The impromptu Fernando Mendoza-Ty Simpson debate helped fuel the takeover machine
The NFL news cycle has entered a lull between free agency and the draft. That creates an opening – and a need – for someone to fuel the endless pickup machine.
Enter ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky. On Monday, the former Alabama quarterback offered his opinion Ty Simpson is the top quarterback in the 2026 draft class. Better than Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, the absolute No. 1 draft pick.
It went from there. As it often does. The intake manifold abhors a vacuum. ESPN’s studio shows, radio shows, and podcasts have hours of filler. And nothing delivers fuller portions of content than an idea that goes against the grain.
In August 2013, Ron Jaworski of ESPN announced that Colin Kaepernick “could be one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.” It fed ESPN’s takeover machine days.
Is Orlovsky right on Simpson vs. Mendoza? We don’t know, and we won’t know, until both players have spent many years in the NFL. However, many factors beyond the skills and abilities of the quarterback will determine it. Teammates, coaching, front office, ownership. The second (or third, or fourth) actions of players like Geno Smith, Sam Darnold, and Baker Mayfield have proven that point in recent years.
For now, though, the pickup is beeping, “Feed me.” Even if Orlovsky’s opinion was motivated by the realization that calling Simpson a better prospect than Mendoza. a lot good business, it was. Corner. For ESPN, and beyond.
It’s the perfect time for a lively debate like this to fill the airwaves. And things got a little spicy on tuesdaywhen ESPN’s Pat McAfee and company aggressively pressured Orlovsky into his Simpson take it.
Along the way, it was mentioned that Orlovsky is represented by CAA, which also represents Simpson. Orlovsky defended himself: “Agents work for us, not the other way around, so everyone knows. They are hired by us. With respect, that’s the business model.”
Okay, but not really. Big firms have a lot of influence, and everyone. If Orlovsky wasn’t represented by CAA, he’d have to worry about CAA pushing another CAA client for a gig the next time his contract expires.
And that’s exactly what happened before the draft. Among players playing the same role, agents play both offense and defense when it comes to making sure their clients move as quickly as possible. They all do. It should.
Since Orlovsky is represented by CAA, he will naturally be more inclined to listen to the arguments they make for their boy. And something that was said to him may have stuck, which may have influenced his opinion. Even though no one is openly asking.
It is not a quid pro quo in the old sense. Agents know how the press works in the weeks leading up to the draft, and they know it. Firms that represent players have clear and direct pipelines that broadcasters represent as well.
Case in point: Lamar Jackson had no one running for him in 2018. No one was pushing back against Bill Polian’s ridiculous take on whether Jackson should switch positions. No one will plant the seed in the brains of analysts that Jackson is as good, if not better, than the likes of Mayfield (No. 1), Darnold (No. 3), Josh Allen (No. 7), and Josh Freaking Rosen (No. 10). Jackson, surprisingly, went 32nd overall, after the Ravens traded their last first-round pick for a five-year contract that matched their first-round pick.
In the end, this isn’t about anything other than Orlovsky’s take on NFL news and opinions.
Whether he is ultimately right or wrong doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he threw a shovelful of coal into the furnace while the flame was burning.
And, yes, in the long run the question of whether he was right or wrong will serve as another shovel full of coal, for another lull in the NFL’s relentless pickup machine.
