The 2026 NFL Draft is exactly one month away. This year’s draft class does not look great for quarterback-needy teams. Especially compared to what looks like a great 2027 quarterback class. One national analyst recently made dropped a hot take about one of this year’s top quarterback prospects.
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky made a bold statement on Monday, declaring Alabama’s Ty Simpson the best quarterback in the draft over Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza.
“I think Ty Simpson is the best quarterback in this class,” Orlovsky said vai Get Up. “I think when you look at the body of work, what was asked of these two quarterbacks, you have to start with the question: who needed to do more to carry their football team? Ty Simpson, and it’s not close between those two quarterbacks.”
Simpson and Mendoza did play each other during the College Football Playoff earlier this year. Indiana crushed Alabama 38-3 in the Rose Bowl en route to their national championship win. Mendoza is widely regarded as the consensus first overall pick the Raiders.
Orlovsky views Simpson as a more consistent than Mendoza when under duress. He also believes Simpson made more “NFL throws” than Mendoza in college.
“If we’re trying to see what you are as a player in college and what you’re going to be asked to do in the NFL and what translates, I start with what do you do in moments of panic with the football,” Orlovsky added. “That’s what really separates good to great. I would tell you that Ty Simpson is more consistent in that regard. There’s not a ton of moments of panic out of Fernando Mendoza, and then there’s moments where he immediately drops his eyes and becomes a runner.”
It will be interesting to see how both quarterbacks translate to the NFL during the 2026 season.
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