McShay Makes the Case for Ty Simpson

Todd McShay returns with the draft 15 days out and spends most of the conversation making the case for Ty Simpson.

McShay watched both Simpson and Mendoza through nine games. Simpson was the better quarterback, pre-snap work, footwork married to the drops, ball out on time, anticipation. Then Brent Venables brought Oklahoma to town, found a blueprint to beat Alabama's pass protection, and from that point Simpson took hits. Alabama's run game ranked 125th. Ryan Williams disappeared. Simpson got down to 190 pounds with gastritis.

Meanwhile, Mendoza got better, the Ohio State tape, McShay says, was the best individual tape of any prospect in any game he's watched this cycle. Toughness after the Caiden hit, then again in the end zone with his helmet against the ground. 27 red-zone touchdowns, no interceptions. Top five nationally in third and fourth down categories.

McShay's point on Simpson isn't that he belongs in the top 10. It's that he doesn't belong lumped with Jaxson Dart, Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward, and the others. The comp McShay uses is Brock Purdy with more mobility and a little more arm juice. Rich pushes back, Purdy had 40-plus college starts. Simpson has 15. McShay concedes. He wishes Simpson had gone back for another year. The outlier profile hurts him.

McShay has 11 players he believes go in the top 12: Mendoza, Reese, Jeremiah Love, Sonny Styles, Caleb Downs, David Bailey, Ruben Bain, Carnell Tate, Francis Mauigoa, Mansoor Delane, Jermod McCoy. That compression forces a run on tackles and edge rushers late in round one, pushing receivers back. He flags Spencer Fano, Kaden Proctor, Josh Conerly, Anthony Belton, Lomu I-an-Noot as tackles who could go in a cluster. T.J. Parker, Mike Green, Kenyan Drake Faulk, Cashes Howell, Zion Young as edges.

2027 looms over everything. The Jets' trade that flipped a first-this-year and second-next-year into a second-this-year and first-next-year was designed around next year's quarterback class: Arch Manning, Dante Moore, Brandon Sorrell, Sam Leavitt with Lane Kiffin at LSU, LaNorris Sellers, C.J. Carr, Nico Iamaleava. McShay says he's never talked to more GMs about next year's class than he has this spring.

Late-round names he's high on: Jacob Rodriguez, Josiah Trotter, Kyle Louis, Jonah Coleman. Coleman's the one he pounds the table for, a bowling-ball runner with light feet who could fall to the fourth and start for somebody.

McShay confirms he's flying to LA for draft week and agrees to come back Monday in person.