McShay's Mock Draft 4.0, Full

Todd McShay joins the show from The Ringer to walk through his Mock Draft 4.0 with eight days until the NFL Draft.

McShay opens with the trade scenario he's least certain about: the Saints moving up to three for Abdul Carter (Arvell Reese in his notes), sending the Cardinals back. Arizona, he says, is the team trying hardest to get out of its pick. Monty Austin is weighing Jeremiah Love, Francis Mauigoa, and Spencer Fano while eyeing extra capital to get back into the first round for Ty Simpson.

Mendoza and Bailey go one-two to the Raiders and Jets. McShay leans on Brandon Staley's defensive track record, Bosa, Khalil Mack, Chase Young, to frame why Reese's explosive 1.58 ten-yard split profiles as the kind of edge rusher Staley builds around.

The Titans, in his model, take Jeremiah Love at four. McShay describes a war room scene with Brian Daboll pushing for the running back, Robert Saleh pushing back, and Mike Borgonzi landing on what the Giants brass wants: an offensive weapon for Jaxson Dart.

At five, McShay has the Giants taking Mauigoa but admits if he rewrote it today he'd go Sonny Styles, with Caleb Downs close behind. That domino sets up Cowboys trade chatter, Dallas wants to move up to six if Styles is there, and Cleveland wants out of six to collect capital.

McShay's bigger point cuts through the mock: the best players in this draft play non-premium positions. Love, Styles, Reese, Caleb Downs, Tyleik Williams. He challenges the positional-value orthodoxy and says GMs are privately acknowledging it. Rich agrees, take the shot of Novocaine and draft the player.

The Jets trade up to seven for Carnell Tate, McShay argues, because there are two tiers of receivers and the Jets already have nine picks this year plus three firsts next year. The fallback is Caleb Conception or Omar Cooper at 16.

He closes with Arizona trading into the back of round one for Ty Simpson. Mike LaFleur's fit, Jacoby Brissett as a bridge, and the option to revisit quarterback again in the stacked 2027 class. Low cost, high optionality. It's the Giants-Jackson Dart playbook one year later.