through their eyes in the beginning and they can't believe they're there and have this opportunity and they're screaming and like almost in tears one of my me as friend was that she cried half the night i didn't even notice um so that was awesome i'm stunned you didn't notice she was five seats down um but yeah like like just watching his intensity and certain like doors right yeah like he looked like an absolute madman like if you ever stared at the sun and like like ah you know and then um you know there yeah there were a few songs where it was like all right time i'm gonna go run and grab like you know snacks merch maybe i'm gonna get the girls merch because i'm not standing that two hour line those lines oh my god i heard that i heard it was insane bro i was like

girls i promise you i was like go take a picture of the shirts you want you everyone gets a t-shirt um figured it out yeah and i did so i picked a few was a lighthouse or something like that um So anyway, but like, like dial drunk was awesome. And you like be great song. A cop throw him into a, into it. I think we can all probably relate a little bit. The set looks great, man. Stick season at the end, you know, coming back out.

So there's a part of the show. He calls someone, right? Like there's a part, like it's a different person. I've been watching the clips. Like one night he called Gronk. One night he called his mom. Big pop. Do you know who was?

Big pop. No. Oh, nice. Yeah. And then they went back and forth. It was pretty funny. In the very end, he's like, and don't forget, Yankees suck, you know, and so the whole place gets in the,

and I'm trying to explain to Marissa and Mia, who grew up in South Carolina. Like, I literally as a child could be on like the, the tea from, like, from, you know, from Revere into Boston and a Yankee suck chant would roll out. And like 10.30 in a Wednesday when they were in, like, March. when it were you could be it you could be at a Patriots game in the third quarter and all of a sudden and they're playing the Seahawks and a Yankees suck chant breaks out and it's like the most passionate that's just what we grew up with right so that that was fun um like all my love was awesome you know and uh but my favorite like the moment like it's dark and everyone's get the wristbands the lights it's like the new lighter thing you know i know everyone's doing it it's like pitch black now and singing um Northern attitude. Oh, it's so good.

That might be his best one. It's one of his best songs, but to be inside Fenway with a bunch of maceholes and New England, you know, and so relatable, you could tell it, that was kind of a special moment for him and it was for the crowd. So anyway. Did he play Maine, do you know? Maine's another New England. Yeah.

That's another one. Yeah. Yep, he did. Yeah. So he had Vermont covered Maine, like all of it. It was cool. He does have a, like, a lot of New Englanders. just going to say Connecticut is the step sister like no he had to make an apology because

apparently he didn't mention Connecticut in in New England he's like well of course yeah you know you're involved I was born in Connecticut I think I can say this they are the they are the they are they're not the most beloved state in New England we see them as New Yorkers they're affectionately called blue platers so anyway so that was that and then obviously I I I mean, I don't think we have to address it, but like, I took on a lot of heat. And obviously there's some stuff. There's some stuff. There's some stuff going on in this, this particular space of sports media that is, is alarming and disturbing and everything else.

And I was, you know, we had a situation with a certain ticket broker place because we swapped from Friday night to Wednesday night because some family friends were coming into town. And at one moment, I was like, you know, they'll just try to like, people are dying. go this show. I just want to kind of get some money back, not even the money that I put in just to let's unload these six tickets. So it all kind of happened fast. I was like, we'll just see if someone wants them and we'll give like a kind of a discounted number and they'll be thrilled to go. And then I didn't even notice the backlash at first, right? By some people, like the lunatic fringe, like the 10, 20%, whatever it is, while the other 80% were just pounding me, DMs and I'd love to, like but blah and then another person in sports media erroneically reached out to me personally

texted me like yo you still get two of those i'm trying to send a mother and a daughter who i don't know if they can't afford it or like i'm just trying to do something nice and and and so i was like yeah here's this here's the deal and he's like all right he's like but he's like sending them the tickets but i'm going to pay for him and i was like that's nice now i was like that's awesome of you right to do that i'm not i'm not charging you and then i had some other people be like This one guy, Tyler, I think it was, I retweeted his wife, he wound up sending me his wife. Yeah, that was cool. They get two young kids.

She's working and grinding. She absolutely loves Noah Khan. And he's sending me messages, like, been a fan of you since 10 years old. Like, I live right down the street in Boston. My wife's about to be home in a half hour. I would love to take her. It would make her, like, you know, we're in the weeds right now. We've got two young kids, and she's just, like, grinding every day.

I'd love to do something nice for her. And I was like, here you go. I wanted to do it quietly, but I'm also kind of responding to all that. Like, people are horrible, man. Horrible. And literally just, like, I didn't want any attention. Like, I don't, I just, that's awesome. And I told the kids about it and then showed him the picture that he sent,

he sent me the video personally, you know, of his wife there crying. She couldn't believe this opportunity. You got to remember, she's coming home to two kids. She's got to, like, make dinner and, like, after a day of work. And now all of a sudden, the husband, who's an awesome dude, right, for doing this, sends his wife and I take a friend I'd love to go take a friend go get a night away and this is my gift to you

and so and somehow that turns into like I'm a bad guy and but that's fine too I really don't care because at the end of the day if you're doing things for the right reasons that lunatic fringe can have as much fun as they want it doesn't it doesn't affect me but I know it got you fired up

and I was fired up like you feel like let's just address it so like so it's not this weird thing because there's been enough like weirdness and certain organizations being quiet about certain things going on in sports media right now. I'm not here. I don't know what you're talking about. What are you talking about? I don't either. I just have heard. You know what it is. So it's like, let's just get this on the table and move on. But I'm thrilled that a mother's daughter and then a wife and mother of two got to go to this concert. And last minute had no no concept that they would even get this chance to go. And they got to have an awesome night.

And so that makes all of it worth it. And I'll gladly take on the heat from 10 or 20% of people who just love to be miserable, you know. I like the guy. Someone was like, oh, is this just clickbait? I'm like, what world are you living in? And then a lot of people know your salary makeshay. I don't know, did you publicly disclose your salary? A lot of them know the number that you're now making.

A lot of tweets about you're making X amount of dollars. It's in the 80 to 100 million a year range. Yeah. Yeah. You're like, Jeff Bezos. It's insane to me. All right. You know what? You're right.

Let's move on. Forget it. I was fired up. It's not worth our time. The Hulu original series Furious is coming to Disney Plus. Starring Emmy Rossum, Furious follows FBI agent Alice Black on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating serial killer. Both walk their own path toward justice. And as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur.

Don't miss the three-episode premiere of the Hulu original series Furious on July 27th, only on Hulu on Disney Plus. Jaden Mayava, USC. Is worth our time. Yes. Nico Iamaliava, UCLA, is worth our time. Let's just start how we always start in this series. And I do want to say EA sports coming in at the perfect time, you know, sponsoring our show for this month. It, like, couldn't be a better fit.

and we've got a big segment at the end. We're dedicating it to EA sports. We're going to re-rack all of these quarterbacks now that we're 12 QBs through and kind of go through our grades. And EA has taken a lot of interest in this, and we're thrilled to have them partner with us on this. So at the end of Mayava and EM Aliava,

we're going to dive in and kind of get everyone caught up. If you've been busy with your summer and haven't had time to kind of get involved and watch every show so far, we encourage you to do so. they're all on Netflix right now. They're all on Spotify. If you want to listen to your podcast, it's Apple and everywhere else that you choose to listen.

But you can watch our shows on Netflix and Spotify. So you can go back and watch this entire series. And I think for people who love the game, and maybe you're just in July, August, want to get caught up on the quarterbacks. Great opportunity to go back 45, 55 minutes, get caught up on these guys because we've been kind of grinding through all of them. So with all that said,

if I said to you, which I'm about to say to you, biggest takeaway after you got done with both Maya and IMA Liava, their tape. I'm going to go a little bit big picture here. The NFL draft advisory board was created in 1994. They have got their work cut out for them this year. I think this might be their biggest challenge yet. We have 12 quarterbacks that we've watched.

And you've got to figure out are these guys going to be, you know, could go first round, could go second round, or are going to go later. That's their three buckets that they can give these kids. We watch 12 quarterbacks, only four of them have to come out. Eight of them can go back to college.

I don't know how after, I keep waiting. I keep waiting to find guys that just don't belong. Yeah, he's not ready. Right. And every time we throw on the tape, I find more reasons

to include a kid in that group of day one or day two quarterback than I find for guys that I just don't see. see it yet. There just hasn't been many guys, if any, that I just don't understand how they're in this conversation. We're looking at 12 quarterbacks right now. I know some of them are going to go back. I just, the depth is just, it's too deep in the NIL is the way that it is. Some of these guys are going to go back and make more money and try to improve their draft position and improve as a player,

get more time playing college ball. I think that's smart. But that being said, good luck, because I think they're all going to throw their hat in the ring. I think all of them are going to send their names in and say, hey, if I were going to come out this year, where would I go? And that board, they are not, they don't do rankings. They do. That's, that's how it's set up. We see you as a first round grade or a second round grade. A prospect sends in a note for a prospect.

I think they get five each for school. No, five, five each per school. It's five, yeah. Yeah, max of. And then the advisory committee is, which has, you know, experience in scouting and also, you know, will reach up to NFLT. They send back a letter after they've evaluated the case on tape and talking to people in the league of your first round grade,

your second round grade, or go back to school. You're going to get one of three answers. So to your point, there's going to be a lot of first round grades or second round grades. And I don't think many go back to schools with these guys. We're 12 deep. And quite honestly, of the eight that can go back to school, we'll see how they play this season,

but they're all tracking towards not getting a go back to school grade, which is wild. But the board can't come out and say, if Arch, Lenoris, and more come out, this is where we think you'll go. They don't have that information. They just have to give you a grade. Good luck, man. I think this is going to be a real

challenge for that board this year. My biggest takeaway, and I want to get to my Ava as a passer and how I underestimated even his skill set. But if I'm being honest, my biggest takeaway when I was done going through these two tapes in the last chunks in the last 72 hours,

each day of the last three days. I amaliava. I got a lot of digging on the whole situation, leaving one place to the next. I got a lot of areas where I'm looking at him we'll get to get to all of them where I'm saying there needs to be improvement here. Iamaliava is a gazelle with a rocket launcher, and he is in the situation with a skill set that is so special and so dynamic,

but needs so desperately this stability that Chesney's bringing in with him at UCLA for a year. And if he soaks that in and takes the next step as a third year starter, it could be the same path that we were envisioning for Brendan Sorsby. I hate you. Or Sam Levitt going to LSU. These are the three guys. These are the three quarterbacks that could go from. And you'll see, I'm interested to see what you're great on his, on him is right now and where it ends up.

because my grade isn't going to reflect how strongly I feel about what this player is. But if you're looking for the Camor jump, the Jay Daniels jump, these are the three candidates. Sorsby's kind of removed himself of that conversation. That's who we thought the three candidates were going to be, though. Sam Levin

at LSU is the other guy. Inico I.M. Aliava at UCLA is definitely in that mix of a guy who maybe doesn't have a great grade going into the season, but can make that meteoric jump and really kind of stand out this year. I want to remind you one scouting service that a lot of NFL teams subscribe to had Manning,

Moore, Sellers, Levitt, Sorsby, Iamaliava. And Iamaliava then is the head of DeMond Williams, Chambliss, Matier, Mayava. And that's also that scouting service did not. As redshirt sophomores, as we explained in great detail, C.J. Carr from Notre Dame and Julian Say in Ohio State. were not on that list. So it goes to show you that there are some people that are really, really high on Nico I, Amaliava.

And after watching the tape, I get it. And I've watched him, and we studied him at Tennessee, and it was the deep ball over. It was a lot of stuff. But when you really dive in and you're just watching him from a pro perspective, there's some stuff. So let's get into it. Strengths.

Where do you want to go? Is it too vague? I mean, this is what you're saying. Like, is it too vague to say just natural ability for Yamaliava? It's, he's in that group that we've talked about of Arch, Lenora Sellers, Brendan Sorsby, Sam Levitt, of just natural ability. That's exactly what I put in my notes. I said, I wrote it to my note, add one more to that list. Like dynamic, explosive, legitimate threats who the running ability, like where the running ability

and the mobility and the extending. and the creativity is a flat-out problem. Yes. For opposing defenses. And we'll continue to be in the NFL, even though, you know, it takes rare ability to transition from a, I'm a mobile college quarterback to, like, truly effective running the football and extending plays and having some design runs.

Like, we now are talking about, like, five guys. Yes. That are going to be threats and problems, even in the NFL with the speed of NFL defenders. I think people know from Tennessee what kind of army has. Mostly this is kind of a negative for him because he's the only quarterback and then overthrow everyone.

I mean, he's, he had a lot of overthrows at Tennessee. That was like the thing. Especially first, his first quarter overthrows of the deep balls were, it got to the point where like, I'm not making light.

It was almost comical because you could kind of, you could count on it. And there were some throws where like the receivers crossed in the end zone and the ball is like, thrown through the upright, you know? Right. But I'm not sure people,

the arm strike is obvious, I think, to people. I'm not sure people understand the runner this kid is. I mean, he is, he is fast, fast and Longstrider, where he's just, he chews up turf, man. I mean, he's a pursued angle murderer. He's a pursuit angle murderer. And then he can make guys missing.

The other thing that's really impressive of me, I mean, you saw this in the Indiana game. They're down 49 to 3. They're getting smacked. I thought you saw this in the Ohio State playoff game when he was at Tennessee. He's tough, man. He is. Oh my gosh. He does not want to go down. Never gives up, man. And I'll be honest. I was, I was looking for it, Munch. Because of the way he left Tennessee, right? Because the way he left Tennessee and we're dialed into all these guys and maybe

it's mom, maybe it's dad, maybe it's a girlfriend, maybe it's an agent. There's, there's some stuff to sort through where there's, there's going to have to be a, hey, I'm a grown ass man. I need to kind and handle my business and this is my career, my brand is, like whatever it is, and some growing up, right?

So I was looking for entitled frontrunner. I was looking for it, not like, I know it's there, but more like, because to me it's really important when we separate personal character

and included in that, like, there's situations, the people around them or like or past past scenarios that have played out from football character. Right. And I'm, I'm cool with this football character now.

Yeah. I'm more than cool with it. Yes. I agree. Because that Indiana tape, the house was burning down. Children were on the third floor screaming. Like there was a gas leak and it was about to blow.

And the first, the first key play in that game is, mesh too slow coming off the mesh. Aiden Fisher's own blitz drops. Indiana, just, they beat the hell out of you mentally before they even get to you physically. And that offensive line wasn't, but that first throw, he kind of comes out of the mesh,

sidearms that tries to get it out. There was nothing to see because Aiden Fisher hadn't even flashed or necessarily even stepped back. But unfortunately he was there and somehow caught this ball that was like, whipped into his chest and picks it off. And so not an awesome way to start against one of the top teams in the country. And then there was another couple throws where I'm like, this is going to be the game.

This is going to be the tape where I'm like, yeah, he's like, the pressure got to him. The moment was too big. And there were a couple other throws early in that tape that were like just they were inconsistent with what we would seen in other games, right? where it's like an in-cut... He is... He's unbelievably accurate on intermediate in-breaking routes.

And he drives it so hard that the receiver doesn't have a choice to catch it because it's here and it's like, you know? But he missed a couple of those early in that game. And then he kept grinding. And then there were, I think, three long runs. And then there were some nice throws.

And there was a throw where he's hanging in the pocket and it's like watching a train come down the tracks and he's like, I'm going to, I'm going to stand here, I'm going to take the blow. The rib shot, you know you're going to hit right in the ribs. I mean, yep, and it drills a strike into a tight window. So it's like those are the things

beyond like, yeah, he's six, four and a half. He's 210 pounds listed. They list him at 4-7. Ain't no way he's a 4-7. He's a 4-5. No chance. And he's slowest. And he's got a big arm.

and he's mobile like i like yeah we're looking for all those things but i'm also looking for like the the nuanced stuff and i was i was i was i was really pleased with some of that nuanced stuff the the mental physical toughness uh hanging in there delivering um yeah so i think we kind of agree his talent level i'll get to his great later it's up there it's up there remember i was a five-star guy there there's a reason tennessee he's a reason tennessee wanted them. There's a reason there was so much news and so much. I mean, his numbers at Tennessee weren't that great, but the controversy was such a big deal because everyone knew, knew how good that kid was or how good that kid is. Given the season they had at UCLA and his late start

there and some of the reports early on were not awesome, I remember being really surprised talking to an NFL scout who was on the road in the West Coast. It was around October, I want to say. And he, out of nowhere, we all knew Niko wasn't going to be in this last year's class. He, remember, I was getting information on like the Oregon stuff and there were specific players and

situations that we talked to Adhazim about. Kenyon Sadiq was one of them. They kind of took on a life of its own. But he just out of nowhere, it was like, hey, by the way, don't give up on Niko. Like, like, I remember that. I know you're diving in this year's tape and you get

shows. to do and all that, but like, put a, put a, put a bookmark in Nico's tape, because what I'm seeing is some special stuff, even though the season's not going great. And the offseason was, was, was, you know, a black eye, if you will. But, but, but this, he's doing some stuff. And now I get why. Like, now I get why. Um, I feel like this has been a Nico show. Yeah. Jaden, Jaden Maya. Let me start with this. I do, I, I, under, I, under, underestimated how good of a pure passer he is. I hate we're on the same page so much, but we are.

Yeah. He's a really, like, layering trajectory. I thought he's shorter, too. He's a bigger kid. He's a bigger kid than I thought. He's 603. He's basically 64. 603 and 7.8 inches.

2.18 is what he's listed at. Like, we talk, we'll get to the weakness. I amalia, I amaliava. I would clump in with, like, seller. and there was another quarterback that we talked about. Arts, Sorsby. Well, they're taking the fastball. Chambles a little bit at times, Chambliss.

But with Miava, he has this natural feel. He doesn't need to show you his fastball. He's got one. It's like 96 on the jugs. You know, it's not 104. He's got a good arm. But he doesn't need to show it to you. And I love, like, I remember Baker Mayfield was really good at this.

Jackson Dart was really good at this coming out of college I'm talking about. Still is to this day. Defender back to, I don't have to make a- Joe Burrow made. Oh, my gosh, Joe Burrow is the best example. Thank you. He was outstanding, yeah. Oh, the best.

You get your back to me, kiddo. You're over, yeah. It's over. I'm not trying to pin, I'm getting this ball out now. Because I don't want your back. You're going to have to be, you're going to be forced with making a decision. Turn around the last second and my receiver is going to burn you. Or don't turn around, try to play that perfect technique that I've learned from going to college campuses

and talking to DB coaches. It's belt through face masks, right, where you see the eyes light up, the hands go up. And you, you as a defender, you try to time when the ball is coming in and you work up without touching, you go from belt all the way through face mask to try to. If your hand gets there in perfect timing, great. If not, you're trying to pop that ball out at the end. But those odds are not very good for the DB when you're out of phase like that. And so he...

They're a linebacker of safety, yeah. Right, over and over and over again on tape. And yeah, he had a 6'4 receiver on one side. And he had a first round draft pick and lemon on the other side. But he knew exactly the moments and how to exploit them. And I was really encouraged by his pure passing ability. That's the first thing that jumped out with him. Yeah, no, I agree.

This is the thing that I thought about is that drill we're in the red zone and you put the trash can in the back corner of the end zone. Of the 12 guys we've evaluated and you're just trying to drop it in the bucket, literally drop it in the bucket. If he's, if Maya was not winning, he's top three, right? He's with more and he's with Mensa, I think. And it's those three. I would love to see those three in the,

that drill. Because that's what he does. I mean, he's, we talk about layered throws, your ability to take something off of it, drop balls into certain areas of the field. And by the way, he does it in all areas of the field. He can do it on seam routes down the middle. He can do it outside the hashes. He can, he can pretty much drop the ball in wherever he wants to do it. It's incredible. And it sounds kind of funny, but in my notes, I was, throws a great 50-50 ball because he puts it where the receiver has the best chance to go get it. The placement. He's accurate, the touch, the placement of where he puts these passes is great for his receivers, gives them a chance to make a play on the ball, gives him a chance to pick up yards after the catch.

I, like you, didn't know that this kid was that much of a poor passer. Also, they will get into mobility in a second, but they like to move the pocket with this kid, and he throws really well on the run. I mean, say what you want. He throws really well on the run. He had some, I will say this, if you want to put a 10 throw high, highlight package for each of these guys, I think you would probably have my ever ranked higher than we ultimately will.

Because some of the tapes, some of the throws he has on tape are, I mean, I don't want to be hyperbolic, but like it's, I mean, it's gorgeous. Like some of his throws are just gorgeous. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's worth mentioning. This is a young man who started his career at UNLV in 2022, right? Yeah.

Emerged as a starter at 2023. It is a big, strong, relatively mobile guy. I played in 14 games, 11 starts in 2023. Completed 63.5% of his throws over 300 yards, 17 touchdowns, but 10 interceptions. Okay? This is at UNLV. And then transfers to USC after that year, started four games in 2024, and then all 13 games this last year. So it's been a journey for him, right?

It hasn't come easy, and I like that. He wasn't like this five-star big-time program, three years onto the NFL, right? And you can kind of see it in his play. He's like, he's a grinder. And I think he's strong. Like I see, there's almost, remember Rathlisberger at Miami of Ohio? That was early in our scouting days, right? Yeah.

really dating way more mobile than the mental image than people have of Rothesburger like in year eight and beyond in Pittsburgh, right? But the element to his mobility, like IMA liava and especially sellers and Sorsby and some of these other guys

we're talking about are, you know, like they've got this suddenness. Imaliava's almost very similar height and frame. Myava's thicker. Emaliava's little taller. But Emiliava doesn't, this like pump fake cut go like he's got some to him this is more of like a you know free flowing but he's got some magic to him like that notre dame he made the wrong read late in that game 34 24 24

he's trying and he winds up going deep i think might have been like the last throw he made in that game throws the interception but the ability to get out of the trouble that came early on and and then could have i think it was a different situation in the game they weren't trailing with under two it's remaining. He hits the guy in the intermediate and they pick up 25 and carry on the drive. He does some of those things, but what I was really encouraged by was defenders hanging off of him, like breaking tackles, that kind of stuff that translates pretty well to the NFL. Again, I'm not saying he's Josh Allen by any stretch, but some of those same things that you saw with Rothlessberger and you see with Josh Allen, just that physical out, like Dak Prescott at times, right?

Yeah, I'm not as high in his mobility as you are. It sounds like maybe not quite as high. But he makes, I wrote in my, I was like, he makes plays under duress. He makes plays where he has to move off the spot. I don't think he's nearly as effective when he has to reset his feet. That's a kind of an issue for him. I totally agree. But he does make, he makes plays under duress.

There are a play where he's not one of those guys. There's some magic in his game, even though he, and it's laughable that I'm looking at a list that has I amaliava with a 4-740 and miyava with a 475 like pick like i amyla might be a 4-8 or if he's a 1-7-5 then i amaliava is a 4-4-5 like there's there was a clear difference especially because i watched nico first and jaden's second like there they're there in different stratospheres in terms of that like and the ch-ch-ch-ch-stuff but there's some extending of play i don't want to if you've never really watched him i don't want to paint a picture that he's this like statue big

pocket passer can't move. It's not that he's just not nearly as mobile as these other guys. Who'd you watch first? Nico. See, I wonder if that, I did too and I wonder if that plays a role in it because I'm not seeing the same kind of mobility but that that just

you know got my ears to pick up a little bit the antenna up a little bit when you're like when you're watching him against other guys because he's just not Nico. So maybe that's part of my problem. Well, Nico, I gave a one in mobility and a one in arm strength. And I was kind of at like a 2.5 on accuracy. I could be talked kind of either way is preseason evaluation. And I'm kind of like a 2.5 mental makeup and kind of leaning towards a two. I just, I want to see the development this year, right? I'm giving him a one in mobility and one in arm strength. No question. That's what I'm

giving them right. No question. Yeah. And for for mobility with my avi, It was like it's two and a half only because he does extend. And he is, he does have some mobility. And I don't want, but, but I could, I could go three, you know, like, I'm, I feel great about two. And I don't want to, like, undersell his ability to extend plays. The arm strength, I'm good with the two. It's not special, but it's not like just average. Like, he can.

I struggled with the arm strength. There are some wounded ducks, which was crazy to me, was they were still accurate. But there were some wobblers, man. There were some wobblers early on the tape, but then I'm watching later in the year, and I'm not seeing it, and I'm seeing a little more velocity. I think he's a three.

I'm giving him a three for arm strength, but I get it. There were times, that one's still very much undecided for me because I couldn't understand what was going on earlier in the year when I'm seeing these floaters, and then he's got better energy on his passes

later on in the year. I think his mental makeups are two. I still think there's some growth, there in terms of some of the decisions, some of, but like, but I'm really encouraged and it won't shock me if he's a one by the end of the year. And I think his accuracy is a one. I don't, he's not like C.J. Carr, um, he's close to C.J. Carr. Do you want to transition to weaknesses here? Do you want to want to want to get into what you think their biggest weaknesses are? Yeah, I'll just say this on my Ava. No one from my Ava's camp. And I kind of prepped this

the other day. No one from his camp and no one from waiting. No one from QB country, the Mobile version, which I think is the OG with David Morris, who's just an awesome dude and does a really good job. And it said like Drake May and a bunch of cats, you know, they do is they're up there with the quarterback development training groups that are out there, right? With the elite elite. But I had a couple people randomly, not. connected and with no horse in the race come to be like, yo, just so you know, like all these guys

are working hard. They're all doing different things. They're all working with their quarterback guys. They're all working. Like you don't get to that level and you're just kind of like hanging out and crushing beers in the offseason, right? It's just it's not what you, that position is so regimented now. And you see it with like middle school on up. It's just a different animal than when I was growing up and you were growing up. But what I will say is some people are really excited about the level of commitment that he's put in this offseason and I really encourage that we might see a noticeably more advanced quarterback this year. I'm talking like flying cross country, like making sure like really grinding. So I just wanted to share that because, again, it was no one from my office camp.

It was no one from David Morris's camp. No one was trying to get any, but they're like, I've heard about what he's doing this offseason. And like, we should all be prepared. It could be an even better version than the one we saw last year. So yeah, yeah, I love it. I think that's. This episode is brought to you by Accenture. When your advertising operations fall out of sync, everything else follows.

Spotify and Accenture are working together to reinvent the rhythm of ad sales, using automation, analytics and smarter workflows to simplify campaign delivery and access better data across the business. result less time spent on operations more time connecting brands with the moments and fandums that matter most learn more at accenture.com slash spotify it's cool so yeah get into weakness i feel like we covered a decent amount of them but go ahead well let's start with i amaliaava let's start there because we're so high yeah yeah i'maliava i just practiced so much in that name i was doing so well yeah maliola killing it um i do watch him and i do think you're going to break my

heart. You are going to break my heart because the ability we've gone on and on about and some of these inbreakers, he's just lacing the ball and guys are going after the catch and it's all there. And then every once in a while you see a throw and you're, what are we doing? Where are we going? We're throwing high over the middle all of a sudden. He just, he's, he can spray the ball around a little bit. He gets inconsistent. And all of a sudden, it comes back down to that. that all important question, how much can I trust you to get, you know, when you're in the NFL,

how much can I trust you? And I think that's a question he still has to answer. And I'm really optimistic about him doing it because, look, Dean Kennedy, the offense coordinator, the new office coordinator of UCLA, has had a lot of dual threat quarterbacks.

He's done a really good job. By the way, pride of situate, Todd. I don't know if you know that. Really? Fascinate, yeah, fascinated to see what he does. I love that. Yeah, what he does with him.

I think he's in a really good spot. It's definitely, I mean, they're doing what Indiana did. They've completely rebuilt their roster. It's going to be interesting to see how those players all work out and see if it's the same kind of, you know, I don't think UCLA is going to be Indiana. I don't want to say that.

But I think there are going to be a far more competitive team. I mean, let's be honest, UCLA lost by 25 to New Mexico last year. This should be a far calmer, far better situation for him. So I'm excited about it. But there are, the inconsistencies have to get better for you to consider him in a league guy. I thought about doing like the dating a stripper. Comparison. Same kind of concept. Break your heart. But I, but I, I, I feel like I do a lot of, like, the dating stuff and, and I don't, I'm not, it's a, it's a, it's a Monday morning in the summer.

I'm not trying to get you to blush. So I was thinking about, like, what is my feeling? I always like to share, like, what is my feeling and how can I explain it to people? My feeling watching him is, and we grew up on the coast, right? And so I'm sure there's, there's something comparable in any town and whether it's the Midwest, the South, inland, coast, wherever it is. Like the mountains, I'm sure there are plenty of comparable things. But like every, most coastal towns have a bridge that you jump, right? And then maybe there's another rock, like 40 steps in the hunt for us was like. Yeah, the core. Yeah. Like I can jump off a Fisherman's Beach Pier and there's kind of more elements of there's different levels of danger. You can jump from here or you can jump from from up

top of the stair. But you go to 40 steps. Those are like the juniors and seniors in high school. And I'm afraid to go there. And even if I'm 18 now, I'm still kind of worried that like, I'm going to be the one, right? I'm going to be the one.

Yes. Or the tide rolls out and I'm going to hit that rock, right? So, but it's so exciting. And my options are- Did you jump off those things? Did you do it? Eventually, yeah. My ass was the boat.

My ass had no way. No shot. I'm surprised you even got in the boat. But here, like, all the kids, like, all the kids go to one bridge, and then there's another bridge where, like, there were deaths, right? Yeah. But even the one that has been safe and kids jump in all the time, and the cops kind of drive by and say, can't jump on the bridge,

but then they drive away. But, like, there's certain times a day where the tide's low, right? And it's not as safe. And there's... So I equate watching... his tape to like bridge or or cliff jumping it's exhilarating and you know you know when you look back on your summer two or three of the best moments are going to be when you and and your group of friends went and jumped that bridge or jumped 40 steps whatever it is right but just before you go to

jump you're like I kind of know I could be making a mistake or maybe mom told me not to jump it and I just this doesn't that's where I I am with Nico. Because it's going to be exhilarating. And guess what? He may turn out to be the guy that's like the best memory of your entire summer. And remember that time. I'm talking about five years later, right?

He may turn out to be that because he's got all the elements of just unique traits that you are seeking. When you start watching his tape compared to some of these other guys who are so good and so talented and they process and they go from progression to progression. and the ball's out on time and they do all those things. But they ain't got Nico's skill. No. So it's like, do I want to, I can go in the boat and I can get on the back

and we'll throw some like jet skis on or getting tubing and that's fun. But as a GM, I'm weighing like, this could be awesome. But I also could crack my skull and wind up in the hospital. like something really bad could happen. And mom told me I shouldn't be doing it. You know, so I don't know. That's where I am with Nico. Are you worried about the frame at all, by the way?

He's got a little more of a linear frame and some of these other guys that are running the way he runs. Does that concern you a little bit? I definitely, I wrote in my notes, like there's room to grow on, like, tall, long, linear frame, room to add good bulk and needs to do so. Yeah, I'd like to see that happen too. I would too. Because I'm watching my Ava and I'm like sturdy.

Like taflin. Like this guy, he's built for it, you know? Right. And I'm watching Nico and I'm like, gazelle. Like, but like, yeah, it worries me. But at least it's not a six foot one frame with that linear, you know, where I don't know how, like where are we trying to take this? It's not like Jaden Daniels, where it's like, I'm always going to be concerned about him.

And he's like, gumby and there's all the cartoons of him, like, getting all those hits and the body parts going everywhere. It's not like that with Nico, but I do want to see him add some like good bullshit stronger. I will say this. For people who overblown who think this is overblown about the lower body stuff, one of the biggest concerns about Teddy Bridgewater coming out was that as good as he was, as talented as he was. And by the way, he was so tough in college. That guy took hits that I've never seen. And I don't understand why people are worried about the durability. You kept hearing about the lower body and whether or not it was going to be a concern.

And of course, unfortunately, it did show up. And it's things that, you know, there's enough track record there for the lower body stuff to matter. All right. Instead of just doing our grade segment on Nico and Jaden here. Did you do negatives on Jaden? I think we touched on him. The arm is an elite. The mobility isn't elite.

Mobility is like it's more like when he gets going, but he's strong and he compensates in certain ways. I don't think they're, but hit me if you got one more. I just one line. You're too good to throw 10 picks. You're too accurate. You're too smart to throw 10 picks.

That's why I can't go one because he makes some really smart decisions. He can see the whole field. He anticipates on some throws where I'm like, man, that is so good. And then I know part of it is. I think there are moments where he's starting, he's pressing. And I can remember as a quarterback, like there's certain moments you go back. You're like, I did what? I just got caught up in the moment.

I think there's some of that stuff. He feels it a little bit too. He knows he can drop it into a bucket. So he's like, I can make that throw into triple coverage. And there are times that he does it. There are times that he throws in a double coverage and he's successful. It's just you don't have to do it. Don't keep tempting fate with some of those throws.

Too good, too smart, too accurate to throw 10 picks. And now for our official preseason QB rankings, brought to you by EA Sports College Football 27. Step into the modern era of college football where personal ambition meets program pride. And you can now make your rise from campus legend to NFL superstar thanks to the MVP bundle. It comes with both college football 27 and Madden NFL 20.

plus deluxe edition rewards in both games available now. All right, EA sports, as I mentioned, like the bundle is coming out, right? This is the time of year where everyone's just clamoring. I want NCAA 27. I want Madden 27. I want to get the pre-release all of it. Like, this is the time. And we're all starting to get the juices flowing for the football season.

So for EA sports to come in and be like, we're sponsoring the show for a month. Let's talk quarterbacks. Let's get it going. I just love it. So instead of us just doing our grades on Nico and Jaden here, I want to kind of pay it back now that we've got six. We're wrapping up our six episode of building the board, 2027 quarterback class in what is shaping up to be one of the most unique,

gifted QB classes in the history of the NFL draft. Okay. And we've put in work that I think very few and nobody else in. media has put in the work. And I hate saying media. It drives both of us crazy. But nobody else in our role in all of this is put in this kind of work at this point. Certainly NFL scouts have done their job in their regions and all that stuff.

But with all of this work that's been put in and with this sponsorship with EA, I want to kind of pay it off right now. We've got 12 quarterbacks and presumably the 12 that we'll be saying these are the top 12 going into the year. but I do want to mention, when we come back on Wednesday, we're going to do a segment on Drew Mestemaker and DeMond Williams. And there's some intriguing parts about Mestemaker. And I get news for people. Demand Williams, I think I kind of gave it away a couple scouts, a couple scouts specifically, a couple scouting services,

a lot higher on him than maybe mention I watching what we've watched so far are. So we may come back and say, you know what, we're putting DeMond in our top eight or whatever it is. But these are the 12. We're building the board. Okay. And I want to go through now and just pay it off with EA Sports with our top 12. We're supposed to do top 10, but we're here.

We might as well just go through the top 12 that we've done already. I know you and I have differences. And as we go through it, I'm going to be interested to see where you're going to plug them in and I'll do the same. Okay. So let's start. I think you and I, and Tucker can, I'm sure, build the graphic as we go. I think you and I are both on the same page with the top two. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Dante Moore, right around a 95-94 grade. Right. Oregon quarterback. Head-to-head, it was going to be interesting to see if the Raiders went with like the sure thing, the more experience and all of that in the direction they went, or would they go with the Oregon quarterback who kind of needed another year, but my gosh, he's so talented. So Mendoza Moore was a real discussion, let's put it that way,

for the graders, before Moore went back to school. So we're not disagreeing with anything that I think even an NFL team that was potentially was going to be in the position to have to choose. And then Lenora Sellers after Dante Moore. I think we're in agreement on that, right? Correct. Kind of a 93-94 grade. We'll see when we plot it all in.

When we release on, hey, the ringer.com. slash McShay, get ready for it. In just a few short weeks, we're going to be unloading our top 50 prospects. So we've kind of given everyone, everyone now is going back and looking at the scouting reports from last year's class. How does it apply to this year? We're going to get ready for training camps and we'll keep that portion of the site up. But as we transition to 2027, we're at the top 50 and a lot of these quarterbacks with

their full evaluations are going to be in there, okay? So that's where we are in the top two. I've got Sam Levitt at three. I'm pre I'm giving you the pre bundle EA sports style on levitt because I know where this is headed and I ain't going to be trailing and the caboose like mensch and scrambling to be like yeah well I'm glad to have I'm going I'm putting a lot of chips not all my chips I'm putting a lot of chips right in the middle of the table and I'm going to sit back and I'm going to laugh when we're in October. Okay. Mench is more conservative on it. And understandably so. I'm not saying he's right or he's wrong.

I understand his stance on it. So you're not as high. I think where we do agree, I think where we do agree is that next up is Car Arch, C.J. Car Notre Dame, Arch Manning, Texas. And Car to me is a more NFL polished version. I'm expecting a huge year out of him,

but he doesn't have the size or the mobility that Arch has. Correct. And I'm expecting also a bit with Cam Coleman coming in at Texas. I'm expecting a big kind of next step from Arch, given how poorly the season started last year, kind of the bumps and bruises he went through, but then the way he finished last year. So I think it's appropriate,

although very different styles and very different, like career paths I think it's it's also appropriate to put them kind of in that and in their own little cluster. Fair? Fair. I'm with you.

Next up then if so for me it's Dante Sellers Leavitt at three, then Carr and Arch at four, like a four or five combo, right? Right. And then next up for me and I'm interested to see what you would say would be Mensa. at like around a 91 grade, let's call it. Mm-hmm.

Do you have any issue with that? I am good so far. So Sellers is the one that we've got to kind of sort through, or we're going to meet in the middle. What are we going to do? Sellers is kind of off to the side, but we've got Dante. I mean, not Selvitt.

Leavitt. Yes. Levitt. Sorry, Sam Levitt, LSU quarterback transfer from Arizona State. So Dante and Sellers are one, two. I've got Leavitt at three. You've got them around seven. we both have car arch in that 4-5 range or 3-4 range,

and we've got MENSA next. Yep. I'm struggling with this. Yeah. I'm struggling. I've got, I'm going to blow this up in a second, but keep going. This is a real struggle. Every time I get done with a tape, I'm like.

I know. Is it recency bias? Did you put up a guy too high because you did them early? There's all of these things that are now coming into play. Chambles played, Trinidad Chambliss, All-Miss, Ferris State Transfer, one of the stories of college football in 2025, leading Ole Miss to the college football playoff,

the win over Georgia in the playoff without his coach. By the way, $10 fine if I say the new LSU coaches name, I've been put on notice that I've been mentioning his name so far. So I'm going to give everyone a few week break on whoever that person is coaching LSU who happens to do a pretty good job develop. and quarterbacks. Love it. And then you got Nico.

Chamble's just made a better brand of football. Chamble's is fine. Awesome. Chambliss isn't six, four and a half. No. And has the, and Chambliss has a big,

a strong arm. Chambliss doesn't have his arm. So I'm putting Nico and Chambliss. Let's call it a 90. Yes. I'm with you on this. I'm giving them their own cluster. Again,

like arch and car, different, different brands of football. These guys, like, not totally dissimilar brands, both, like, got to take heat off the fastball sometimes. Both have mobility elements that are really impactful in their game. Nico has this upside that is tantalizing. It makes me want to jump off the bridge and just take a chance that the tide's not too low and I'm not going to hit that rock because if I do this,

if I don't, if I'm safely to execute this, It could be one of the best moments of my summer. Chambliss, the dog in him and some of the throws and some of the big plays and all that. So you're good with that. Yes, but what's the ranking? You have the same grade. Who's ahead of the, which one's ahead of the other? I love it.

I'm going to put Chambliss ahead of Nico because Chambliss is more advanced. We're good. But I want our rankings and grades to reflect the fact that like, I see you, Nico. I see you and you're you're in this mix, right? Yeah. That's why I think he's one of the guys. If you're looking for a candidate to make that jump, you could do worse than Nico.

So for us, 90 is kind of that Mendoza line cutoff of, you can call it first round grades. We don't view it that way of guys that like, this guy's going to be a starter. This guy's going to be drafted to be put in a situation to start very early in his career. It may or may not work out. They're in different levels of where their development is.

Right. But these guys are dudes that will get a shot early in their career. Not saying the rest of this list won't, but maybe not physically to the level. Maybe in Sorsby's case, circumstances are like hard to predict what's going to happen. But they're not quite there yet. Or maybe just always are going to have to overcome some limitations that these other guys just don't have, right? Right. So then the next up for me would be, again, two totally different players.

Actually, of all the ones where I'm like, they're in different, they're so contrasting that it's wild. Julian's saying and Brendan Sorsby. Yeah, there couldn't be any different. They couldn't be any different. But I view them in that same like 88, 89 range given. Sorsby's circumstances, how raw he is, and he just isn't able to play because of the, because of his situation that he created for himself, I don't know how that all plays out because it's such a unique scenario.

So I'm hesitant to give him a 90 grade, even though like his tools are sensational, but what happens between now and the first time he takes a snap in a preseason game in the NFL? I just don't know. Go ahead. Got to get into this now. I would have Levitt in this range. I think this is where he enters the conversation for me, just so you know. So he's not as far back.

After some thinking about it, he's not quite down the list, as far down the list as I thought. Julian Sane is the most fascinating, one of the most fascinating players on this list for me right now because I, and I think Ohio State fans have a low opinion of me because I tend to be critical of their offensive line. And, you know, there's been a couple times where I just, I doubted their ability on their championship for them two years ago, all of these things. I just, it, I just think we're going to look back at Julian Sane and say he was an outstanding college. quarterback and maybe an average NFL guy that is, you know, that on that starter backup French. I just, I worry about the natural ability with Julian saying. And I'm not sure he's on the level of some of these other guys as I'm watching him. And he's the guy there.

I wonder if we did him so early that maybe he's a little higher than he should be. I just want to get your thoughts on that. I don't totally disagree. I also think he's more mobile than you think he is. I also think he's an outrageously good college quarterback especially for his age.

Don't get this twisted. I'm looking at like how you project him to the NFL. I hear you. I hear you. That's why like I just want to make sure everyone else does. I love watching him in Ohio State. But I also don't want to

it's not that he's not, he's not talented. He's just not as tall or fast or shifty or, or arm straight, he's just not what these other guys are. And this year's class is like a unicorn. Yeah. It's a unicorn floating on a cloud like handing out candy.

Like I've never seen anything like it, you know? So, yeah, that's why we've got him down here. He doesn't wow you physically. But he does wow me with decisions as a first year, starter, red shirt sophomore, moments that he showed up. Like, I'm encouraged. And like the Drew Breeze thing is like, that's the highest bar, obviously. Yeah.

You look back on Drew Breeze's career. But Drew Breeze fell to, was it the first pick of the second round? I think so. So coming out, the first round guy, yeah. Coming out of college, it was, can this guy overcome? Doesn't, not the biggest, not the strongest arm, not this, not that. but just plays the game at a high level. Which is true saying.

Yeah. I'm holding out for saying. I'm a little higher on saying than you are, but I'm not discounting what you're saying. Okay. About saying. Then I would put my Ava just below that pair. But I'm talking like an 86, 87 grade,

maybe 85, like 85 to 87 grade, talking about mid-second. And I'm also talking about a range where I had Jackson Dart going into his final year. I had higher than where I had Jaden Daniels going into his final year at LSU. Higher than I had, I don't, Cam Ward was around that same thing going into his final year. About the same range. I definitely, no, I had like a 90 on Mendoza last year. your point stands. Yeah, thank you. And then Mateer would be 12. Yes. Let me ask you this.

Yeah. You have a higher grade on Sorsby than Miava. I think that one's closer than maybe for me than for you. But you have the higher grade. But if you have those two guys on the board, you're taking my ava, though, right? Because I am. I get it. I get what you're saying. And I get why you might give him a higher grade. but you have to take into account that Sorsby has all of this stuff going on and you just told me that Miava is flying Carl's country to work on his game and working

if it's close you're drafting the guy who's got a better like a clearer picture off the field, right? Yeah man, I was willing to pull a trigger like I was like I so was I.

It wouldn't be the dumbest thing for Pittsburgh in a supplemental draft to take him. I know. And if I, if Soresby. Yeah, I get it. Sorsby and my grade would would be, I'm admitting, but how could you not factor it in? Sorsby would probably be around a 90 with like Niko and Chambliss coming into the year.

Like needs development, need to see another year, need to see like, but my gosh, so talented and he's about to go play for Texas Tech. And he's about to, you know. Yeah, it's tough, man. It is. It is. answer your question. Yeah, right now. I trust that Maya Vah playing 12 to 15, 16 games

with Lincoln Riley, getting more experience under his belt. I trust that path that we're about to see over the next four months, five months. Yeah. Versus I'm getting a text from somebody, hey, Sorsby's working out with this guy. He's really committed. He's doing great. I'm sure I'm going to be getting some of those messages, you know? Yeah.

I, I, is scouts, you, half this job, it feels like, is eliminating risk. Oh. Yeah, I would even, yeah, at least half. Maybe more. Maybe more. Yeah. And there's just a level of risk, an element of risk I'm not comfortable with right now. I desperately want Sour's B to prove me and, not me, prove the doubts and the, the risk wrong. I really do. I'm all for it. But I'm not sure how he does that.

Yeah. We'll see. Yeah, there's no silver bullet for that. It's going to be, it's going to be interesting. All right. So let's run through this list. Go ahead. Go through the list.

I was just going to say 12. And we only have one legitimate, like one like significant beef with one another of the 12. I mean, I might think that say it's a little lower. or, you know, this guy's a little higher. But Sam Leavitt is the only one that we're kind of have a disagreement of where he should be going into there. Yeah, Sam. Sam Levitt is our Brady Quinn. Yeah, this is the one.

But you're the McShay in it, and I'm the I'm the Kiper on that one. What does that mean? That I like, I love when you compare him to these guys that didn't work out. Well, I didn't like Quinn. I didn't like Claussen. That's what I was. And Mel was like pounding the table in a similar manner he was for Shador Sanders. For those of you who weren't maybe watching back in the day, okay?

That's what I'm saying. So it's kind of roles reversed where now I've got I've got this young pup screaming at me and mensch telling me I'm over, I'm overdoing it. And people are already starting to think it's because of Lane. I know I said his name. half his name, I owe five bucks. So anyway, yeah, let's re-rack it. I'm going to go through mine and then you give me yours.

Okay, okay. Dante one, Dante Moore, Oregon one, Lenora Sellers, South Carolina, two, Sam Levitt, LSU, three. At four, at four is C.J. Carr, Notre Dame and Archmanning, Texas, in either order. Same grade. at six, Darien Mensa, Duke. At seven, sorry, Duke transferred to Miami. Part of the excitement and intrigue of what can be this year.

At seven, Nico Iamaliava and Trinidad Chamblis, identical grades, put Chambliss at seven, Nico at eight. Okay? At nine is Julian Sayin from Ohio State. at 10 is Brendan Sorsby, Texas Tech, technically, previously Cincinnati, previously Indiana. At 11 is Jaden Maiava from USC at 12 is John Mateer, Oklahoma. And I got news for you. Even as the 12th player, John Mateer's thumb looks good, this new compact stroke he has.

He comes out and starts ripping it like he's. He was at Washington State, but more consistently because he's worked on the repetition of his stroke. Like, you know? Yeah, if I'm Oklahoma fans. There's normally, I can look it up right now. I think like we do like three, five year tallies. I want to say it's like 12.7 over like the last five years that are drafted through the seven rounds. Yeah.

I'm talking about 12 guys that in the first two days grades right now. So what about you? Give me your top 12. I'm not going to go through the whole. I'm not going to start reading all those names again. Just take Sam Levitt and drop him behind Nico I Amaliava. That's where I put him between I Amaliava and Sayan. So I think he's a top 10 quarterback in this class.

That's the only one I have a serious beef with. And let's roll with that. I could name the 10 names again, but I think people got it. So you're putting him below Sayan or ahead of saying, Sam Levitt? Ahead of saying. Okay. So below like Nico Chambliss, ahead of saying. SORS. Yes.

Yes. Thanks for clearing that. All right. All right. Our official preseason QB rankings today was brought to you by College Football 27. Make your rise with the MVP bundle available now. Visit go.e.a.com slash MVP dash bundle dash 27. Conditions and restrictions apply. See EA.com slash games slash EA dash sports dash college dash football.

football slash college dash football dash 27 slash game dash disclaimers for details. It's pretty, it's not like us. It's pretty weird, but it also shows like, A, the depth of this class and B, like, while they're all lumped in similar grades, like where they are at this point and what we, what we think that they can be, but also that there are some clear differentiators right now. This is going to be a fun of course. advisory board good luck advisory board if this goes the way I think

it can go good luck yeah we're gonna have a fun year aren't we it's gonna be I am so excited listen I hate talking about quarterbacks what was the time with you because I'm like you have to you almost force it some years we have to talk about this guy because you gotta talk about the quarterbacks

I'm having like the time of my life because every good tape is good tape man and when you throw it on you just just a good player doesn't matter what the position is at that point it's just excited to watch what these guys can do. An awesome left guard is an awesome tape to watch. It doesn't matter.

Maybe not great for the pod numbers, but yes. Right. Back on Thursday with Mestemaker and DeMond Williams, and then we're going to follow that up with another EA special. We're talking about Indiana. We're talking about Josh Hoover, and that's going to be a really fascinating element, both in college football and in his draft prospects.

That'll be a week from now on Monday. They already want to throw out that word, the dynasty word for Indiana. Can this be a dynasty? It's going to be a fun conversation. All right. Yes. Mench, five stars. Thanks, man.

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