Are you asking why I think he was the second best QB in the draft? If so, it's because he was the second best QB in college football last year at production while under pressure (PFF grade vs pressure). And more specifically, that metric seems to be the best available predictor statistic of success in the NFL.
If it’s all about the money, he fucked up cause he’s scheduled to earn about half of what he would have gotten at UT from UCLA.
he did fuck up. Bad. He turned a lot of people off and entered the portal late in the game with his spring shenanigans it woulda been tough to match the Tennessee offer but if he entered the portal right away in a respectable manner he would’ve gotten close and received more interest
Well know for sure if he fucked up if he ends yp up being a day 3 pick like the TGG draft experts project. If he ends being Day 1 pick as a result, no one will care about all those turned off people.
I don’t think he will even enter the draft in 2026. I think he will play a year at UCLA and enter the portal again. Like JV said- Miami or someone with deep NIL pockets, maybe Texas Tech maybe in 2027 he’s a 1st round pick who knows
It’s the DJ U model. If Nico didn’t know it growing up there, he’ll find out pretty quickly how east coast centered the college football world is. DJ was at least a semi-good soldier everywhere went. Unless Nico ups his game and makes people want to watch, he’s going to struggle for eyes. The only good part is that UCLA is right in FoxSports’ backyard. I’m sure they have a Big Noon Kickoff feature ready to go. This week isn’t terrible. Utah at home in the late game. A pretty good test against a rebuilding defense. If it’s a decent game, people may even want to stay up until 2am to see all four quarters. After that, we probably won’t see much of him until Penn State comes to town in October. Whether or not he’s in the 2026 draft probably comes down to what does 11/15 at Ohio State. A crapload of great matchups that week. Fox’s manlove for OSU makes a good contender for their feature game. Which means, depending on how Nico looks, on 11/16 his nitwit entourage starts putting feelers out to both NFL and college teams with NIL to throw at a 2026 QB.
"Putting some meat on the bones" means adding more substance, detail, or completeness to a plan, idea, or argument, often when it's initially vague or unfinished. It can also refer to adding mass or flesh to a very thin person. The idiom originates from a literal evaluation of meat on a bone, determining its quality and completeness, and is used metaphorically in both conceptual and physical contexts. Not an uncommon saying, it has to be said. Still, the 2nd best QB in the draft went as the 7th QB off the board and from #1 to #181 between the highest and himself. The guy got cut after camp, it isn't suggesting greatness awaits.
Bah. Every time Zach Wilson’s name takes over a thread, a fluffy, white seal gets clubbed to death in the arctic. I thought the battle of good vs. evil had finally turned when Miami signed him. We’re still in the iffy period for final roster cuts. Ya’ll are trying to jinx it.
In other news, credit to crappy Hollywood writers - my go-to TV option has been rewatching 2024 college games. This week, Ole Miss vs LSU, where Garrett Nussmeier led a last minute comeback and OT win, and Miami vs Cal, a last minute loss for Fernando Mendoza against a ranked Miami team with a solid defense and a Heisman candidate QB. Two 2025 first round QBs vs two 2026 draft QBs. I’ve seen enough of Nussmeier that I was watching more for flaws than talent. He makes mistakes, but still at the top of my 2026 list. He’s really the only reason LSU pulled that game out. LSU’s No. 1 OL in the nation was beaten up my Ole Miss’s DL. LSU couldn’t run the ball and Nussmeier had constant pressure pretty much until the final drive. Some of that was on him. [This game was also aggravating because, a few weeks later, Ole Miss would do the exact same thing to UGA, with the No. 2 OL in the nation, which only made me wonder how the UGA coaching staff turned into a bunch of retards that they didn’t see it coming.] One problem with Nussmeier is that he’s always looking for the big throw downfield. Anyone who’s watched him has seen this. He could have helped his OL by taking the easy 4-5 yard outlet when the big throw wasn’t there, or by tucking it and running. He’s athletic enough to run more; he chooses not to. Several times he could have easily picked up 8-10 yards with his legs but stayed back waiting for the 15-20 yard throw to open up. That said, Nussmeier with coaching is still at the top of my list. I may have watched some of Miami-Cal, since it was the late game, with a Top-10 team. If I did, and if I saw Fernando Mendoza at the time, I should be excused for not remembering. Ignoring the shitty announcers, there wasn’t much memorable about his game. Just by the 39-38 OT score, you could easily mistake this game for a Ward-Mendoza showcase. Good luck there. Ward was contained by the Cal defense for 3 1/2 quarters, and Mendoza was 11-22 for 285 yards. Think about that - 11 catches, 50% completion rate, and almost 300 yards. More than half of those yards from a few long RAC plays and one horribly blown coverage. Those few plays gave Cal a lead into the fourth quarter. They spent most of the second half trying to burn clock and keep Cam Ward off the field - which was mostly working until midway into the fourth quarter. Miami’s DL woke up, Cal’s defense got tired, and Ward took over. If you’re looking to see Fernando Mendoza on full display, this wasn’t the game. He clearly has a strong arm, but forced several throws - some catchable, some not. Overconfidence in either his arm or his WRs. Probably both. His legs won’t scare anyone, but he had a couple timely scrambles. Nothing he did makes me want to jump to the word “smart”. I saw he was committed to Yale before Cal, so can’t be dumb. Biggest compliment I can give is - he kind of just looked the part. Enough that Indiana will absolutely be on my flipping-around-during-commercials list.
