Todd McShay Takes Firm Stand Amid Viral Ty Simpson-Fernando Mendoza Debate

The 2026 NFL draft will take place next to Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from April 23 to April 25.

An annual discourse around the NFL draft involves the quarterbacks expected to hear their names called in the first round. Former Indiana starter Fernando Mendoza has been the consensus No. 1 overall pick in most mock drafts since the end of the 2025 regular season, but the projections for the quarterbacks to follow Mendoza have been unclear.

Oregon starter Dante Moore was long thought to be the second-best quarterback in the class, but he decided to stay with the Ducks for another season in January. In the wake of Moore's decision, former Alabama starter Ty Simpson has emerged as a probable candidate for the second quarterback taken off the board.

Recently, a social media discourse has sparked around whether Mendoza or Simpson is the more NFL-ready prospect. Long-time NFL draft analyst Todd McShay weighed in on the debate between Mendoza and Simpson on Wednesday.

"If you're a purist and you're someone who's studied the quarterback position your whole life and you put on the tape for Ty Simpson, it's how the game's supposed to be played," McShay said. "It's pre-snap, it's identifying, it's control at the line of scrimmage, it's utilizing the motions pre-snap and tendencies on the defensive side to identify them post-snap, and everything's in rhythm, and everything's on schedule. It's beautiful."

McShay noted the decline of Simpson's play in the final few games of the season. However, McShay attributed some of the decline to Alabama's historically bad run game, porous offensive line, and Ryan Coleman-Williams' disappearance. McShay believes Simpson's intangibles make him the better NFL prospect, but he also noted history may be on Mendoza's side.

"15 starts means you are the outlier of outliers. (For) anyone with fewer than 25 starts, it's been a struggle. (For) anyone with fewer than 20 starts, it's been an outright bust as a first-round pick at quarterback," McShay said. "My eyes tell me Ty Simpson's every bit as good, in some ways better and more NFL-ready than Mendoza. But, history and general managers who have to assess risk are saying Mendoza's the safer pick."

Ty Simpson during the 2026 Rose Bowl. — Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson (15) hands off the ball to Alabama Crimson Tide running back Kevin Riley (28) | Grace Hollars/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

College career comparison

Between his time at California and Indiana, Mendoza started in 34 games. In almost two whole seasons as the Golden Bears' starter, he combined for 4,712 yards, 30 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He threw for 3,535 yards, 41 touchdowns and six interceptions in his Heisman Trophy-winning season with the Hoosiers.

Bryce Young and Jalen Milroe were ahead of Simpson in his prior three seasons at Alabama. In his lone season as the Crimson Tide's starter, Simpson threw for 3,567 yards, 28 touchdowns and five interceptions in 15 games.

Rose Bowl meeting

Indiana's undefeated regular season, coupled with its victory over Ohio State in the 2025 Big Ten Championship, secured it the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye in the 2025-2026 College Football Playoff, sending it to the Rose Bowl. Alabama's 10-win regular season was enough to earn it the No. 9 seed, and a win at Oklahoma sent it to face the Hoosiers in the Rose Bowl.

The Hoosiers dominated their way to a 38-3 victory over the Crimson Tide. Mendoza completed 14 of his 16 pass attempts for 192 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 16 more yards on eight carries. Simpson completed 12 of his 16 pass attempts for 67 yards and ran for 17 yards on three carries, but an injury sidelined him in the second half.