The McShay Show - Rough Draft: Our Top 10 Prospects, Plus Where Would Kamario Taylor Rank?

Episode Date: October 1, 2026

Todd and Steve share their latest top 10 Big Board rankings and discuss why Jeremiah Smith and Leonard Moore are the clear top two prospects, plus which players have boosted their stock enough to break into the top 10. Then, they ask where Kamario Taylor would rank if he were eligible for the 2027 NFL draft, and which prospects just missed the cut.Next, the guys share their scouting on J.J. McCarthy following his trade to the Giants, and Jalon Daniels ahead of his first NFL start. Plus, they preview Week 5 in college football and share their favorite picks.Check out the guys’ top 50 big board and Todd’s mock draft at TheRinger.com/McShay.(00:00) Welcome to The McShay Show!(02:20) Quarter Poll: Top 10 Big Board(05:48) Jeremiah Smith is the clear no. 1 overall prospect(09:23) Leonard Moore is flying under the radar(11:13) Evaluating the rest of the top 10 prospects(22:00) Where does Dylan Stewart land?(26:52) Where would Kamario Taylor rank in the 2027 draft class?(35:13) Top 10 prospects OLI: Baugh, Lauck, Green, and Carr(41:34) Scouting J.J. McCarthy(50:20) Scouting Jalon Daniels(54:52) Week 5 CFB picks Get backed by the AT&T Guarantee Get 20% off any home warranty at https://ahs.com/McShay The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit https://fanduel.com/playwithaplan to learn more about the resources and helplines. Host: Todd McShayGuest: Steve MuenchProducers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, and Daniel ComerSocial: Abou Kamara Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the quarter pole of the college football season, and it's a rough draft Thursday. So let's update our top 10. You ready, Steve? Let's go. There's no clear-cut QB-1 in the 2027 draft class right now. Not right now. LSU tight-end trade as green would be in your top 10, if not for the injury. Yes.

I like when you have to think about it. Indiana's Charlie Beckers wide receiver two in this class right now. Yes. When Alabama and Mississippi State square off on Saturday, we'll get the privilege of watching the number one overall pick in both the 28 and 2029 NFL draft. Yes. After pouring your heart and time, Stephen Richard Mensch,

into evaluating a player. Uh-oh. Then seeing where said player is put on my final draft bowl. There have been moments over the years where you wanted to punch me in the face. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, mostly every day. Just 210 days until the NFL draft. Ment, you good?

I'm good, man. Roll that beat, talk. This episode is brought to you by AT&T. Connection matters. That's why AT&T guarantees your network. If there's an outage, they'll credit your bill. That's the AT&T guarantee. AT&T, connecting changes everything.

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anywhere else you can get your podcast these days. Hit the thumbs up. Yeah. And subscribe, please. That's all we ask. Quarter poll, college football season, four games in, just about every team's played four games to this point. It's a good time to kind of revisit our preseason top 50 that's up on the ringer.com slash McShay. This is exclusive.

You will not get this in a newsletter. You will not get this on that website right now. Next time we unveil an updated rankings. It will be with more evaluations. It will be with updated information. It's coming pretty soon. However, today, let's just rip through it. Here's how we did it.

I did a top 10, mentioned it a top 10. Kind of combined thoughts, and we're going to have our board here. It was harder than I thought. I'm going to be honest with you. Me too. But let's start with what we had in the preseason, Tucker. If you can throw that up. This is our preseason board, Jeremiah Smith.

Leonard Moore, wide receiver corner. Ohio State, Michigan, Ohio State Notre Dame. Dylan Stewart was sitting at three, the South Carolina Edge, and Dante Moore, Arch Manning, Darian Mensa, all three of those quarterbacks were sitting at four, five, and six. Cam Coleman was wide receiver two out of Texas. Colin Simmons, another Longhorn, was at number eight, the edge. Lenora Sellers.

was at that point, the fourth quarterback on the board, and then Janze Pierre, Edge for Alabama, rounded out the top 10. So now, after four games, and admittedly, there's changes. Admittedly, we're in flux. It's a long season, and a lot of teams haven't played the level of competition that we're about to see, right?

Yeah. But there's been movement. So, tuck, let's throw it up. Here's our top 10. one and two don't change and we'll get back to Jeremiah Smith and Leonard Moore in a minute. Dante Moore, Arch,

still sitting there in the top five. Had some discussion, Steve and I on that. We'll talk more about it in a minute. Trinidad Chambliss is one of the big movers up. I believe he was at 13. I don't believe he was at 13. Now he is sitting at five on the board. Awesome.

of the season for Trinidad. Colin Simmons is moving up from edge three to edge two. No, sorry, from edge two to edge one. And from eight, two spots up to number six. Trevor Goosby, who Mench complained to me, he likes to do, didn't have an offensive tackle in the top 10, had him at 15. Now he's at eight, or now he's at seven, meant you happy. Yes.

And then rounding it out, Cam Coleman is now wide receipts. receiver three behind Charlie Becker at wide receiver two. That's eight and nine. And then Darien Mensa is another quarterback from Miami, who's had an awesome start as well. Not much movement there. So where do you want to take it? Well, you know what?

Let me start with this. And then you can take it anywhere you want. We got a good laugh in our production call, right? We've glossed over. We actually did an episode in the summer about Jeremiah Smith. wide receiver Ohio State best player in the country like bar down bar none hands down bar down um and he and we did a preseason show on any anyone not named jeremiah smith like we're so convicted in his wide receiver one that we started talking about all the other receivers then we

started building it up to like kim coleman state's damn good man could this could be a a Julio Jones, green type situation. And then the season started, and Jeremiah Smith just declared almost immediately, like I am the guy, not just a wide receiver, I am the guy in college football and in the 2027 class.

33 catches, 617 yards, is averaging 19 yards per catch with seven touchdowns. Insane. Yeah. And he had 12, 12 for 217 17, four touchdowns against Illinois. And I didn't mention them on Saturday night. And I didn't mention them when I talked about Julian saying going against Iowa.

I don't know how to have. Well, that's what we laughed about. You did a whole Julian saying segment and didn't even mention the fact that your, your boy is going for 200 plus. We just take it for granted. We shouldn't. I shouldn't. That's the point I'm trying to make today. Can we please from now on not take it for granted?

Yeah. While we expect to see greatness. each and every week what he's doing, it's like Picasso, man. The thing I've been encouraged by, or I guess, when you watch a player like this, you're always looking for, okay, where's it better? I think his routes are more nuanced. I think the in and out of,

and I said in the preseason, if there's one area I'd like to see growth in, one of the areas, it would be, he's not going to be Malachi Tony, but a little bit more nuanced. He's worked with, you know, with Hartline, Brian Hartline, who's now left his head coach. But I want to see like one step up in that regard. And here it is.

I mean, he's breaking guys off. Yeah. And I don't know how Ryan Day and his staff do it, but they somehow have him seemingly grounded. I mean, I don't, if I had that kind of talent, I don't know what I would be doing. But he's after the game talking about. Yeah, it'd be bad. He was talking about his teammates and his coaches. and it's, you know, we have not witnessed something like this before.

And the way he speaks about his teammates and coaches is, I think, is special. It is. And one area I'm interested in seeing is the yards after catch, yards after contact. For a big boy, he's not breaking a lot of tackles and grinding it out. But also, like, he's the best player in the country. he's going to be a top five pick. And maybe we're going to see it as the season gets to crunch time and they need it. But that's an area.

If you're looking for scouting, like, where can he now? Where's an area you want to see improvement? I would say that's certainly one of them. But there's not many. I mean, there's just, it's to the point now where he's like, he's like an NFL receiver, nuanced, you know, working on details to advance his game. So I thought it was important to bring him up. Leonard Moore sticks it too.

I feel like it's kind of similar there. Yeah, another special one. Very few throw on him. He doesn't get a lot of attention. He's flying under the radar. He's flying under the radar, but Notre Dame eventually, I mean, North Carolina this week, we'll get to CJ Carr and kind of the escalation of competition there,

but not against UNC's offense, But there will be Miami. There will be presumably a college football playoff. So I'm excited to see how that works out. Can I ask you something? Please. Is Leonard Moore as good as Derek Stingley coming out of LSU and Soss Garner coming out of Cincinnati, who went third and fourth overall in 2022?

Stingley was the most talented of those guys, I thought. Stingley also had a dog of a last year at LSU. Yeah, not great. And it begged the question of, what are you getting? You know, because not only did, like, he kind of shut it down at times, and then when he was on the field, it didn't look very good. And you were wondering, like, there's something going on here. But the Texans had no problem with it, and it's worked out pretty good.

It's worked out all right. I think it's just as good as those guys. I do too. Just as good as those guys. I actually do, too. I think he's probably a little bit more physical. Patrick Sertan is probably the, the best comp I can come up with in terms of the physicality, the length, the ability to play

man, but also the awareness and zone. Those two are to me, Jeremiah Smith and Leonard Moore, something's going to have to happen to wedge them out at number one and number two on our board, right? I agree. The rest, though, man, it's hunting season. It is, but it's also exciting. Oh, I love it. Dante Moore, if you, like Oregon's season has been disappointing and yes, he had the concussion.

You go study it. Like I watched that with the one loss against Oklahoma State. I told you like, yeah, he overthrew a sale route. There's a couple things like, but, but all in all,

it's kind of what it looks like, you know? Yeah. 70%, nine touchdowns, no interceptions, but now he's coming, You've got the concussion, and when is he coming back? And Dylan Raola is playing well. Does that continue?

Do they allow him? So it's to be monitored, but I felt icky. I'll be honest with you. It didn't feel right to move Arch up ahead of him when Arch's play has been so uneven. I agree. It would have been a lot easier after that second half of Ohio State to say, here we go, you know?

But it's been followed. up by, was it Texas State? What was that tape? Whatever, the following week against subpart competition just didn't look great. No, Texas State, I think was the old. Was it Texas, San Antonio? UTSA. Yes, I think

it was UTSA. That tape wasn't great. And then last week he comes out, that first drive was awesome. He looked great. I think he was like seven of seven to start the day. And then he kind of went, you know? Yeah.

And there was back to locking on here, indecisive there. I don't know. But I do know this, and I want to share this with everyone. Two things can be true. At this point, based off of the information that we have, Archmanning should go back to Texas next year. And that's not even a knock. That's like you're getting paid a bunch of money.

Let's keep building on this. and get another season. And then when you go to the NFL, you're more ready for the NFL game. Because the things that you're lacking on right now, Arch, are the things that with more game experience, you're going to grow out of these, like these pains that you're experiencing.

But it's a lot harder to grow out of them in the NFL against those guys, right? Yeah. Yeah, the arc, he's pointing in the right direction. He just got, he has to continue that growth. But here's the other thing that can be true at the same. time. If Arch Manning decides, if Arch Manning plays and turns this thing on the way he did in the second half, makes that kind of early season to late season jump in play, not just production,

play, performance. And even right now, if we're being honest, if he were to come out in the NFL draft, based off of what we have right now, he's not getting out of the top 10. He keeps him proven. Like, he might be still QB1, even though people in the league will know that he's, not fully developed and we'd like to see this, this and this. All the things that we've talked to you about, he has to improve. So that part's hard for Arch because I truly believe at this point, he would be best served to be back in Austin next year. But at this point, same point in the season last year,

we were worried, like, is something wrong? Or did we miss entirely on this young man? So let's give it time. The hardest part of being an evaluator is, patience is waiting, collecting data, and not making, truly, it's one of the hardest parts, is not making early assumptions and not getting locked into one thought, because I can't tell you how many times. I've talked to GMs, forget scouts, GMs, where it's one, you believe one thing, and you're kind of leaning towards that direction, but then six, eight weeks later,

you get on the phone or you're texting, you're seeing them in person, and it's different. And it's because the information that's going into the database creates a different result. So that's where I am. And then Trinidad Chamblis, Mench, it's going to be, is he tall enough? Can you do it at the NFL level? I just know this, even in a loss. Like, this guy's been the best player in college football, not named Jeremiah Smith. Or maybe Camaro Taylor, but right there.

I mean, I mean, right there. Yeah. If he's three inches tall or is he the top player or is he, he's not going to be the top player. We're already talked about that. Is he the number one quarterback if he's three inches taller? I think he is. I think he probably is.

Yeah. Everything's the same. Mobility. Yeah. No, you can't ignore it, but you also can't be, it's a tough one. If I'm betting on a guy who's under six foot to do it, it's this kid.

It's this guy. It's just when you're talking about putting, I'm that high, it starts to get a little. And Russell was kind of the same, man. And he went in the third round. Third round. Russell was different. And you can talk about the interviews and all the stuff that people like to pick at Russell Wilson.

I'm talking about Russell Wilson, prime, running around, making plays, slinging. Yeah. And yes, an awesome defense and all those things in Seattle. But I'm talking like, wow, this is one of the great, outside of like Brady. This is one of looks like one of the great. picks like ever at quarterback you know top five picks ever value wise at quarterback um all right and that leads us to six through 10 Colin Simmons at six gooseby it's it's seven the two wide receivers charlie becker and cam coleman at eight and nine and then darian mensa at 10 if I said look at

this board six through 10 mensch uh what what is the what was the one for you that you were most pound the table for that he's got to be in the top 10. It's got to be Becker. I mean, he has been outrageously good. And I know maybe they haven't played any one yet, but he's been outstanding and contested catch situations. I think he's averaging 19 and a half yards per catch. He is fast.

He is strong. I mean, he's got the frame, everything you want. And I love the Cam Coleman from Texas is still in our top 10 because I still believe in him and I think he's going to be a great receiver at the next level, but there's no question that Becker has outplayed him at this point and you've got to move Becker ahead of him.

And I love it just slightly. I think that's going to be, we thought that there might be a little bit closer with Jeremiah Smith and Cam Coleman, but now it looks like that battle for the wide receiver two slot could be incredible between Becker and Coleman. Yeah, I mean, Becker went from 14 on our board where I felt like we were one of the, like,

I don't know, I'm not like, the rest of the media, right? But I feel like we were kind of first to market on Becker being first half, first round. I didn't hear a lot of people talking about that coming into the year. 6-3-207 pounds. Coleman's 6-3-2010 pounds, both estimated in the low 4-4s, right? Yeah. Both burn.

Both burn. One's big, physical, strong, contested catches, back shoulders, that kind of stuff. the other is wiry, wiery, acrobatic. Yes. Becker being the big power forward and Coleman being more of like the, yeah, the acrobat. I don't know. That's fine. I'm fine with that.

The difference has been, Cam Coleman's obviously played tough for competition. Tennessee and Ohio State mixed in. Becker hasn't played a Tennessee corner or an Ohio State corner yet or defense as a whole. We'll see how that goes. But Becker's averaging 19-a-half yards per catch on 19 receptions. Coleman only has 12 catches through four games, averaging 17, right? So there's still a lot of ball to be played, right? And opportunities have not been there.

And is it like, I'm not going to sit here and lie. I've watched more Becker. I went down and sat down and watched Becker. I still think like, I'm not ready to call this yet. Let's put it that way. No, no, no, no. Early days still. now, I'm hearing people now who are like flag planted, done won't change.

I'm like, okay, fine. Yeah, right. And then if it doesn't work out their way, you'll never hear about it again. And then if it does, they'll retweet it a billion times. And then lastly, who in the top 10 are you, let me phrase it this way. Anyone in the top 10, you can pick one of these 10 guys. And I'm not asking you to say who's the one you don't, think belongs. I'm asking very specifically who's the one that Steve Mench looks at and says,

I don't know if they're going to hold on to this spot. Ooh. I'm going to curveball you here a little bit. I didn't know you're going to ask me this question. I like this group a lot. So I, you know, there's not someone who was, I'm looking at this and be like, oh, it's that guy. We're definitely, it's definitely that guy. I'm going to go, I'm going to come back at you after I push for him. I'm going to say Trevor Goosby. And let me tell you why. I think the offensive tackle class is heating up.

And I think that there's only so many spots in there. And I think that people are really high on LSU's Jordan Seton. And I am too. And I love the upside. I'm not seeing it as a run blocker yet. I'm not ready to put him there. Trevor Locke from Iowa is a really good player. The other guy, Siani, Melvin, Tiani on the opposite side of Guzby,

at Texas, people are starting to heat up on. there's a lot of offensive tackles out there. The Miami tackle you like too, right? Yep. Whose name I can't, I got to get better at. Okulululah. All right, let's not do that. Anyways, it's going to be a group that heats up a little bit,

and Goosby had a good but not great game against Tennessee. And it's going to be one of those situations, sort of like we're talking about these wide receivers that, not much room for error, my man. Like, if you are, if you open the door, one of these guys is going to be ready to run through it. So Goosby's the name to keep an eye on. Again, I think he belongs in the top 10.

I like this group. But if I had to, if I had to pick one, it might be him. There's one name that's not mentioned in there that I think probably people have figured out the why. But we can't wrap up this top 10 without mentioning Dylan Stewart is no longer in it. So let me ask you this question. As we covered it, I covered it on social at McShay 13. at you good mensch. We covered it on the show Monday.

Did a follow up. What NFL scouts I'm talking to are hearing. We kind of went back and forth on it. But let's revisit it real quickly. Dylan Stewart. Some of the league already were a little, where's the production? You know, remember Shemar Stewart coming out,

who's, I loved him, has not been worth the first round pick so far or holdout has not been the guy. So those in the league that were telling me, cool it so far, they're right. And this is another example. For that camp inside the league that's like,

yeah, if you don't produce sacks, I don't care how talented you are. If you don't produce sacks at that level, you ain't coming up here and producing sex. Right. And then you can counter with like DeNeal Hunter. And there's a couple other examples. But anyway, there was that conversation

that I thought was interesting talking to a couple scouts in the league that already like pump the brakes a little bit, maybe not in that like elite elite tier. Already knew about some of the stuff. No one in South Carolina is going to come out and say it, but there's been a lot of insinuations. This guy's a handful.

Yeah. With some stuff, has some stuff that's going on. Can he break free from all that? And quite first, Shane Beamer, essentially in his press conference, indicated that or an interview indicated that. I read the transcript. I don't know exactly when he said it,

but this young man has a lot going on in his life. Yeah, I did. And then you see the meltdown in Alabama, and it's well documented everywhere, and if you haven't watched the show last week, and you want to even just watch that specific part, you can go to the, you know, hit the thumbnail. The chapter.

So that's the why. But let me ask you, you this specific question. If you were doing a top 32 today, because we both still think he's one of the top 32 players. And everyone I talked to in the league is like, yeah, but he's still going around

one. Where would you put him? He wouldn't get out of my top 15 right now. Now, again, this is an incomplete evaluation because we don't have all the information. And, you know, I want to see him get back on the field. I know the SEC

suspended him for a game. I think South Carolina, to suspended them indefinitely. I thought those were linked. And then after reading more, it sounds like they're not. The Beamer may not bring him right back after the game. So that'll be interesting to keep an eye on.

I want to see him get it back on the field and get some production. I do. But the talent and the tape are so good that I'm not ready to drop him out of the top 15. Now, if we get down to Mobile and we start hearing that this is more of an issue than maybe we even thought, and he doesn't really get back on the field. We'll see how this all of them plays or all of it plays out. Then we'll start moving. I would start moving him back farther,

but the talent is too good for me to take him out of the top 15 right now. I just, someone's going to fall in love with his skill set because he has the potential to develop. I know he's not there yet. I understand, but he does have the potential to develop into a closer, a guy that can come in and win the game for you on the defensive side of the ball,

and there aren't, like, those are just so valuable in the league, I got to believe someone's going to take him somewhat early. The only thing I'll say is a counter to that is when I watched the tape the other day, it does start to get a little frustrating when he's there and doesn't finish. And there were multiple times, just in a very small sample size this year,

and I put it in my report in the preseason as well. Coming in too hot, leaving his feet, not wrapping up, kind of, like for such an athletic, flexible, explosive player, some guys have it and some guys don't, man. And that's my only fear with him.

I don't disagree. Absolutely still top 20. 15's cool with me right now. There's absolutely a wait and see situation. But I never expected to be in this spot. Four games into his first season and talking about like, I'm not sure that he's going to be in the top 15.

Yeah. With Dylan Stewart. That's wild. You know what else is wild? To start thinking about this question. But I'm going to pose it to you anyway. Crystal ball me. But I want you to take, and I've got an answer.

I want you to. Of course you do. You wouldn't ask otherwise. I want you to draw on all of your experience and what you know about the league. Yep. Camario Taylor gets an injunction from a judge in Oxford, Mississippi, because they want him gone.

gone to go to the NFL. And he says, I got to go. He's eligible, and he departs for the 2027 NFL draft, which he's currently not. So this is obviously a hypothetical. Where is he on your board? Super Camario. By the way, I didn't hear that until today, and that's amazing. This is really uncomfortable for me.

Six starts. He's been outstanding. He's been outstanding outside of one game. I'm going to get to that in a minute. Poised the pocket. I think he's been accurate. He's made big plays. And then you just talk about the tools, tall, big, strong, arm strength,

you can be good, an unbelievable. I don't know if I've seen anyone this good, this early. And again, then you're adding on the natural ability. So I am who I am. I want to find the counter argument. I want to tear it down. I want it to be able to come on here and say, you can't do it after six games.

And here's what I was looking at that will make you think that. And the only thing I could do, right, they haven't really played, they've played some good games, man. It's not been the Cupcake schedule, some other guys have had. Maybe not elite yet. And we're going to see some things. We're going to find some things out going forward. But the best game that you could look at was Ole Miss last year.

And I think he completed 48% of his passes in that game. And I was like, here we go. Show me what I want to see so I can come on there and tell McShay, you're nuts for taking that. this kid early. And I watched that game and he misthrows that he does not miss now. He did miss throws. There was just some throws that he missed. I saw a guy that at his size 6.3, 2.30, I think it is. Maybe it's 6.5, 2.30 dancing in the pocket. I mean, he has feet and moves, has a lateral twitch that I've not seen in a guy that big. He, I mean, he is extending plays with

ease. He's making old misdefenders look silly. And yes, he did. He did. He did. He did. He's. He again, you look at the stat line, you're like, it wasn't that great. No touchdowns, a pick. Like, it wasn't great. But he also made some throws in that game where I was like, okay, I'm starting to see that. And, oh, by the way, first start against Ole Miss. Talk about taking a knife to a gunfight in terms of the two teams. He ran for 173 yards in two touchdowns in that game.

And I was like, God, damn it. Listen, I'm going to be honest with you. I understand all the reasons why you'd be scared about doing it. it. I think he would be number two on my board. I think he would be after Smith before more. And I think he'd be the first quarterback off the board, probably the first overall pick. Deborah McShea is shaking her head at you, first of all. I'm sorry. I am sorry, Deborah. It's a butter knife to a machete. Mrs. McShea. Show some respect to Frank DeFalise. The late great Frank DeFalise, my high school

baseball coach. Yeah, I can't pass up on this talent. No. To take Archmanning or Dante Moore. or Trinidad Chambliss and watch him go play somewhere else and beat me once or twice a season or in the playoffs or whatever that fate may be. And I'm willing, I'm willing to take a shot on this because you don't get many opportunities. That's where we are right now.

Let's see how it goes. You brought up Cam Newton the other day. Yeah, go ahead. It's a gamble. Go ahead, finish it. We wrote a Cam Newton the other day, and you talked about how especially he was. It reminded me of another quarterback.

who was like that in college, a certain kid that went to Virginia Tech and played a Florida State team that was, I mean, just way better than that Virginia Tech team and that was Michael Vic. I mean, again, the playing styles are a little bit different

and this kid is way more developed than either one of those two as a passer. As a passer, yeah. But the ability to take over a game and elevate your team. And again, we'll see Alabama's got a pass. We're going to see a lot on Saturday, man. We're going to see a lot on Saturday.

We are. At Alabama defense is. violent. Yep. There's some old. You get after him a little bit. Like there's some things there. That is like must view. Stop everything you're doing.

This is the game for Camario. I hope people understand that. Because if it's if it's a blood bath and it's two interceptions and they bottle them up and it looks pedestrian, the, the super Camario train is over for a while. And it's kind of like maybe we'll revisit it late in the year if they can bounce right back and all that. But it's probably we'll see you in 2027.

It was a great story in September of 2026. Correct. He goes out and throws for 250,300, doesn't fall in a pitfall of throwing. I mean, maybe it's one. I'm not going to give you exact numbers. But looks this way and carries. I don't care if it's even close, like fourth quarter. Like, he got him there.

Then it's like, all right. He's not perfect, by the way. He's not perfect. I know that. I know. I told you the other day. But he's, it's exciting. One of the first throws is a deep over his left vertical, left rail, like into the sidelines.

Like, he's going to miss some. But Josh Allen missed just as many, if not more times. They all miss some, man. So talk to me about what you can do, and not many have the combination of traits and the ease about him that Camaro shows. Right. Wait, where would you take him? You'd take him first overall. You'd be the first quarterback.

Would you put him ahead of Leonard Moore or would you have him behind him? If I need a quarterback and I'm drafting it one right now, based off the information I have, I'm taking a shot. and I know it's a risk and I understand all of that stuff. Yeah. But I'm taking a shot on that. I just am right now. Yeah, me too. The McShay Show is brought to you by Fanduel.

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by pricey repairs. And if they can't repair the covered part, they'll replace it. it no matter how old. Get 20% off any plan at AHS.com slash McShay and see promo details. See aHS.com slash contracts for coverage details, including service fees, limitations, and exclusions. American Home Shield, don't worry, be warranty. Okay, last one on the top 10. Outside looking in, is there one player that you really wanted to get into the top 10, but we didn't mind up putting him in.

I'm just going to quickly hit on this. I think Jaden Ball, we've talked about the Florida running back a lot. I think there's an argument for it. It's tough to get him in right now because I don't know who we're taking out. The other thing that I thought was really interesting is you brought up Trades Green because the LSU tight end because I'm looking at this thing. And I said, you know, there's a world where he doesn't get hurt in that game. And LSU comes back and he plays a role and they win that game. And we're talking about Tradez Green as a top 10 player.

I honestly had that thought. And I thought it could have happened. I'm going to go with a guy that I just feel like no one's talking about, and I've talked about a little bit, but I'm going to keep bringing up. Trevor Locke, the offensive tackle from Iowa, I went back and watched the Michigan game, and my God, did he have a good game? We talked a lot about how much we liked that Michigan defensive front. He was outstanding in this game.

I love, he's really good. He's quick getting out of his stance. He gets all his landmarks with the sets. All that stuff's good, but it's his ability to, to anchor and lock down at the top of the set that I think really sets him apart. Once he's got you, I mean, he was, it was like running into a brick wall for these guys

for a lot of the day. And you could tell that they were trying to throw some different things at them in terms of matchups and in terms of games. And he just, he was fine with it. I mean, I think that John Henry Daley got him with one of his patented spin moves, but I mean, it was Trevor Locke's day all day.

And I looked at PFF gave him a, a negative, we're not a negative, but kind of a lower run grade, run blocking grade, and I would politely disagree with that. I mean, he got some movement. He flashed some nasty. He was consistently positioned. He was walling

guys off. I feel like no one's talking about Trevor Lock. I think that Jordan Seaton is getting a lot of talk, and Trevor Goosby's getting a lot of talk, and I'm not really sure why. Maybe there's a concern about his length. Some people might seem as a guard, but I'm telling you, this kid's tape is as good as any other offensive tackles tape in this country.

I'm fired up to see it, because you know, Iowa carries some weight there too because those guys typically when they have the talent like they produce and when they have the production and the resume they produce i'm going to go right back to trade as green um sorry you mentioned no it's fun that's that that's the one that i struggled with the most um i mean he's six six and three eighths of an inch he's 238 pounds he was like he was doing things before the injury that were like oh he's he's arrived because we're We saw the wiry, didn't play a lot of football, wide receiver, tight end.

There was a lot of development that had to happen, but we always knew it had a chance to get here. And I felt like I was watching it pre-injury arrive, right? I just, I envision him with that athleticism. He's going to get to like 250 pounds in the NFL. Guys don't get skinnier skinnier in the NFL. It's a fact. So, like, what can't this guy do? So I was strong.

And then the injuries, but now it's not as bad. It's not a tear. He's expected to be back by the end of, by the end of the season. Actually, November, they're saying about the Alabama game, right? Okay. So we've got that to look forward to. So I considered him, there's only been three tight ends draft in the last decade in the top 10. T.J. Hawkinson.

and was eight overall in 2019. Kyle Pitts was four overall in 2021, and Colston Loveland was 10 overall in 2025. And then you want to add two more guys in the top 15. It's Brock Bowers who went 13 and Tyler Warren, who went 14. So that's rare air. Yeah, look at some of these young tight ends and what they're doing in the league. We talked about Kenyon Tadik, and I know it's early days,

but he just had a great game. And look at what McVeigh and the, Rams do with tight end usage and how that seems to be trickling down to the rest of the league and teams are using more of these guys. And it just makes sense the teams are going to value them. The positional value is going to get changed a little bit. And guys at tight end are going to start going a little earlier. So I mean, yeah, I get it.

I mean, Gladstone and Jacksonville is not wrong about that. I don't think he made the right pick. But he's not wrong about the analysis of looking at that run of tight ends and understanding that the tight end market is different now that it was a few years ago. I totally agree. The one other, I want to make it perfectly clear to everyone out here. I am on the wagon with CJ Car. I am purposely keeping all of that quiet.

I'm watching the NFL throws. I'm seeing the advancement in his game. I'm watching the progressions. I'm watching the pre-snap stuff. It's all stuff I expected to see. And I'm just kind of like, shh. Fair enough. Because I didn't want to make some splash and throw him in the top 10 because I've been purposely kind of wait.

Go prove it, CJ. And so now he is the first opportunity against Bill Belichick's defense at North Carolina. And that team for whatever you think about that team, that organization and everything else, they're playing some defense this year. So this is going to be the first real challenge for Notre Dame and CJ Carr. And so we can revisit it after next week. Come see me next week, you know? Yeah.

All right. Moving on. We will finish this show and make you a little bit richer. You're welcome, scumbags, last week. But before we get to our three game, our pick three, we'll call it for Fanduel. Putting Fandul out of business soon. It's always October.

I told you, right, right when you can see the calendar, start to flip or you're looking to September and you're those days and you can start to see the the one two, three, four of October on your digital calendar. It's when I get hot. But I do want to get to this first. JJ and Jalen spinning forward to the NFL this week. I love when quarterbacks are in situations or I love revisiting what we had. right?

We didn't, what we were cut, we had an interesting year because we launched a site and we didn't wind up putting out every evaluation, but my gosh, I went back and I had a ton of notes

on, on Tampa Bay starter, Jalen Daniels this week. And also J.J. McCarthy, we both had reports on. I actually was sitting out that year due to contract issues and situations with my former employer,

ESPN. but I still had a full evaluation that I went back to. This week, we got JJ, JJ getting traded, right? And we got Jalen starting for the Bucks because of the unfortunate injury to the throwing hand of Baker Mayfield. Where were you on J.J. McCarthy? Let's revisit that first. And obviously, no one, even those who didn't like like them as much,

no one saw this happening with that marriage. But when you went and revisited your report, what did it look like and what were your thoughts? I was very high on JJ. Not that it's so high that I put him ahead of the big three that year and Caleb, Jaden, and Drake. I mean, those were the guys. I had him as the fourth quarterback, though.

I think a lot of people did have him as the fourth quarterback, but I also had him as my ninth overall player on my board. And I want to, like, I think it's easy. I get what's happened. And I'm just going to kind of go through the pros and cons. And I understand that JJ McCarthy has not worked out well. I understand all that, okay? But let's put it in perspective a little bit about this kid.

Okay, he started 28 games in college. He went 27 and 1. The one loss was that horrific loss to TCU. And that was his first year as a starter. He had two pick sixes in that game. Everything that could have gone wrong for Michigan in that game went wrong for Michigan in that game. And I was wondering how he was going to bounce back to the next year.

And I thought that he showed a ton of mental toughness by having a great year and leading Michigan to a national championship the following year. Now, there's other things that play here, right? Set a single season program record for interception rate, completion percentage, a super efficient passer, okay? There was, this is something I pulled from from Kevin Seaford where he talked about his QBR rating of 98 on passes of 10 plus yards was second in the FBS. I thought he was great at making those layered throws that we talk about making and how that translates the NFL. I thought he was excellent in that. I thought he had more than enough size, more than enough arm strength, more than enough mobility, okay? They went against Alabama in the playoffs and the semifinal game.

He throws three touchdowns and no picks. They win by a touchdown. I thought he looked great in that game. I was high on J.J. McCarthy. You know, and a lot of people will point to he was 10. in the Big Tenant passing attempts, right? And they'll say to you in the Penn State game, he only went seven for eight. And I freaking hate that stat when people bring it up as related to J.J. McCarthy as if that

was the J.J. McCarthy thing. It takes everything out of context. Like, for example, that Penn State's rushers there included Abdul Carter and Chop Robinson, who Michigan could not block in the first half. And you have Blake Corum, one of a great Michigan back. I'd run the ball, too. Your offensive lines built to run the ball. You have a great running back.

You're going to run the ball in that game because that's what you need to do to win. That's not a J.J. McCarthy thing. I will say this. I will be alert to that going forward. The passing attempts, I think, is a thing. Yes, he had plenty of starts, but he's got to get more reps. I think these quarterbacks got to get more wrecks to get a better feel for it. And I hate to bring this up, but I think it is worth bringing up the combine workout.

He had some great throws in the combine workout. overall, it wasn't great. I wouldn't even say it was good. He missed some throws in that workout that, you know, kind of raise your eyebrows of like, we're throwing against air, and I know you don't know these guys and all that, but it didn't look right.

So there are some things that come out to play. Now, I'm interested to see if he gets a fresh start, if he's able to unlock it and get back to what I thought he could do when he was coming out of Michigan. But we'll see. It's tough to do that at this point. Yeah, I appreciate the honesty. I wish I could say,

I was a lot, it's interesting. I went back to my, I wrote a report on him in the turn of the month from October to November. And I had a mid-second round grade. Yeah. I had an 84 on him, right? And I focused on all the same things. Then they go win the national championship and I, and you get to like understand like this guy doesn't lose. He was 36 and two in high school, man.

And there's something about him. And then he has this magic to his game, even though he's not like, he's able to extend plays and finds guys open and does all those things, right? It made plays what he need to make plays, by the way. I mean, it wasn't like he didn't make any play. Yeah, he had his moments.

But the catalog wasn't there. And I kept saying that in my report. I just, I wish there were more intermediate shots throwing, hitting zone, leading receivers. I wish I got to see more. vertical, you know, timing ball out. And so Harbaugh at the time, coming from the NFL, like, could not have maximized his strengths and masked his weaknesses more or better on a team that was an eventual national championship team.

Like, they were a hell of a football team. Came with a lot of off-the-field stuff and nonsense. But they, that product on the field of Michigan was as good, if not better than any other product on the field top to bottom any team in the country right yep so the two lessons to be learned here i had him 18 overall in my final board with a 89 grade is what i had um and q b4 as well ultimately okay one is if the evaluation doesn't change any except the team goes on to win and he didn't have like i don't know mild Mendoza moments and a come throw here and there,

but it didn't feel like the same, you know what I mean? He wasn't carrying. No, that was Blake Corum's team. It was Blake Corum's team and the offensive line. Yep. And the defense, right? So the lesson is two lessons. One is when you got a guy who really was like 196, 200 pounds,

but then bulked up for two, six, whatever, two, two 19 at the conference. combine way in. Yep. And he's, and while he's mobile in college and extends and does, like I can still vividly remember him, and may throw him that ridiculous throw that was complete in the air getting whacked. Red alert on durability, right?

Yep. And then holds onto the ball too long, because I had that in my report, like locks in, like ball needs to come out, he's hanging on to it, but he had the Joe Moore Award winning offensive line in front of him. So there are things.

things to learn from it. I think, and we know this, but there's been Ohio State guys that haven't quite panned out awesome supporting cast. There's been, there's been plenty of examples. Let's just put it that way. And when he got drafted by KOC in Minnesota, I was like, oh, it's going to work out for him. Another great spot, great supporting cast, and it hasn't. And durability is part of it, and I think overvaluing, what are the special traits? Because winning a lot of games with a great sporting cast can't be the special trait. Yeah, I agree. But I will say this.

I'm interested to see what he does with the Giants. I'm interested to see if they can get something out of him because there's a little bit of backlash with the KOC stuff now, man. You let Sam Donald walk out the door. I mean, there's some interesting stuff there about is he the guy. McVeigh is not great at developing rookies, like young guys. So maybe it's the same tree. so I hear what you're saying. Yes, I will be interested in watching that.

And then Jalen Daniels, I'm excited to hear what you have to say first on him. I'm actually more, I'll go because I'm not going to shy away from it. But Tate, if you're out there, you might want to cover yours here, my man. I get, I get it. Like he's, Jalen Daniels is mobile and he's going to pull a rabbit out of a hat.

And if you watched it against Cincinnati, and when he threw for like 445 yards and four touchdowns last year, you see some things in that game. You're like, oh, it's encouraging the plays that he's making from within the pocket, some of the reads he's making some of the touch he's throwing with. I don't see it enough. I mean, honestly, Todd, I think you could have thrown over 202 touchdowns against Cincinnati that day. It was, I mean, wolf, bad, D, I mean, just bad.

And it's not consistent enough for me. Maybe he'll get there, I don't know, but I see a lot of this. jumping as he's throwing and not setting his feet. And there are some, there's some good games. And then there's some Kansas State, not great. Utah, not great. I mean, his last, the last college game he played in, the last start he had, he had one touchdown, three interceptions. And I think he completed fewer than 50% of his passes. It's just too inconsistent to me. Now, maybe he's made the jump. I mean, they're encouraged by what they've seen with him so far. But there's a reason this young man didn't get drafted. There's just, it's the tape for

me was messy. There was some flashes where I get where other people could be like, and I think this kind of, he turned into someone's like, some people's day three darlings and some people I respect were saying that about him. And I get it because of the flashes that you see and the, and the natural ability. But man, like, I question his ability to consistently make accurate throws from within, and in good reads from within the pocket. We'll see if he can do it. Yeah. It's going to be wild. Because Baker's been kind of on the run and things have been a little bit of a fire drill, right?

Pre-injury. And he has all the answers. Pre-snap, progression reads, post-snap, mixes of coverage, looks. He's got this catalog in his brain where it's like, oh, I see that, then it's that, all of it. Jalen's coming in, he doesn't. And yes, I recognize how smart he is. I recognize everything that was said about him in the pre-draft process.

I also recognize this organization. They're not handing him the number two job behind Baker Mayfield, who's had some injuries unless they feel really confident in him. Which is great. It's amazing. Yeah, good for him. My son, Tate McShay, he's only complained to me about one player in the history of his 12 years on this earth that he thought I absolutely missed on.

And I think he even broed me. Bro. What do you mean? You don't have a draftable? We did. We had like a 30-9-40-more. Yeah, we had a draftable grade. Yep.

But you don't think you, so anyway. But I'm rooting for him. I mean, I hope he makes me eat my words. Here's what he's not going to have. He's not going to have all those answers. He's not going to read when he's reading coverage. He's not going to know exactly where to go. And even in the preseason and with that staff there, they recognize that.

but what he does have is he's got these playmaking instincts that not a lot of cats have. It's fun. It is fun to watch. You buckle up, Buccaneers fans. This guy, he will not go down without a fight. It's going to be wild. There's going to be ugly.

There's going to be fun. There's going to be, whoa. This is going to be a fun ride. He throws a beautiful deep ball. He does. I'm excited to see it. He's got Green Bay. I feel like he's got some baker in his game, by the way.

He's kind of built like that. He's like a little stout. he's got like, no doubt. And he's like us against the world. And I love all of those things. It just, it gets sloppy on tape at times.

And I want to see, I want to see more of the Cincinnati game. You know, like it's, we're talking about this the other day with someone else's tape. And it's like, if you give me this tape,

I'm good. If you give me that tape, we're in trouble. And there was, there was more bad than good, in my opinion. So we'll see where he is in this progress. And they've got Green Bay.

The Buccaneers do 1 o'clock. And home. in Tampa so we won't have to deal with Lambo but he and listen quite frankly green Bay's defense of 35 plus points allowed in two of the first three games in the season so um all right back to college football let's pick some winners mensch let's do it i'm sure i'm sure tucker took the time to pick the get the graphic ready to show you what what we did pounding fan duel last week he's tearing apart there um we're hoping to we're hoping to bruise him so bad but not beat them to death in October where we get hot

where they can't help sponsor our show anymore. But it is time for our weekly picks and our partners at Fandul have you covered all season long. Nationwide now, as Fandul is now available everywhere. So get in on the action wherever you live. Mench, let's get into our favorite picks, this week's slate, who you got. Let's start with, you mentioned this game,

Notre Dame at North Carolina. North Carolina coming off a bye week. So they had the Bill Belichick and the boys have had an extra week to prepare for C.J. Carr and that Notre Dame offense. I don't care. Notre Dame beats the brakes off the tar heels. They have been awesome against the spread and they've been nothing but blowouts for them this year. I think I love Notre Dame in that game.

Next one will go to is Auburn at Tennessee. I think this might be a little bit more low scoring than people are expecting. Phazon Brandon, the freshman quarterback for Tennessee, got punched in the mouth by by Texas. He's a little bit banged up. I expect him to play, but he is on the injury report. And Auburn's got a pretty good defense on the flip side. Tennessee showed in that Texas game. They got some guys that can get after the quarterback. And by the way, expecting rain at Neeland Stadium, I think that that might be a little bit more of a slower track and a lower scoring game that some people might expect. And finally, I can't believe I'm doing it, McShay. I took Washington last week,

said they were going to handle the Minnesota gophers and instead PJ Fleck was rowing the boat and they lost that game. But Washington goes to USC. Does USC get galvanized by all the noise outside the program? It could or the bottom could fall out. And they're at home. And I almost feel like that's a negative for them

because, I mean, the home field advantage has been non-existent for them. It's a 430 local start. I would be surprised if USC lost that game, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's tight. I'll take Washington and the points. Okay. I hear you. Three for three last week.

Three for three, hit the parlay, plus three 95, three legs. Nice. Thank you, thank you, ULL, Louisiana. Thank you, Illinois hanging on. And a brilliant, brilliant. Was it Illinois cover? I didn't think Illinois covered. Oh, you were just about to say it.

A brilliant alt line on the Ohio. I think I needed the, Illinois, Ohio State Altline, if I remember correctly. I know I needed the Missouri one. I had bumped it to seven and a half. I mean, some folks might say, well, why not just take the winner? Why not just take Mississippi State? I liked it this way.

I had conviction. Because I tell you what, that thing goes one or two plays different. Anyway, three for three winners, sniff in October. You want three more? Yeah, let's go. Memphis. Minus 20 and a half is what I saw most recently. Check Fandul.

At Fandul, okay? Get the Fandual app, would you please? I think this one's like, pick a sledgehammer to this one. A little worried about the, like you said, the afternoon thunderstorm. This one could be delayed. I hate delays when teams are rolling,

kills momentum. However, Memphis is three consecutive 500-yard plus games on offense, balanced, that Marcus Stokes just chewing teams up. The running backs are deep. Charlotte ranks 129th in total defense. Not good. This one, it's a 20 and a half point.

This one should be 30. Give me Memphis. Number two pick, Iowa. Give me the points with my Hawkeyes. I hope I'm not going hard here. Hope I'm not going hard overhead. It's going to be an interesting. the game. But Iowa,

I mean, they've allowed eight points per game so far. What's the 14 and a half? 14 and a half. Give me the 14 and a half. I'm a little worried about Tyler Brown's availability. I'll be honest with you. Just read your notes here.

But what a matchup this week. Coming off of that win, now you get now you get the, I mean, this is, what do you, what do you think here, Mitch. I like Ohio State in this game, but like it's, I wouldn't

I'd stay, I would just stare clear. I think Kinnick is a special place. I think it's a different place. I think they're an ugly Ohio state to death. They could, man. That's, they've done it before. I'm not saying it's upset, but I'm saying in the fourth quarter things are going to be a little uncomfortable

for Ryan Day in the group. And everyone's expecting, oh, they have that monster win, they're going to let down. You don't let down when you wear a hot guy's uniform, I promise. There's no let down. This is procedural what we do. Yep.

We. It's we now this year. And finally, Texas Tech. Texas Tech has been quietly kind of sneaking out game, doing all this stuff. I'm not a huge believer yet. You know me with Will Hammond, though. I see the upside three picks last week. I know.

He's killing me. Shortfields would not help my cause here. They're minus 12 and a half last I checked. But Colorado's offense is like 39% success rate, scoring opportunities. When they get scoring opportunities, Texas Tech, they have typically taken advantage. I like Texas Tech in this one. I think they're going to win by a couple touchdowns or more. That's it.

Can I ask you something? Yes. What do you think about these massive spreads? I looked up, I think it's LSU-McNeese State, 52 and a half. Do you ever go near those? No, rarely. Like one thing can go wrong. But typically I find like the crazier, the crazier they are, first of all, like, like,

Fandle, they're so smart. I know. Sometimes it pisses. I know. Because all of a sudden you'll look up and you'll be like, oh, it's like 50, it's 55 right now and the opponent's like marching for a field goal that won't matter. You know, it's just, they're too good at what they do. They're too good.

Yep. but I feel like they make that number so gross, grotesque, I should say, that you want to take the other side. Yeah, give me 52 and then you're down 64 late third quarter, and you're like, oh, my, you know. It doesn't matter if you're in Alabama, South Carolina, Texas, California, or Georgia. Fan duel is there. That's right.

Fan duel is nationwide this football season. So get in on the action. All right. Everyone enjoy your Saturday. Enjoy your, I mean, starting a night, Thursday night football. We got Friday night football, which has been better this season than most years. It has. We got a decent slate on Saturday.

We just covered some of it. But today was more about rough draft, NFL draft. We're zagging when everyone else is zigging. And hopefully you enjoyed it. I enjoy your company every single day, man. Five stars. Thanks, man. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in D.C. or Wyoming.

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