The 2026 NFL Draft is upon us and most of the speculation has faded as who will be the #1 overall pick. Dan Orlovsky is catching flack for his take on ESPN that Ty Simpson is a better pro prospect for Klint Kubiak’s system to be installed in Vegas.

Look at the fallout we have from last year watching Shedeur Sanders fall from the 1st round and hearing in white conservative circles he didn’t belong in the 1st round. When clearly most pundits had him being drafted there.

Truth of the matter is 1st round selections when it comes to quarterback is a crapshoot like any other position. For every Patrick Mahomes (2018), you have a Mitch Trubisky. Or last year with Cam Ward, Jaxson Dart, and Shedeur. Or more famously 1998 Peyton Manning & Ryan Leaf. ’99 Donovan McNabb & Tim Couch. What about ’93 with Drew Bledsoe vs Rick Mirer. It came down to who you wanted to see behind center or the intangibles you felt a young signal caller would bring to your team.

Yet looking at the comparison above you’d think it would be a cake walk with Shedeur’s stats but the NFL game is a different beast. I championed his being given a fair chance to play. He has to beat out DeShaun Watson and impress a new coach to seal the starting position. With Mendoza he will have to come in and learn with Kirk Cousins how to play under center as well as the shotgun. He may not start in year 1 until late unless they come out struggling after the 1st 5 games.

One aspect is how fast will he be able to learn to play from center. Turning his back to the defense to fake the handoff to Ashton Jeanty then turn and fire on time. This was one of Orlovsky’s points and there have been several QBs who have struggled with this nuance in the NFL vs their college days. Its taken Justin Herbert & Trevor Lawrence time to really get the timing down on this and are still works in progress. Hell Shedeur is having to deal with it in Cleveland after an up & down year. Trust me a rookie with 5 pass plays under center.

Caleb Williams is still working on his footwork from Center in Chicago with HC Ben Johnson. So this claim isn’t without merit and a rookie Mendoza will have to make this transition to work in the NFL. Is he a clear can’t miss 1st rounder?? I answered that in my last article.

Las Vegas Raiders you’re on the clock…