The McShay Show - The Big Ten and SEC Championship Player Draft | Rough Draft 1.6

Episode Date: December 4, 2025

Welcome back to The McShay Show! In preparation for Indiana–Ohio State and Alabama-Georgia, Todd and Steve are drafting the best players in each championship game. Who has the better squad?0:00 Welcome to The McShay Show! 0:57 Rough Draft: SEC and B1G Championship Previews3:42 Join us this weekend!6:12 Drafting the Best Conference Championship Units6:35 Conference Championship Draft: Quarterbacks13:28 Conference Championship Draft: Running Backs17:40 Conference Championship Draft: Wide Receivers24:25 Conference Championship Draft: Tight Ends27:10 Conference Championship Draft: Offensive Line32:57 Conference Championship Draft: EDGE35:57 Conference Championship Draft: Interior Defensive Lineman38:34 Conference Championship Draft: Linebackers43:05 Conference Championship Draft: Defensive Backs47:43 Conference Championship Draft: Coaches52:14 Team Muench vs. Team McShay: Who Ya Got?!54:23 Week 15 CFB picks!Subscribe to The McShay Report for access to all of Todd’s mock drafts, big boards, scouting reports, and more throughout the college football season.The Ringer is committed to responsible gaming. Please visit www.rg-help.com to learn more about the resources and helplines available. Learn more and join waitlist at https://ScoutMotors.com.com Host: Todd McShayGuest: Steve MuenchProducers: Tucker Tashjian, Conor Nevins, and Daniel ComerSocial: Jon Roemer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Some days you come up with a creative idea that you're not sure whether it'll be a hit or a complete flop. Today's one of those days. Mench and I put our tape to the test all the time we spend in the film room. We're testing it out by drafting the best players and the best units that are set to compete in the SEC and Big Ten championship games on Saturday. And you know what, Mench? I'm feeling a rough draft in the air and just. Just 140 days until the NFL draft. Mench, you good?

I'm great, man. Roll that beat, Tucker. You know, when we're not breaking the biggest stories in college football, surrounding coaches and agents and everything else and getting out ahead of everybody else in the industry, personnel is what we do. The McShay Show is presented by Fandul. Fan Duel's got it all.

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dot org slash chat in Connecticut. Kind of bread and butter. Yeah, it's kind of how we started this whole thing. We've been doing it for 25 years, studying tape, studying players, studying units, and that's what we're going to put to the test today. I'm excited. It's kind of your idea, piggybacking off of Dan's idea from last year.

Yeah, with someone else's idea. Yeah, but you decided to apply it, and I love the concept, and we'll see if it's a huge success or if people watch for 10 minutes and decide to click away. That's what we're going to do, We're going through.

We got four teams in the two biggest college football conference championship games. You've got one versus two in the Big Ten title game. This is the first. I feel like every year the Big Ten title game, you go into it. It's like so lopsided, right? This is the best matchup I can remember, at least, in the Big Ten championship game. And you've got one versus two, Ohio State versus Indiana. Then the SEC championship game, it always delivers.

And this year's no different. you've got number three Georgia versus nine Alabama, right? And so we're going to go through and we're going to pick the best quarter of the quarterback we would want. And it's not just based off of the NFL draft, but it's based off of who we would want going into that game. That's a tough decision to make with those four quarterbacks. And then we'll do every other offensive position. And then we'll do units, offensive line, and edge rushers, interior defensive line, linebackers, secondary. And as our executive producer kind of stuffed down.

our throat in the last minute, but it's a great idea. Conor Nevins. Connor always just comes it off the top rope, I tell you, all the time. He wants us to pick the best coach, the coach that we would want coaching for us in one of these big games. Okay. So that's that. Quick side notes, okay? Some housekeeping, if you will. The McShay report is out today. And I went through, mentioned, I know we're doing this, this exercise, if you will, on the show, but I went through it. I just did the top 10 prospects playing in those two big games,

the SEC and the Big Ten championship, and also some other prospects, the five prospects you need to know in the two other Power Four conference games, the championship games, the ACC and Big 12, and then also gave you just every other prospect that I think is going to be a top 100 pick from the SEC and the Big Ten games.

Wow. So a lot of stuff in that McShay report. You've been busy. I've been busy. It's been a busy day. Also had a big meeting today that I can't share yet, but we have exciting news that's going to be coming around the corner soon. Buckle up. Also exciting this week. I feel like it's Christmas around here a lot. I'm excited. This week, man, this is Thursday. Saturday, we scrapped the one show on Saturday night. We're doing two. I know, I know Mattias and Haas and Cole Marie and everybody else. All we straight back. ATB. A-TB. Everyone's going to be excited.

We're doing two live shows. It was too good on this past Saturday after the game when we jumped on Ohio State, Michigan, and the reaction and the people in the chat and then also just the numbers that we did. And we decided, you know what, we need to capital. Like, I know SEC fans. I've spent a lot of time down the south.

They're going to be up at, Lord knows what time, drinking Lord knows what. And then by about eight to nine o'clock, like they don't care about the Big Ten championship game. and that's fine. That's what they do. But the SEC championship game is massive. So when that game's over, let's feed that thirst. And we have all this energy about the game.

We're going to jump in with five minutes left in the SEC championship game, and we're all going to watch it together. And we're going to go for about a half hour or so until the kickoff of the Big Ten game. Then we're going to stop down. Mention is going to go to his couch with his snacks and hang around the house, taking his furious notes. I'm going to go downstairs, Lord knows what's going to be going on down there,

but I'm going to be watching the Big Ten championship game. And I am the ACC championship game as well, Duke versus Virginia. And then with five minutes remaining in that Big Ten championship game, we're going to be right back here. So come join us. It's going to be an awesome hang. Basically the second half of your day on Saturday. Hopefully you're hanging with us.

So that's all the news. Let's get to it. Let's start with the four quarterbacks, Mensch. We're talking about Ty Simpson. Gunner Stockton in the SEC championship game. We're talking about Fernando Mendoza and Julian San. Okay, we got Heisman trophy potential winners. We've got number one draft pick potential guys here.

I'm going to take the first pick. Of course you are. I am because I want to make a point. And I texted you this earlier and you don't know who I'm going to pick. Of these four awesome quarterbacks, they've all played great. Not a bad one in there. There's not a bad one in there. You get two first year starters.

Three, really? Gunner started. You get three first year starters. Yep. And another one in Mendoza, who was the first year starter at the place he's at in Indiana, coming off of the, you know, Cal transfer. They've all exceeded expectations, and the expectations are high at those programs.

Uh-huh. I put a lot of thought into this today. I will ride or die. with Julian saying. Interesting. And you know I love Ty Simpson, and you know Mendoza with a win could wind could wind up winning the Hysman.

And honestly, that win not only could get Indiana a number one seed, it could earn him, it will earn him, unless he implodes and Indiana wins despite him. It will earn him the Hizman. And it will very likely against that defense, if he goes out and plays a good game, let alone a great game,

earn him the number one spot in the 2026 NFL draft. And with all that said, I'm going with the guy making his 13th start and Julian saying because I've seen an advancement in his game that's just, it's been astounding to watch. They won, not despite him, but they won around him against Texas early in the season. And each and every week,

Ryan Day, Brian Hartline, have handed him more access to this offense. And each and every week he's responded. And then you start to see some of the throws that he's making where you saw on the YouTube videos and the TikTok stuff when he was being recruited. But now he's using it functionally. And you're seeing him getting these wide receivers who are awesome. I'm not like obviously every quarterback would love to have those two guys.

Mendoza's got some good receivers. He doesn't have Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith. Yeah, we'll get into that. All of that. I just trust him more. And even the interception against Michigan and to bounce back and respond the way he did. The way he bounced back told me a lot about that kid.

I had him as number two on my list. I'll tell you who I'm going to take, but I had him his number two on my list, in part because of the way he bounced back from that pick. And again, this isn't the NFL draft, and saying is not eligible, right? And Gunner Stockton will be back next year. We don't know if Ty Simpson will be back,

and it's likely that Mendoza leaves early for the NFL draft, but it's not a guarantee, and he's allowed to come back for another year as well. this is not about the draft. This is about going into conference play with the confidence. And it's not, I'm not basing it on the supporting cast, but knowing what they've been able to do

and the way it's built, I'm taking Julian Sane, who's completed 79% of his throws with 30 touchdowns and just five interceptions over the field. What do you got? I don't hate it. And again, this is tough, but it's Mendoza. And I think it's there,

it was enough for me to feel very confident about taking Mendoza. The reason I got Mendoza is the win at Iowa, the win at Oregon, and the win at Penn State. Yep. So you can't, I think if you look Iowa home, I couldn't think about it. I was thinking about it. I was on the road. All three of those games were on the road. Right.

That was impressive. I thought so. Yeah, impressive. And I also think that as good as saying's been, and we'll see what happens when he gets a chance. I'm not doubting him. I just haven't seen it yet. The Penn State game of the Iowa game from Mendoza had to make plays. He had to make a play, and he did.

And we haven't seen that from saying yet. I also think the win at Oregon, I don't know if people realize how good that Oregon defense is. That win at Oregon is better than saying Ohio State beating Texas and Ohio State beating Michigan. So I think he has a bigger win. Now, I had a tough time with it a little bit because they've been both of them and so freaking consistent. and accurate that they're both awesome. Give me both. Give me any of these guys.

I'm going to say this. Honestly, give me any of the four. And I'm fucking, I'll roll with any of them, man. I really am. That's rare.

And I'm guessing like you, we'll get into it in a second. I can't wait to talk about Gunner Stockton, but I give me any of them. There's guys I prefer, sure, but they're all awesome. It was very,

it was closer than I thought it would be, but Mendoza's wins. The way that he's won, where he's won, gave him a little bit of an edge over Sane, even though Sane's playing in it. elite level. I mean, everyone knows how I feel about Simpson.

And so it might be a surprise of some people that I'm not taking him. But if you get something on Stockton, let it rip now because we're going to move on to running backs in the flash. We got Simpson. I think we both have Simpson third, right? I think we both love it. And I think you look at Stockton, you're like little Gunner Stockton. How is it still poor old Georgia, man?

How is it still that we're looking at that team and be like, oh, poor old Georgia, man. Gunner Stockton's been awesome. And he's the best runner. He's been the best runner of the group. I have no, I have no question that if this gets into a big moment, he needs to make a play, then maybe he doesn't make it, but it won't be because of nerves. It won't be because he melts.

It won't be any of that kind of a thing. I, I think Gunner Stockton is maybe underrated when people look at him around the country because of his frame and he's not maybe as good of a past. He's not as good of a pastor as the other three, but he's a damn good quarterback. So I would have been happy with any of the four. They're all awesome. And he kind of looks like he works at like a quick mark. Yeah, you need the guy

You know what I mean? Like there's just Yeah There's not a lot of TV appeal And I'm not talking I'm not like picking it out But I'm just saying he He's not like your traditional quarterback

Who takes off his helmet He's like this good looking tall like statues And when he starts talking like Perfectly fine There's nothing like I'm not But he's not like It's not even like coach speak He just doesn't care about the interview

He just wants to be back in the locker room With his guys And I kind of I've grown to kind of love it about him. It's because it's genuine. It's very genuine. Like there's other guys who try to pull it off. This, and maybe I'm wrong, maybe he's fooling me, but it's, I mean, I would be stunned.

I mean, it just seems like who the dude is. That would be the best acting job of all time. Yeah. That is completely authentic Gunner Stockton. It just is who he is. Completely agree. All right. So that, anytime you go into two of the biggest games of the year at the end of the year,

like this. And we can honestly say we're cool with all four quarterbacks. That's setting up for an awesome Saturday, right? Agree. Running back is trickier because there's no, Jeremy. Okay. I'm not disagreeing. And you have the first pick here,

and I'm guessing that you are going to take the guy that I assumed, and I didn't even jot down a note on them because I kind of know where you're going. I'm just saying, while all four quarterbacks are clearly, cut like bona fide dudes right running back like there's some by committee there there's been some guys who've been up and down like it's not as clear cut as the quarterback spot that's why it's interesting to me but you have the first pick who of the four starting running backs uh where are you going with this one at the beginning of the year we started prepping all these teams and giving the previews you said this kid for ohio state bo jackson watch out at the end of the year

he's going to be their guy and guess what we're at the end of the year he's going to be their guy and guess what where at the end of the year, he's their guy for the last five games. He's going for over 100 yards rushing. Started to become a weapon in the past game. Four catches for 49 yards against Michigan, size, speed, vision, balance. I mean, he's got it all. I think he maybe hasn't reached his full potential yet, which is scary. I think he's the best back playing these two games.

I agree. I agree. And I was just looking up in a number. Like, I think, I think, Indiana's got a committee that's really good. And I think Roman Hemby and Kalon Black, but Hemby's 163 in terms of carries. Black is 126.

That's what I'm looking up right now. They're both averaging 5.3 and 5.7 respectively. Six touchdowns for Hemby, seven for Black. Like, they're splitting the load, you know? Yeah. If you say which run game, Indiana might be up in the top two.

I thought the same thing, man. That's interesting that you said that. I agree with you. But if you're saying there's what, if you could have one guy, I'm going on Nate Frazier's the number two behind. And I would agree. I would have taken Bo Jackson.

Because Nate Frazier scares me defensively. You know what I mean? And go ahead. I was going to say he had some fumbling issues. And if you remember, in the first time these teams met, he only had four carries. He had that early fumble.

He got benched for the fumble. Second quarter fumble. He got benched. I don't think he was benched in this game in. Well, you know what he hasn't done since the second quarter of Alabama? Hasn't put it on the ground. Not one time. Not one time.

Message received. Yes. And they tried this stuff last year and he kept fumbling. This year he did it in that big moment, the big game. And he didn't get to play again. And it's like, you know, you cut off the supply. All of a sudden there's like this hunger like, oh, I'm about. Better pay attention.

Yes, message received. But you watch him, and it's since then, coming back, the last six games, but in the last six games, it's been kind of consistent what he's done. Somewhere between 12 and 17 carries, he's been averaging 90 yards rushing per game. He is fast. He is explosive. He's got fresh legs, too, because he's not carrying 23, 24 times a game. And so I just, that Alabama defense, I told you, I documented it earlier this week.

It's gotten better and better as the seasons progress. But for him, for Frazier, it's not going to take necessarily 22, 23 chipping away. It's going to be like three or four runs that could make all the difference in this game. So I'm excited to see that. And then last week, 16 for 108 against Georgia Tech. So the season's gone on. We're late in the year now. What do you do?

You got to lean on your running backs. And Fraser seems like he's primed to kind of like Judkins and Henderson last year. Like had really good seasons. But then you got late in the year. And those two dudes were the difference for Ohio State. And I think Fraser. See it the same way. Right.

Okay. All right. Wide receiver. So I have the first pick at wide receiver. This sucks. Not really. Look, there's a lot of good guys. I'm happy with, again, this is another list where at the end of it,

I was like, I don't know who to take here because I got three or four that I really like, but there's one. There is only one. There is one. But I also want to remind people because I just, I'm a competitive nut and so is mentioned. And if you're in this business, you have to be. Saturday night, when the ACC game and more importantly, the Big Ten game were over, Tucker's building a graphic behind that window right now.

I promise you. And we're going to revisit it. And while Jeremiah Smith looks great if it's an NFL draft, his production hasn't been massive, you know, and it's been really good. And he was maybe 75, 80, 85% this past week. He had the 35-yard touchdown catch, but he only had three other catches for, I think, five total yards.

So what is he on Saturday is the big question? And so if we're doing some fantasy football kind of production and we're comparing what you and I have, I'm not so sure even though Jeremiah Smith is clearly the most talented wide receiver in the country that he's going to put my squad over the top. But I mean, he's 6.3. He's 223. He's everything you look for in a wide receiver. I don't have to sit here and explain the talent.

but I can say this even if the production isn't exceptional, that his presence is such a difference for that offense. And whether it's freeing up Carnal Tate or Innocent times or Max Clare at times or opening up things in the run game because you have to keep a safety back to helping the double teams and brackets and all the different things you have to do to account for Jeremiah Smith. His impact, no matter how good it is, production-wise, is going to be massive on Saturday.

And I'm very interested because you've got, you got D. Pons at one corner who's an NFL draft pick, right? DeAngelo Pondon. I like that secondary, man. I'll get into that, too. I do too, but you've got a nickel guy who's 510. You got Pons who's 5'9. Nine, yeah. And I'm talking about 6.3, Jeremiah Smith.

I want when the ball's in the air with Tate and Smith against that secondary that's been awesome this year, but does not have the size that you ideally would want. I think that's going to be a really intriguing match. Like the contested catches, ball in the air, big receivers versus very talented, but smaller defensive backs. All right, who's your pick? Yeah, first of all, agree with you that the way he will change the coverage and the way the Indiana plays defense is going to be the real impact for Jeremiah Smith. I'm going Cardinal Tate second. The two top Ohio State receivers are the, I think there's two best receivers in these two games.

You kind of alluded to it, ball skills. If there's a 50-50 ball, I expect Carnel Tate to come down. down to it. I don't come down with it. I don't think there's really 50-50 balls with those guys. I think it's more like 80-20. And I think that will be a big part of this game. Also, on top of that, I love Cardinal Tate's route running. I mean, he is an elite route runner. And he's been banged up. I think three or four games. I think it was three games. But when he's been healthy, the production's been through the roof. I think Cardinal Tate's the obvious number two here. I agree. And it was a little bit harder in terms of

Oh, by the way, we're taking two wide receivers each for obvious reasons. Picking wide receiver three was a little trickier, but I couldn't go away from my guy, Jeremy Bernard. And it's shocking, by the way. No. It's shocking, though, and I know we've touched on this a lot in the show. It really is shocking that it wasn't, I didn't even consider Ryan Williams at three or four

because I went four deep just to me neither. Not on my list. Isn't that wild? One catch for 25 yards the last two weeks. And Jeremy Bernard has not had any massive games. Again, Florida State, he was over 100 yards receiving. I don't think he's been over 100 yards receiving since. In fact, I'm pretty damn positive.

But he's good for like 70, 80 receiving yards a game. Okay? And he's also good for big time moments, third downs, games getting away from them. They need a catch in a situation. And then the little things he does, because he's got a pro quarterback throwing to him in terms of what he does, in terms of what Ty Simpson does. The pre-snap reads, the post-snap deciphering,

the throwing into small windows, leading receivers to spots, trusting receivers to be where they need to be, and sometimes they're not. Jeremy's the perfect back end to that because he runs smooth routes. He's always where he's supposed to be. He's unbelievably instinctive in terms of finding and sitting in soft spots. He also makes some tough catches, creates after the catch with that contact balance, the physicality, the vision. I just like him.

He just screams NFL to me. And in a big game like this when you need reliability against Georgia and the yards are going to be tough to come by. Georgia's defense has had trouble in the secondary, but they're going to protect themselves and they're going to make you earn it. And I think that earn it yards are where Jeremy Bernard really excels. So I'm going Bernard as the wide receiver three and my second receiver in this exercise, if you will. Very similar board so far. I will say this was one of the, this was, you know, there were a couple of points in doing, going through this exercise that I struggled. This was one of them because I came down.

I love the Indiana receivers. And you've got to mention him here. But I went with Zachariah Branch from Georgia. I just love the explosiveness. I just love what he can do after the catch. I love what he does for them in their scheme and that he's a gunnerstocked security blanket. It's an extension of the running game. I think Zacharii Branch gets a slight nod, even though the other two, you know,

if we're going back to the NFL, I think that Surat and Cooper Jr. could be better pro prospects in the long run. They've cooled down, man. If you go, I went and look today. They have. They've cooled down. Now, Sarat has been injured. Sarat's been injured.

but they've cooled down a little bit. So it'll be, that's a big thing on Saturday night, too, in Indianapolis. Like, are those guys, is Surrott healthy enough? Is, you know, and are those guys producing? Because that secondary for Ohio State is awesome, too. Yeah. Again, I try not to jump ahead. But yeah, I won't branch.

I won't branch here. Okay. All right, tight ends. Mench, you go first. Ohio State's Max Clare has been my guy all year. He's my guy now. I think it's, look, I think, There's two sides of this.

There's two sides of this coin, though, is that one, he has been my guy all year. He's been very productive for them. I think people understate his productivity and on top of that, I think he's a talented guy who could separate, catches the ball well, all of those things. But the flip side is that it's a pretty shallow pool in this game. There's not a lot of talent at tight end. None of them are featured. None of them are massive features.

No, no. And I'm interested to see who you come up. They're all good. They're four really good tight ends. Yes. They're all going to be NFL draft guys, except I'm not sure about Noakowski. They're all seniors. They're all veterans.

They're all big except Noakowski. But Nookowski's yards per catch might be the highest of all of them are pretty close. He and Delpe. Yeah, Riley Nowakowski is undersized. He's 6-1-249. He's at 296 receiving yards, 23 catches. Oscar Delp has had 17 catches for 2.35. So I think he has the highest yards per catch, but he's only got one touchdown on the year.

But he's 6.5. Quavis is 6.3. Claire's 6.5. They're all in that 2.45 to 255 range, right? Yep. They're all good players. None of them are elite. Claire is the most talented of the four, I agree.

And I've loved Oscar Delp. And he's your guy. I have him as two. remember, I got to tell you, Quavis probably isn't going to play. I consider Quavis because I really like him too, but he's probably not going to play this week. And so I struggled.

So like if Quavis can play, I actually would take him over dealt. And you start to wonder with Alabama, but there's a whole other story. Like if Ryan William, like what are we getting from Ryan Williams? And if Quavis is not 100% or can't play, like now we're down to Horton and, you know,

like they still have targets, but they were rolling when they had. had five and Ty could spread it out. But to answer your question, I actually thought about Noakowski. I just got a feeling that they're going to get him involved. And I think that secondary, I think there's opportunity, but I'm going to go with dealt. Because I've actually seen him improve as a blocker. I've seen him show up in big moments.

I agree. Just a better, while his production, he's 17 catches on the year, but it seems like one target over the last two weeks. Like, get them the ball, though. Like, get on the ball, dude. All right, so moving on. Offensive line, this is where I'm going to go. Good groups all around. Alabama, I would probably put fourth on this list, to be honest with you.

And they haven't been bad. I would put Indiana three. I went with Ohio State. I think Ohio State's peaking. Ooh. Okay. Good. And you're my office line guy.

Austin Sereveld, Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinsman, Tegra, Shabola, and Philip Daniels, from left to right on your starting dial, absolutely dominated Michigan's offensive front. Bo Jackson is on a tear. They're running the football, and it's the first time that they haven't had to talk about being physical. They've just been physical. I feel like Ryan Day for years was trying to manifest.

physicality in Columbus. We're physical post-game interview. We're a physical team. We're going to run into Grant and Mason Taylor and Mason Graham. Mason Graham. We're going to run right out. Kenneth Grant. Sorry, Grant and Graham.

We're going to run right into them. This year, they're just being quiet, lining up, and they're being more physical. And I like this about this group. Plus nine sacks allowed. all year, 2.4% number two in the Big Ten. This group is pretty good. I'm not saying they have the best talent.

I know like Caden Brock Proctor is the best offensive tackle. I know Indiana's got two guys that are going to get drafted, the center and their left tackle. I'm going with Ohio State here. I just like the way it's the trajectory of it right now. Struggled here. And I like Ohio State. And I knocked Ohio State's offensive line last year.

I do think it's the same kind of thing. They're starting to turn into those Michigan offensive. lines and they probably don't want to hear that where the unit is really good where the group as a whole is really good but they don't have those studs like we've seen maybe in the past i'm going indiana i think dick i think carter smith the left tackle might be the best left tackle playing in these two games i think he might be better than kaden proctor i think drew evans the left guard is really steady but as but but like playing as a player right now yeah okay yeah uh pat cugin you got a three-year starter who played in the national championship game last year here's a guy who

He came over from Notre Dame, so he's got some experience. And his relationship with Fernando Mendoza's borderline weird. That's how much those guys like, I mean, it's awesome. It's awesome. Like, they have a great relationship. I'll tell you something. I really want to quickly mention, because you did, I did have Alabama four. I had Georgia too.

And I think Stacey Cyril is the offensive line coach from Georgia, deserves a ton of credit. I had Georgia, too. I didn't eat three, but go ahead. That's interesting because they've had six different lineups in the first six games. They've been banged up. Now Drew Bobo is probably not going to play. They were in the running.

I really had it. I consider Georgia. But Drew Bobo probably not going to play the center. Probably not going to play this week. If Bobo is healthy, I think I would have gone with Georgia. That's how I won't play. I mean, they are an underrated group. Again, I think it's interesting.

And we're about to make the transition. So I'll mention this now. I think it's very interesting that you look at how these games look awesome because of the quarterbacks and the wide receivers. And there's a lot of talent here. But if you're a trenches guy like I am, this is a little underwhelming. The best offensive linemen in the country are not playing in this game. That's Texas A&M.

That's Oregon. That's Utah. Those are the best offensive lines in the country. The best defensive line in the country isn't playing this week. That's Texas Tech. The McShay Show is brought to you by Fandul. The college football season is heating up and Fandul's got a boost you don't want to miss. It's called Boostin with the Boys.

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Joining the wait list does not guarantee purchase. Visit scout motors.com for more details. I was a little overwhelmed with the defensive line group, and I thought the offensive line group was good, but not all. awesome. We'll go to edge. You're going first at both edge and inside defensive lock. And we split them up into two different groups because in today's game, it really is.

Because outside backers. Yeah. But I'll say this as a preface. It is pretty underwhelming. Normally you get these big time programs. They've got like top five dudes coming off the edge. There's a lot of good players, but it's a little underwhelming in terms of like edge pass rushers. I'm glad I'm picking first because I think that Ohio State is the best group and I struggled with the rest of them.

But I think that Caden Curry with the way he is with his hands and his motor and he's just a really good edge player. And I think that Keniata Jackson Jr. is a little underrated. I think he's come on a little bit and I love the traits. I would also argue, and this is going to be interesting whether or not you go for this, that you could say that Arvel Reese is an edge for Ohio State. No, no, no, no, no, no. You absolutely could. No, no. No, what do you mean? No. What do you mean? No. What do you mean? No, no. No, no. No, no. You don't know. You don't get. I didn't know we. I didn't know we couldn't do both. But I will say this. It still is. Ohio State still has the best edge guys.

And that's what I settled on. Even if he's not in that group. And again, I get what you're saying. That I still like Ohio State better than the rest of them. Indiana's 14th nationally in Sacks, right? And when you start to look at it, you're like, well, that's a big difference between them and everybody else. Georgia's like, you've got to keep scrolling down that list to get to Georgia. Alabama's been, eh. But when I look at it, a lot of their production comes from like off the ball linebackers, blitzing different, you know, like they spread out the way. And their interior defensive line has gotten some sack production as well. And I'll get to that in a little bit.

I am going to go with Alabama because of the personnel. Even though the sack numbers aren't there, the personnel is better and it's deeper than India. Truly. I settled in the same thing. Yonse Pierre has been a revelation. I actually, do you know what I learned today, bud? Yonsei Pierre is draft eligible. I thought he's a red shirt freshman.

He's a red shirt, sophomore. Yeah, I hope he goes back. I don't see a bulk up a little bit. Yeah, me too. But he leads a team with six sacks. LT Overtin's got four sacks. They rotate guys, as I talked about on Monday's show with the tape truce, with Jordan Renaud coming in on early downs, number 11,

and then four, Quay Rousseau, as the other edge who comes in on obvious pass-down. So it really is a four-man rotation at the edge spot. But I like those dudes. They're just, they're good players. So I would go with BAM a second. All right, interior defensive line. It's actually more intriguing than I thought the edge was.

Who do you got? This one's tough. I went with Ohio State because I think Cade McDonald's the best player of them all. Georgia was intriguing to me because I think Kristen Miller is really good. And I actually think Georgia's a little bit deeper on the inside. Indiana does some interesting things. I just went with Alabama, by the way, a lot of big bodies, but they don't play.

They're not as rugged as I want them to be. I'll just say that. Kane McDonald gave Ohio State the edge. I will say this. I don't think they're nearly as good a defensive tackle as they were last year. I think when they had Ty Leake Williams and Ty Hamilton and you had Kayne McDonald's still there. That was a different group. Again, this is a little bit of an underwhelming group up front.

But I gave Ohio State the edge because Kate McDonald's coming off an outstanding game. And I think it's probably the best defensive tackle. in the whole group. Georgia has the deepest group of all of them. Right. Georgia has some young guys that will develop into dudes. But if you're saying, we got to line up Saturday, and I tell me the second best interior defensive line,

I actually think an argument could be made. It's the best interior defensive line in terms of playing together and with depth and with everything they provide. I'm going with Indiana. Yeah. I like them. It's the second best run defense in the country. And I know it's not all just the three-man front that they have.

But they played that nose tackle, defensive tackle, and kind of a right, like a right defensive end who's like, 6-1-273 is Stephen Daly, right? So you got Tyreek Tucker. Yeah, he's come on, man. He has come on. Tyree Tucker, who's an NFL prospect. He's had an awesome year.

He leads, he's second on the team with five and a half sacks, right? But versus the. run he's a big physical dude in the middle. Then you got daily at the end spot, but it's kind of an interior defensive line. I'm in 6-1-273. Awesome grades is a run defender. He's just been consistent all year.

Then you got Mario Landino, who's a defensive tackle in that scheme, who's very strong as well. And then the depth from the portal that they have, I like too. Josea Wheeler 632-98 and Dominique Ratcliffe 63296. You're telling me they didn't have a type.

Both of those guys have been contributors as well. So I just, this is going to be a great matchup, I think, versus an descending offensive line and run game for Ohio State. All right. I agree. Off the ball linebacker. I got lucky it just sorted out this way. I don't have to spend a ton of time on it.

It's Ohio. This was one of the easiest ones. Let me just give you this nugget. And we can move on for time's sake. Because we all know Marvell Reese and Sunny Styles. right. Reese has emerged on the scene taking over as a full-time starter. He's been just as awesome rushing off the edge. He plays the spiral in coverage. He drops and covers man-to-man in zone. He is tall. He is long. He's 243 at 6'43. He is everything. If you plugged in off-the-ball

linebacker in 2025 into a computer, into your chat GPT and asked it to spit something out, it would spit out Arvel Reese. Yeah, it's almost unfair. And then you get Sonny Stiles, who was awesome last year, who was out playing the, what's his name, who was drafted next to him and got better as the season progressed and was better in coverage and did all those things. And this year, everyone's like, maybe Sunny isn't playing well.

But as the seasons progressed, everyone has come to realize he's actually been better this year than he was last year. It's just he's playing next to Reese, so he's not getting as much credit. There are two, those two guys, right, our first round inside linebackers, first round inside linebackers, off the ball linebackers. That's astounding.

You know how astounding that is? There have been too true off the ball linebackers drafted in the first round in the last three years in the NFL. It's crazy. And they got two playing on that defense alone. It's wild. No, Arvill Reese is an edge, but that's okay.

I'm just kidding. I'm just trying to needle. I'm just trying to needle you. All right. Who do you got? Who's got the second best group after Ohio State? I'm going to say this, okay? C.J. Allen is an, I mean,

unbelievable inside linebacker for Georgia. I love C.J. Allen. And I think Deontay Lawson from Alabama, I love him too. And if I think you put either one of those guys on Indiana, they're immediately Indiana's best linebacker. I just want to say that. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, come on.

I, you want to know. why they have one of the best defenses in the country, it is 100 percent this linebacker core. I am telling you. I am telling you, Aidan Fisher is wildly underrated. How instinctive he is, how tough he is, how good

in coverage he is. I'm telling you right now. And again, we're not doing the draft, because C.J. Allen's going to get draft a way ahead of them. I think, Deonti Lawson's going to get drafted way ahead of anyone on Indiana. But Indiana has... And so is Justin Jefferson. Yep.

But Aden Fisher is a dude. And Nikai Hill Green. Listen to me. I'm telling you. I am telling you. When you look at Isaiah Jones, Aden Fisher, and this guy were Elijah Hardy, who you look at and you say,

oh, dude, he's 511, 229. And he's a little over aggressive. He gets got out of position every once in a while. Guess what? He's got seven sacks. These guys, the linebackers for Indiana, you want to know why they have that, their pass rush is so good?

Those linebackers are really versatile. and they're very good at being disciplined when they drop in a coverage, rallying to the football, limiting yards. I don't mind lack of size. But they're also. Zach Thomas, Bolton, Zach Thomas, London, Fletcher. Like, I don't mind that size, man.

I don't. But they're also excellent at getting into the quarterback. When I say that, they're not just guys who are like, oh, I got to see him. I'm a laid out on. I could close pretty well. These guys can win when they go against running backs. These guys win when they get blocked.

I'm telling you, this was the hardest, the hardest position for me to sort out. Quarterback was tough. These inside linebacker groups are outstanding. Outstanding. I love all of them. And I want to be clear about that. I think, I just, I sat with it for a minute and I really thought about it. And I was like, what are we doing here?

Is this an NFL draft or is this a college draft? And I think these Indiana linebackers are, I mean, criminally underrated. I respect you for it. Yeah, all four of these teams. You're right. Linebackers is the second best group. There's a gap between Ohio State and everyone else, and that's why Ohio State's so good.

But these other three are real damn good, too. Yeah, it's going to be a fun weekend watching these guys. Defensive backs, you go first here. I didn't think I was going to end up here, and I was like, don't let Todd sway you. Bamma, you're taking Bama. You're right, though. Like, what am I going to do here?

Like, make an argument, like a stupid argument because... Your nose is right your face? Yeah, like, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. And I'll tell you, you talked a lot about Bray Hubbard. I won't go too much into Bray Hubbard other than he's awesome. And he's a difference maker. And I think he can make a big play at any point in the game.

I love Bray Hubbard. Keon's sad, man. When I, the other safety, when I watched him, I was blown away with how quickly he's reacting. You talked about the open field tackling. saw that. His reaction time, the way he's reacting right now is, I mean, incredibly impressive to me. Yes. And you look at their corners and you might say, like, I don't love them a corner and you're right about that. They don't, but I don't really love any of these teams at corner. And when I look at Dijon Lee, the freshman, the big, long freshman, I think he's a guy who's an ascending player.

And you look at that size and that length. And Sabian Brown's another guy with size and length on the outside. Those guys are going to be able to compete. I wanted to go in another direction, but I ended up on Alabama. I obviously agree, but I'll be honest with you, it was really close for me. And I actually wound up kind of going through my notes from Alabama from Monday when I gave that impassioned speech about this. I would put this secondary up with any secondary in the country. And then I started digging into Ohio State's defensive tape a little bit more. And just watching them as a unit, it's not a huge difference. in my opinion. Now, I mean, Bray Hubbard's really damn good. I love him. I explained for three

or four minutes the other day. Well, I love him so much and you just piggybacked on that. He ain't Caleb Downs. No, he's not Caleb Downs. And those two corners are really, really good and more fluid and do some things that the Ohio State guys don't necessarily do. But the Ohio of state corners have been awesome this year. And Igbenoson, yeah, Davis and Igbenosin gets too handsy. And we can talk about all this stuff with the draft. He's going to be a top. Scares me, man, scares me that he's going to make a penalty.

He's going to commit a penalty at a key point. But he has played well. You're right. And the penalties are way down. Like, he has five penalties all season, man. Five, I just looked it up. Five penalties. How great is this PFF ultimate?

Like how quickly I just looked at five penalties all season long? right um but and he's coming off his worst game against against michigan but they didn't even throw that much so it didn't matter but my point is this igbenosin's playing at a high level and germane matthews junior has been outstanding on the other side too and when it's all said and done and i know they're getting pass rush and i know all the things are going well up in front of them it's the number one pass defense in the country some's got to give saturday night if some Surrots healthy with Cooper, with Mendoza. Something's got to give.

This group gives up 121 a game, man. A game. I hear you. Who's the best quarterback they faced all year? Arch Manning before he was really, really kind of gotten his feet wet and under him. Grambling, no, Ohio, no. Washington, better runner.

DeMond. Yeah. Is a better, Williams is a better runner than thrower. Obviously, they've got Denzel Boston. Minnesota now, Illinois, Neh, Wisconsin, no, Penn State, no. Purdue, no, UCLA, not really, and Nico wasn't even playing in that game in Rutgers.

Yeah, you're right. Here's who Alabama's faced. Gunner Stockton, Diago Pavia, Joey Aguilar in that Tennessee offense. Diego, sorry. Dude, I don't know why I do that with certain names, but anyways. No, I love it. Lenore's Sellers with South Carolina,

Garrett Nussmeyer, LSU, John Mateer, Oklahoma. I mean, these are the guys that Alabama's gone against. So I think we got in the right order, and I'm clearly not disagreeing. I'm just saying it was clear to me the second one was, I mean, George's secondary is the weak link of that whole deep,

of that whole team, really. It is. And Indiana's group is really good, but I don't think it's at the level of these other two. So, all right, Now comes the hard part. Connor gets to just throw in a little bomb. Is it that hard?

I actually, I'm going to surprise you. Please. If you are going to give me a hard time, if you don't take one of the two coaches that I think you're going to take and you're going to give me a hard time about the linebackers, I'm going to riot. Who did you take? Cignetti.

Stop it. Stop it. Yes. You are out of your goddamn mind. I know I am. I know I am. You've got to be kidding me. I'm taking Kurt,

And he has a Ryan Day from Ohio State and Kirby Smart from Georgia. I know. It's insane. You're a fraud. You're just, this is clickbait. I love Ryan Day. I've had Ryan Day's back through and all.

I love Kirby Smart. Stop it. But Kirby Smart gets beat by DeBore. So now I got a problem with these two because DeBore has been like, DeBore loses Saturday night. His ass might be out of Tuscaloosa. But DeBore beats Kirby Smart. So it's almost a watch.

And I love Ryan Day. And I know he's got heartline. And I know they've got Patricia. And I know they've been awesome. But Signetti scares the fuck out of me. He scares me. He's a wild card. And he hasn't won massive games.

They didn't win. Like, I get it. But there's something about that Signetti nut. Going into a weekend like this where they're clearly outclassed. So was everyone else in the country. It's not even a knock at Indiana. clearly outclassed in talent. But I promise you, somehow, some way, this game's going to be close to late,

and Signetti's going to have done two or three kind of wacky things. And I promise you they're going to be prepared and they're going to do all the little things right. They're going to have the gap sound. They're going to have hat on hat and blocking. And they're going to, you know, pinpole and all the things, right? But there's going to be a couple things that he does because he's kind of, it feels like he's playing with house money sometimes. that's going to create an advantage and an edge.

And I know that Ryan Day and Heartline and the Buckeyes will outcoach them and the better players and all that stuff. I'm just saying, I'm going to remind you this at like 11.30 p.m. Saturday night when we're watching this game together and I hope everyone comes and joins us on YouTube, okay? And I said it's a cigarette.

Cigarette gifts. At 1135 or maybe 1120, whenever it is because it's a late kickoff, you and now are going to be watching the last five minutes, minutes of the Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis and Nienna, inside that beautiful dome that we spend all weekend for the NFL combine. And we're going to be saying that that's Signetti, man, he did it. He did something. It's close. I'm not saying they're going to win, but it's going to be like a one score game in the fourth quarter, and Signetti's going to have something right up that

sleeve of his. Go ahead. I love Signetti. This is not the last time I was saying this, or the first time I'm saying it, you're an asshole. you are an asshole. Like I just know where the way of saying it. Like you're kidding, right? Like Ryan Day from this time last year. I'm not saying who's going to coach my program forever. I'm saying he scares me Saturday night.

Yeah, he scares me too. I get that. Give me Ryan Day. Like just give me Ryan Day. Like that's it. Like I get the schedule is kind of, you know, whatever the schedule was this year. But Ryan Day from the end of last year when they, They lost that game and the sky was falling until now has put on an absolute clinic.

Losing coordinators, no problem. Losing tons of guys to the NFL draft, no problem. Freshman quarterback, no problem. We're just going to go ahead and win games. That's what we're going to do. We're going to keep our mouths shut. We're not going to plant flags. We're just going to go out and win games.

Give me Ryan Day. And if it's not Ryan Day, give me Kirby Smart. How is Kirby Smart right now? Because Kail and Dabor, Dabor beats just beats them, baby. You just beat, oh, my God. Like, we'll see what happens. We'll see, by the way, we're going to get in some picks here, and that's not my pick of the week.

I like Georgia to cover against Alabama. I think that's going to be. You talked a lot of them about losing this and losing that. There are two losers in all of this, right? The first one is Dan Comer, our giggling producer and executive extraordinaire, who said, we can't do this in under an hour today. You still have to talk about your bets. You still have to talk about your bets.

We're looking into 49 minutes. The other loser is Team Mench. Here's the breakdown. Tucker throw up that graphic. I'm going to rip through it. Munch has got Fernando Mendoza, Bo Jackson, Carnell Tate, Zachariah Branch,

Max Clare at tight end in the Indiana offensive line. You can't quantify outside of the win, but I'm going to argue that the game was closer than it should have been, even if Ryan Day's Ohio State team beat Signettys, Indiana. Here we go. So it's got to be the personnel where it belongs. And now in the defensive side,

Munch has got Ohio State's defense line. Ohio State's whole defensive line, edge and interior. Indiana at linebacker, get out of here. I've got Ohio State. And Metsch has got this best secondary, we both would argue in the country. Now you've got team McShay.

I have Alabama's secondary and you have Ohio State. I just listened. That was all team match. Yeah, okay. That was all team. I'm saying I agreed with your pick. We were both saying the one team of the country in the secondary.

This is team McShay. Julian saying at quarterback, Nate Frazier at running back. I take an L there versus Bo Jackson probably, but maybe he rips off one or two chunks. Then you get wide receiver, Jeremiah Smith. Easy's pick in the draft. Jeremy Burnoff. Then you got Oscar Delp. Delp's going to have a big day.

Offensive line for Ohio State just grinding it out against Indiana. Good group. Good group. Okay. Then we got Alabama's edge rushers. Might be a little underwhelming, but they'll play solid. Indiana's interior defensive line. That's another one, dude.

Get out of here with that one. No way. I got the back. Now, if you're a Mendoza guy and you're trying to make a statement on Saturday night, And I've been a Mendoza guy, but somehow a lot of other people have raced past me. This is your opportunity to ruin my team because I get the back seven for Ohio State. Linebacker and secondary.

All right. So that's that. Fan dual pick of the week. And by the way, in Missouri now. It's a turbulent time in college football right now. We're watching Jimmy Sexton, the Super Agent, just kind of playing puppeteer. We got Lane Kiffin going from Ole Miss to LSU and then the dominoes start to fall. But the good news is, Missouri fans.

you kept your guy. It's critical, whether it's the January 2nd to 16 transfer portal period that we have in college football right now, the recruiting period coming up, consistency is important. And now you've got Eli Drinkwitz signed to an extension, and you've got the stability there with this program. And I think that's going to lead to a lot more success moving forward. I've been excited about what he's done the last couple years. I think it's only going to get better.

And the great news is Fandals in Missouri now, folks. So this is an exciting time to be in Missouri. We'll be in Missouri at some point. It's good to know that I get the security blanket of the at FD sports book in my hand, the app going on my phone. Love this baby. And we've been kind of on a tear starting in like early October through November. I feel great about where we are.

I'm about to go a book of vacation. after the draft. I'm already looking at Italy right now. And you know how I'm paying for it? Our good friends at Fandul. You're unbelievable. All right, go ahead. A pick of the week, championship week.

I'm interested to see what you come up with. But I got my pick of the week is I got BYU covering the 12 and a half against Texas Tech. I think it's going to be closer than it was the first time around. I don't disagree. LJ Martin, the running back from BYU, you, who you love, I love, banged up in the first game. He's going to play a much bigger role. I think that helps to keep closer. Bachmeier has played better in recent weeks

is maybe coming off his best game of the year as a passer. And then the head coach going back gives them a little bit of a boost. I don't think BYU wins that game. I think it's closer than the 12 and a half. Hey, by the way, did I tell you there was a plane in the air?

I know, I know. You know what? I don't know why I tempted. Why isn't the NFL draft guys are here breaking all this news ahead of everybody else? I told you on, what was it, Monday? this Monday.

Yeah. Watch out if there's a plane, there's a plane going in the air. It's actually in the air when we taped it, going out to Provo, right? And Kalani Sataki. And I also said they're serious about it. And I also said,

there's a real good chance that this Pat Kraft situation in Penn State comes to a head. And part in, in part due to crumble, and I love all the cookies being dropped everywhere now as an FAA to Penn State from rivals. I think that's hysterical. But the serious aspect of this is is the right leadership there in Happy Valley. And I've been trying to warn people for months, and here we are. Duke plus three and a half, over 17 Virginia. You warned me against this.

So I'm going against you on this. Yeah, but you did it earlier in the year. You called that Virginia was going to lose that one. I think the Louisville. and you got that one. I don't like when you tell me I might be right before it happens. Oh, it makes me nervous. No, I like. This feels dirty now. It's a dirty pick now.

They lost 34 to 17 in that game we talked about. And it was at home if you're a Duke fan and you remember it. And I get it. But this one's kind of at home and too. And it's kind of a, you know, playing in Charlotte, they're going to show up. Not that Charlott's Phil folks won't be there. But Darien Mentsa went 18 of 35 in that game.

That ain't happening. again. Okay. The run game for Duke disappeared in that game. Nate Shepard, Anderson Castle. They've gotten back on track since that game. 17 points was the fewest or the lowest point total that Duke has had all season long. That's not happening again. I'm not certain they're going to beat them, but I think this is going to be a game that's won at the very last second. I think it's going to be highly entertaining. I think for the ACC, it is a nail biter because if they don't get in and it Miami doesn't get, I mean, ACC could be left out of this whole thing. Or the messed up part is Virginia wins and Miami catches up with Notre Dame and certain things

happen the right way. They could wind up with two. That's how screwed up this committee. We have all day Sunday to talk about the committee before the reveal and after. We got Saturday night to do our final TMS top 12 of the season. And this committee that I was applauding with your help, we were both applauding early on in the process, putting more emphasis on the right things, less on the wrong things. They're in a, bind. And it's going to be interesting to see how they bail themselves out, starting with the

Notre Dame Miami debacle they've gotten themselves into. Okay? This is an awesome show. I can't wait. Remember, Saturday, we got Saturday after the SEC, five minutes remaining in the SEC championship game. Come join us. We'll take it until the kickoff of the Big Ten. Five minutes remaining in the Big Ten game. We'll come right back up here. knock it out. We'll watch it together and then we'll recap the whole day. We'll give you the TMS top 12. Metsch and I will go get a few hours of sleep.

We'll get up in the morning. We'll prep our notes. We'll be popped up right here at noon Eastern time on Sunday. Don't go watch the big channel. Come hang out with a couple dudes. And we get honest reactions that aren't dictated by whose agent is who's. I'm joking. All right.

We haven't had a week like this since the draft. It feels good, man. feels good. It feels like it's starting to build. It was a great idea of yours this year. It was a great idea of Dan's last year. I had a lot of fun doing it. And for all of that, I give you five stars, sir. Must be 21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino

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