The 2026 QB draft class is thinner than ever, and analysts are not looking beyond Fernando Mendoza. The Hoosiers QB’s Raiders destination looks almost sealed. Veteran draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr retained Mendoza as his first pick even after he snubbed throwing at the Combine. Others followed a similar analysis. However, an ESPN analyst decided to do something different, and Pat McAfee came out harshly on him for his controversial take.

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky kept Ty Simpson as his QB1 in the 2026 draft class and kept Fernando Mendoza behind the Bama QB1. McAfee, in conversation with analyst Daniel Jeremiah at the NFL Combine, recounted how he called Orlovsky right after seeing his QB take. “I FaceTimed immediately. He was on a date with his wife,” McAfee said. “I just relentlessly started telling him that I’m sick of his s—t. Like, he is clearly right now doing this all to just draw up s–t.”

Orlovsky has faced significant criticism from fans and media for his perceived bias towards certain types of QBs. Last year, Orlovsky called out Shedeur Sanders’ “selfish and unnecessary” sacks from his tape and got called out by Deion Sanders, who labeled him a “hater.” Before that, in 2025, the former UConn QB insisted on Jayden Daniels being ahead of Caleb Williams and faced criticism after highlighting issues with Justin Fields’ work ethic in 2021. But it’s not just McAfee; Stephen A. Smith also called out Orlovsky for his take on Mendoza. “You should be ashamed of yourself,” Smith said.

Pat McAfee and Orlovsky share a close and friendly bond, and the ESPN analyst is a regular guest at The Pat McAfee Show. “He’s been a great friend to me, in unknown ways to him a great mentor. For those of us lucky enough to know him, his heart for others and his work ethic I aspire to,” Orlovsky said about McAfee. Despite McAfee’s outrage at Orlovsky’s take being light-hearted, the disappointment with his ESPN counterpart was visible on McAfee’s face.

“He (Orlovsky) said, ‘Well, I only watched the first eight games,’ so I was like, ‘Well, then don’t talk like, if you only watched this amount of games,” McAfee said. “You didn’t watch the biggest games of Fernando Mendoza’s career to see how he performed. Did you watch just the red zone third downs and 4th downs?” McAfee recounted asking Orlovsky. The ESPN analyst calmly replied as McAfee detailed. “When I watch the rest of the games, I’ll have a different take.”

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Fernando Mendoza is arguably the best QB in the 2026 draft class. He had passed for 3,535 yards in the 2025 season and rushed for 276 yards. When the team needed him in clutch moments, he delivered and showed relentless mental toughness. Against Miami, in the final touchdown drive, Mendoza took the iconic leap on 4th-and-4 in the endzone, sealing the game. Against Penn State, Mendoza showed his clutch ability and led the Hoosiers to a comeback victory.

That’s the reason Mendoza won the Heisman in a landslide, receiving 643 first-place votes. Second-ranked Diego Pavia trailed far behind with just 189 first-place votes. Of course, Ty Simpson wasn’t bad, but he probably still needed a year to perfect some of his issues. Nevertheless, Simpson had a solid season at Alabama, at least before the team lost its second game against Oklahoma.

Before that, the QB was putting in elite performances and throwing at over 70% efficiency. Against ULM, for instance, he completed all 17 passes and followed it by passing with 82% efficiency against Wisconsin. Thereafter, his performance against UGA’s physical and relentless defense earned him a 91.3 QB rating as the team won the game 24-21. Orlovsky’s analysis is largely based on these games.

Orlovsky details his reasoning for snubbing Fernando Mendoza

Apart from Orlovsky’s take, all major analysts are keeping Mendoza as their top QB. Mel Kiper Jr., in his mock draft, kept Simpson as his second-ranked QB because of his late-season struggles. “Simpson turned heads early in his lone season as Alabama’s starter before falling off as the year went on,” Kiper wrote. After the OU loss, Simpson’s performances dipped massively. He completed just 68.8% passes against an FCS team, Eastern Illinois, and threw two interceptions.

“I’m through eight games [of Mendoza game tape] now, and through eight games, you see good, but there’s a lot of underwhelming,” Orlovsky said on Thursday. “There’s not a ton of big-time throws. A lot of clean pockets. Ton of RPOs and back-shoulder fades … There are moments where you see … he’s spooked with his feet and becomes a runner unnecessarily. I think through eight games, Ty Simpson’s tape at Alabama is significantly more impressive than Fernando Mendoza’s.”

In other performances later in the season, Simpson managed to complete just 54.3% passes against Auburn. The SEC title game was also woeful, and the Bama QB1 threw an interception, completing just 48.7% passes. With Mendoza snubbing the NFL scouting combine, Ty Simpson might have a chance to put in a dominant showing and come closer to Fernando Mendoza’s draft stock. It will be a giant leap, but don’t write him off just yet.