With the 2026 NFL Draft less than a month away, fans of all 32 teams are openly wondering where top college prospects like Fernando Mendoza and Ty Simpson will begin their professional careers.
Now granted, there isn't too much debate over where Mendoza will land, as he's been fated to the Las Vegas Raiders for all of 2026 after leading Indiana to an undefeated season, but if another team were picking first overall, would he still be the consensus? Or would another quarterback be in consideration?
Well, Dan Orlovsky wanted to know the answer to that very question and decided to text a dozen or so top talent evaluators across the NFL with a simple statement: Ty Simpson is QB1. This experiment, as Orlovsky noted on The Pat McAfee Show, produced very interesting results.
“I can tell you, and I’m not going to tell you who, but I’d probably texted 12 to 15 general managers to decision-making coaches in the NFL, the very simple text of, ‘Ty Simpson is QB1 in this class. The best quarterback in this class.' And two people got back to me with a disagreement,” Orlovsky said.
Now granted, it's impossible to know why the other 10-13 general managers didn't respond to Orlovsky's question. They could agree. They could disagree. Or maybe they got back to Orlovsky after his appearance on McAfee, skewing the results some more. Either way, because Orlovsky isn't expected to be drafted until the bottom half of the 2026 NFL Draft's first round, it will be interesting to see which quarterback has a better career based on their situation and overall talent.
"For me Ty Simpson is the best quarterback in this class..
I can tell you that multiple decision makers in the NFL feel the same way" ~ @danorlovsky7 #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/ocCO9FVw6C
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) March 24, 2026




















