
It's a draft of the eight remaining starting quarterbacks in the College Football Playoff on this episode of The Bill and Doug Show.
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Very underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company Affiliates excludes Massachusetts. Welcome back to the Bill and Doug show. Doug lamarice and Bill Landis here. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays to everybody. We're drafting quarterbacks in the playoff. Bill Landis. We are going to do a couple of these at least looking at the eight remaining teams in the College Football Playoff and we're going to go through different parts of those teams and draft in order who we think has what best. We are not going to pretend that we are the utmost experts on every single team and unit and player in the playoff. Obviously there's going to be of a, you know, certain bents to, to this but I think it'll be fun.
E
Which, which direction do you think perhaps there could be certain bends here.
B
This is, I'm, I'm going hard on like Will Hammond is better than you think. So apparently Will Hammond is the backup quarterback for Texas Tech. I don't, I don't really know that. I think maybe I heard somebody say that on a different podcast one time. So we're gonna start with quarterbacks here. The quarterbacks. As you know, in the College Football Playoff, one seed Indiana is led by Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza. Ohio State has Julian Singen, who finished fourth in the Heisman voting. Georgia has Gunner Stockton. Texas Tech has Baron Morton. Oregon has Dante Moore, Ole Miss has Trinidad Chambliss. Miami has Carson Beck, and Alabama has Ty Simpson. Fernando Mendoza won the Heisman and is really good. But there had been a time, Bill, I think, when, especially maybe in the 14 playoff, when you're just thinking like, man, you better have a Joe Burrow, you better have Trevor Lawrence, you, you. And now some of the Bama winners in there didn't always have that, but like, you better have a desean Watson, you better have a Justin Field. You better have a guy who is playing the position at the very top of the sport. You can't get more at the top of the sport than Fernando Mendoza. And Fernando Mendoza also might be like the number one pick in the draft, and he's. If he's not the number one pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, it might be because Dante Moore goes pro and Dante Moore from Oregon is the number one pick. He's a guy I think that Mel Kuiper has loved so far in this process. So I don't want to downgrade the quality the quarterbacks in the playoff, but is it fair to say there's not a desean Watson or a Joe Burrow?
E
I think that's fair. Yeah. And part of that is, you know, just a little bit of how the sport is changing, I think. But, but even if you were whatever to use draft stock as your guide, like, yes, Mendoza and more at the top of this conversation. I don't know if they'd be at the top of the conversation in, in some of the more recent years draft classes, but there are like. So you mentioned Mendoza's, obviously the winner saying was fourth. Gunner Stockton finished seventh. Trinidad Chambliss finished eighth. So like, you know, these weren't guys who were like, merely along for the ride with their teams. There's some decent quarterbacks here, but yeah, it's probably lacking in star power compared to some other potential. Like if we were doing. We had an expanded playoff whatever five years ago. I think the eight quarterback. The eight quarterbacks could probably be. Be like, substantially better than what we're looking at here.
B
And, and I think we'll. We'll let the. We'll let the draft speak for itself. I don't want to overdo the thing I want to say right away, but I kind of. I kind of really want to say it, but I'm not going to say it quite yet. So why don't we just do our draft? We'll go one through eight. And I think that it's like the. The quarterback you would take for the playoff if they were. They were messing everything around and said, okay, these are the eight teams that are in, but now Team X, you get the first pick of quarterback. We're throwing the eight quarterbacks in the pot. Who do you want for the next month? That's the standard that we're going by. So Bill Landis, you can have the first pick who is the number one quarterback in the 20, 25, 26 college football playoff.
E
And we're doing this as best we can, sort of like, independent of their situation. Right. Like, you don't get to bring their receivers and their offense with.
B
Right.
E
It's just. Yeah, okay. Oh, all right.
B
Now you're making me wonder, like, what you're. I think Bill Anderson laying down Fernando Mendoza is a product of his situation, and that's why he's taking Morton number one, because Baron Morton has nothing to work with.
E
No, I think it was more like, I honestly think there's probably only two guys you could even consider for the first pick. And. And I think one of them, if we're just being honest, is actually, they're both in pretty good situations. Whatever. I'll take Mendoza. He was on. He was on the field against Ohio State and was the slightly better quarterback in that game. He can run a little bit, too. I think he's got really good command and, like, he didn't set the world on fire against the Buckeyes, but he made some really big throws in that game that made a tremendous difference in a very tight game against Ohio State. So he's, I guess, a little battle tested in that way, too. And the fact that, you know, he's. And not only in that game, but he went on the road at Iowa and played well. He went on the road at Oregon and played well. Like, he's kind of been through it a little bit and come out with a W, even if he hasn't played perfect in those games, so I'll roll with him first, and if Ohio State fans are mad at me, that's okay.
B
So I think there probably is a little bit of a separator with Mendoza and saying with the ability to run, with the ability to scramble for first downs. You look at the PFF stats Mendoza has 25 scrambles this year saying has 11. Sometimes sand makes good decisions with checkdowns. He was talking about that idea Julian Santa we'll get to that more when we draft Julian sand about just like getting the ball out of his hands, not holding the ball too long. But Mendoza I think is a pretty good mix. It's like. You know what, I'll just say it. I think Fernando Mendoza is pretty good. I'm not afraid to say it just because the guy might get. Might win the triple Crown. Michael Heisman national championship number one pick in the draft. You know what, I'll just, I'll put it right on the line. Pretty good. But I do think like he, I think Wright is a good mix of. Of playmaker. He has thrown a couple, you know, rough picks this year but so is Julian San. Not many like the. Not much quantity so like the ones that they do throw stick out. But he's, he's a playmaker with his arms, he's a playmaker with his legs. More than saying is clearly you saw the reaction with a bunch of his teammates were at the Heisman ceremony in one year. He is clearly established himself in the culture of Indiana football which you want a quarterback to do which probably frankly he's probably done a little bit more than Julian Stan at Ohio State as a first year starter mostly based on age and experience. Right. So that he's a, a fourth year college football player. Julian Stan is a second year college football player. But we're talking about this guy in this situation. I don't think he'll play worse in the playoff. Right. There might be some guys that you think rise to the occasion. There might be some guys in this playoff that you wonder if they can handle the spotlight. Some guys will be just the. At the very least, Fernando Mendoza is, is I think built for this in a lot of ways. Mentally, emotionally, from an experience standpoint, the way he fits in his team. And I think you're going to get a good effort from Fernando.
E
Yeah, I don't. The thing I like about him is just like the ability to if for whatever reason maybe the, the passing game is not dialed exactly the way you want it to. He'll. He'll just like kind of put his body on the line and start making plays, I think. Right. And maybe he's not the only guy in the playoff that will do that but he probably is capable of doing it maybe like at the highest level like this this. The balance of having the dual threat with, with the very high End passing ability and just the whatever is in his DNA to kind of make winning plays when it matters the most. I don't know that there's another guy in this field that has demonstrated that as much as him.
B
And you know, every quarterback is a product of his environment to some degree. He does, Fernando Mendoza does have the highest average depth of target, which is how far the ball travels in the air when you throw it. On average, he has the hav. The highest yards per attempt of anybody in the playoff. So he has guys like Omar Cooper Jr. And Elijah Surratt and Charlie Becker where he can, he can push the ball down the field a little bit. But he's not a check down king like he, he's, he's making plays down the field and again he doesn't turn it over a ton. He has the most, he has the most touchdown passes in, in major college football and you know, still a pretty good completion percentage. Everything. So I don't, you know, again, he's the, he's the Heisman winner.
E
You know the, he's good.
B
Glaze too much. Guys, guys. Good. But like you, you'd want Fernando Mendoza's on your team, right?
E
I would, yeah. Yeah. Because it's not, he's, he's the most efficient by just like passer rating or second most efficient, excuse me, quarterback in the country. And like there's a way to rank that high and be like a pretty boring quarterback. But he's not actually like the guys. So there's three guys here in the top five in efficiency. I want to say that any of them are boring. There's a guy in the top 10 who might be a little boring. Actually there's two guys at the back end of the top 10 who might be a little boring. But these, these guys at the top I think are not only are they highly efficient, but they're just like, they're excellent quarterbacks in their own right. But Mendoza is just, I think been in the situations to kind of demonstrate sort of the traits you want to see from a playoff quarterback more than, more than some of the others.
B
21 big time throws according to PFF, that's fourth among the eight playoff quarterbacks and nine turnover worthy plays, which again is kind of middle of the pack of the, of the playoff quarterback. All right, so do you think there is a conversation at number two?
E
Sure. Yes. Yeah, I think, I think there is. I, I, I would probably, I think I can make it make a call rather quickly, but I think there's a little bit of a Conversation.
B
Yeah, because I think, I think there's a quarterback where you have a pretty good idea of what he is and maybe he'll elevate. And I. But there's a quarterback that you wonder could he go nuts maybe. And so I'll take Julian sand from Ohio State who is, I think the quarterback we have a pretty good handle on. This is the guy who has the best completion percentage in the country. The, the best regular season completion percentage that we've ever seen in college football. He does not turn it over very much. He has six turnover worthy plays which among the eight starting quarterbacks is the fewest of any playoff quarterback. 31 touchdowns. Is tied for second in the nation behind Fernando Mendoza. Still has a good yards per attempt. It's 9.3, which is actually tied with Fernando Mendoza for first. So again like he's not just checking it down. His 8.7 yard average depth of target is tied for second. And so you know, he knows he's, he had reads against Michigan and Indiana where he got tricked by coverage and threw early interceptions and bounced back from those. Ohio State, a lot of their conversation right now is they got to be better in the red zone. But he did lead two long drives at the end of the game against Indiana to give Ohio State a chance late in that game. And I think the idea, and like this isn't fair to do. It's like who cares what these guys have been. I just think they're going to elevate in the playoff. It's like, well, everyone's going to try to be better in the playoffs so you can't judge somebody by what you think they might be. But certainly I think Julian Saying has a chance to do that. But his baseline's pretty high.
E
I think his baseline is pretty high. These and I, I would even say there was something. I know they didn't finish the drive in the end against Indiana but to, to see how he operated like while losing for the first time against Indiana, I, I actually did find a little bit encouraging. Like the offense moved the ball and he wasn't making wow throws but he was making throws and helping them move down there. They just, they just didn't finish the drives and I don't, I don't know that any of that is much of his fault. Like I guess his knee scraped against the ground on the QB sneak and he threw what I thought was a decent ball on the, on the pass that got knocked out of the, the receiver's hands there on, on the third down play before they missed the field goal late in that game. So it wasn't like there was an opportunity, I guess for like okay, Ohio State's down, they have the ball. What's Julian saying? Got and it's like he's not ready yet. Like he's not ready to lead game winning drives yet. And I certainly didn't come away feeling that. So like you just kind of add that to everything else you've seen for him, the incredible level of efficiency. I think he's the most accurate passer in the playoff probably by a significant margin. And we've talked a little bit before too about like he's got, I think he's got some playmaking stuff to him that he's not had to dig into a whole lot. And maybe you could argue kind of in the middle of the Indiana game. Maybe, maybe it would have been nice to see him do once or twice to get away from a sack. I'm not saying he's, he's a perfect quarterback by any measure, but I think he's, I think he's maybe a little bit more of a gamer than he might get credit for just based off like the high efficiency numbers and the fact that Ohio State has had not been tested a bunch prior to Indiana.
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What did you think of the Julian saying conversation? He really. And when Ohio State was having some interviews on Monday, he really was talking about holding the ball too much and, and that I asked him, like, what? Why do you think that happens? And he said, well, like, I'm kind of waiting for a guy. I'm waiting for something to break open and I want to give it a chance. But he thought he held the ball too much against Indiana. But yet when you look at the sack numbers, he's near the bottom in for playoff quarterbacks with the number of sacks that he's taken that he he does not take a ton of sacks. And it's always the push and pull of. Especially when you have guys like Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate who can work free, who are threats down the field. You. You don't want to give up on those guys. And I think sometimes we've wondered, have there been shots there that maybe he's gotten off of too quickly? But he was talking about maybe I, I waited too long on some things. 13 sacks according to PFF this year. For instance, there's a quarterback in the playoff who's taken 30 sacks so far this year. So did you think he held the ball too long against Indiana? Or like, what's the right balance for Julian saying in this Ohio State offense?
E
I don't know that I felt that on all. Like, I think maybe just on one of the five sacks that he took against Indiana that I think was kind of on him for holding onto the ball too long was a play where, like, Brandon Ennis was open down the field, he didn't throw in the ball otherwise. I kind of mostly think that the pressure was on him too quickly for him to do really anything. I get. I'm trying to remember there was a one where he scrambled like out to the sideline and I think scrambled for no gain. And it's like it's not a sack, but I wonder like if in his mind is that a sack too and like that's an opportunity where he's got a get the ball out of his hands and not have that happen. But I thought mostly he was just trying to point the attention towards himself and not at Ohio State's offensive line which and honestly like even we talked about like they weren't on the O line either. So I don't know. I think it's a thing the quarterbacks say. I don't know that it's a thing that Julian Saying has actually had an issue with for much of the season.
B
Okay, best deep ball thrower among the playoff quarterbacks. Throws of 20 yards or more complete 65.1%. That's the best there are. Again there are some playoff quarterbacks. A playoff quarterback in the 30s and Julian saying is double that with the completion percentage. So also again having Carnell Tate and Jeremiah Smith certainly helps with that. But Julian said, I, I didn't think too long and hard. Who do you think is number three here?
E
I'll take Dante Moore.
B
So that's who I wondered about. Like is there, is there a Dante Moore case to be taken ahead of Julian Sand?
E
I think if you want to factor in the, the athletic ability, the, the running potential with Dante Moore who has 279 rushing yards this year, split pretty evenly between scramble yards and designed yards, he's only got two rushing touchdowns, he's fumbled five times which is like pretty high number. I think that the thing that did like steer me more toward Julian than, than Dante Moore is some of the turnover stuff. Dante Moore has eight interceptions. Dante Moore has eight turnover they plays. He has the five fumbles. He threw two picks against James Madison. I don't know, it's interesting he doesn't have, he is not charged with having any turnover worthy throws against James Madison, but he threw two interceptions and I know on one of them like the receiver fell down. They were like trying to throw a real wheel route to Kenyan Sadiq and I think he fell down and I can't remember why the other one happened. So like I understand that sometimes an interception can just be bad luck and not necessarily a bad throw. But aside from that like, I don't know, I've liked a lot of what I've seen from Dante Moore this year. He's another guy who's, who has been in some pressure moments. Like he didn't, I didn't think he played really well at all in, in the ball, I shouldn't say at all. It did not play well for like stretches of the Penn State game. But then when fourth quarter and overtime rolled around he was kind of dialed in and I thought that was pretty impressive. That was back before Penn State season unraveled and it was a huge game and was on the road at night and Happy Valley doesn't get much tougher than that. And, and I thought he performed really well there when it mattered the most. So I think he might be the guy with like the most room to elevate in the playoff of all of all these quarterbacks. Right. But it's, and that, I think that could, frankly that could point you to taking him first I think in this exercise if you wanted to. But because that's like more of a projection and maybe a little less of what we've seen from him consistently, I, I think I'm okay with taking him third here.
B
Listed at 63206. You know, it's good size I thought in September just the way he was playing. I mean they, they fricasseed Oklahoma State in week two and just name their score and I thought, I, I thought Dante Moore was a very logical Heisman candidate at that point. And then they've had some, some tough ones. They had a crazy weather game at Iowa. What he saved that game with, with as good of a throw as you'll see in college football to set up the game winning score. And again somebody, somebody out there is doing an X factor draft or whatever and Dante Moore is going very high of like the guy who could change the playoff based on maybe how, how much they elevate here in the postseason. But he's the second best deep ball thrower by completion percentage behind Julian Saying. You know I, I think he's, I think he's a, he's another pretty good combination of playmaker and doesn't just absolutely hand it to the other team. Right. So eight turnover worthy plays and that's what PFF has, I mean that's saying has six and then more and another starting quarterback are tied for the second fewest with eighth. But yet he also has 28 big time throws which is second among playoff quarterbacks. So like this is, this is a guy with a real ceiling who I, I don't, I thought there were a couple quarterbacks in the first round who, who maybe not, you know, they didn't throw four picks the way Carson Beck threw four picks against Louisville for Miami in the regular season. But there were some guys who in a moment John Mateer for Oklahoma. They kind of had that game in hand and then he threw a pick six and it kind of started getting away from him. Right. And I thought, you know, there were just like Marcel Reed just looked like he wasn't quite ready for the moment for Texas A and M. That I thought there were those two quarterbacks primarily because then like you're not going to yell at the Tolane and JMU quarterbacks, but like they just kind of weren't ready to elevate in the playoff. And if they were, I think their teams would won and, and they weren't ready to do it for 60 minutes. And so I watched. I kind of wanted to do like an exercise like this after watching those two games and being like, oh, if Oklahoma and Texas A and M got a little bit better quarterback play, they might still be alive. Who has the quarterback play that is going to keep them alive the rest of the playoff? Right. And so I don't. I'm not worried about Dante Moore throwing a bunch of pick sixes.
E
No, I'm not worried about that either. I'd like to see him.
B
What it.
E
Looks like if he's playing in a game where he's really sped up, which frankly, like might happen against Texas Tech in the Orange Bowl. That's just tough to have to play at like a different speed than you're used to playing to all year. And if he does play well there, it's like, see you later, you're going to the NFL. It might be like the last box he has to check, I think for people. But I'm just looking at his passing depth. Like it when, when your numbers get better the deeper you throw the ball down the field. I certainly take note of that. His second most big time throws in the field too. Like he probably has the most like arm juice of all these guys too.
B
I think that's right.
E
I think that's right. So there's a lot. Yeah, I mean, obviously he might be the first pick in the draft. There's a lot to like there. Yeah.
B
And, and yeah, somebody could have drafted Dante Moore first in this ahead of the guy who won the Heisman, ahead of the guy who finished fourth in the Heisman. You could have made a case. Is there a line here after the top three?
E
There is a line, but I also think like there's like a line and then the next year I think is one guy and then there's another line.
B
Okay, so I think is the next guy pretty clear to you?
E
The next guy to me, yes. I Don't know if be clear to everybody, but he's clear to me.
B
Yeah, I think he'd be clear to almost everybody. And it's Trinidad Chambliss from Ole Miss. Yes.
E
Oh, that's. No, that's not who I was gonna pick.
B
No.
E
Oh, okay.
B
Then I feel, then I. Okay then this got interesting. All right. Trinidad Shambliss can scoot.
E
He sure.
B
He has 500 rushing yards. He has, he only took over as a starter in week three and he has like seven or, or eight games of 300 passing yards. I. It's not this conversation, but can we have a side conversation very quickly? Are the two. So of the eight teams in the playoff, offense and defense, 16 units are the two worst units in the playoff. The Texas Tech offense and the Ole Miss defense.
E
Remaining.
B
You mean?
E
Yeah, yes, yes.
B
I think that's, I think that's right. So I think he is the guy who needs to like make his team go the most. Like, is Quan Lacey going to be okay for Ole Miss? The running back?
E
I actually don't know.
B
Nobody comes to us for Ole Miss information. But like you think about Dante Moore, they have a real defense. They have maybe the best run game left in the playoff. You think about Ohio State and Indiana, they might have the, you know, they have two of the three best defenses left in the playoff. Arguably they both have outstanding receivers. Trinidad Chambliss I think is making this go a little bit more on his own. He does have 500 rushing yards. He by PFF, is the, the fourth rated quarterback in the playoff. He has 22 big time throws which is pretty good and only eight turnover worthy plays which is pretty good. His average depth of target, he does throw it down the field. It's third among playoff quarterbacks. 9.1. Average depth of target is right there, 8.6. Like I, I think this guy's a real playmaker and everyone knows the story now. He's a Ferris State transfer from Division 2. He came to Ole Miss. I think several teams were looking at him as a backup quarterback. They thought young guy Austin Simmons was going to be the starter. Simmons got hurt. Chambliss came in and never gave up the job and has really fueled this I think in a huge way. And I think again, like upside down, upside. And sometimes maybe upside is just running ability. Like Trinidad Chambliss is going to scoot more than Julian saying. So it's like okay, is it more complicated than that to say like upside? He would scare me a little bit if you were game planning for him and I. There's a little bit again, I think there's an absolute baseline of production, but I think there's a. I think there's a ceiling there that's like, oh, man, we can't let this guy get loose.
E
I don't disagree with any of that. He's had some pretty inefficient passing games, which is why he was, he was not the guy that I, I had in mind. But, like, the best version of him is very good. I just don't know. And like, his inefficient passing games, like, are against the better defenses that ole misses. And then you're just gonna. You're not going to see anything other than good defenses here in the playoffs. So, like, he's a winner, right? He's a national champion at the Division 2 level. I think that matters too. He's good. I think he would. I had a guy be interesting. I had a guy I was gonna take before him. I might have taken him two pics from now, though.
B
Oh, okay. Okay.
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B
All right, this is the guy that I thought so now I think I know who you're taking, but then there's a statistical discussion around the guy that I think you're going to take.
E
Okay, I'm taking Gunner Stockton. Is that the guy? Yeah, that's your guy.
B
Okay. My impression of Gunner Stockton is, is that he is a baller who has saved Georgia time and time again this season. And then you look at the stats and I was like, oh, has he. So make your case for Gunner.
E
Did you take a look at who his numbers are in the fourth quarter?
B
I did not.
E
Ridiculous. Complete. He is completing 87.5 of his passes in the fourth quarter with six touchdowns and no interceptions. Yeah.
B
That's crazy.
E
I just think I. It's that, it's that. It's the gamer element for me. I like overall. Yeah. His numbers don't blow you away. Like I'm looking at sorting here like passing grade among these guys. He's fifth in the playoff. He does not have much in the way of big time throws. And his turnover where he plays to big time throws is basically even, which is not where you want to be unless you're throwing like 40 big time throws, which he's not. He's 14 to 12. So I think like down to down. Yeah. He's not going to allow you. But I think if you get into a tight game in the fourth quarter, he. It's either him or Mendoza. Maybe the guys I might want most in this field.
B
Maybe.
E
That sounds crazy. And he can also run. He's gonna. I actually did. I knew he could move. I knew he was mobile. I did not know that. He had the second most rushing yards among all the quarterbacks in the left in the playoff. 492. He's got eight rushing touchdowns behind Chambers.
B
Chambliss.
E
One behind Chambliss. Chambers.
B
Okay.
E
Yeah. They had the same number of rushing touchdowns. They both have eight to lead the field. But Chambliss. Chambliss has more overall yards. But also a lot of Stockton's yards are designed. 302 designed yards and 190 scramble yards. So it's not like he's just running around and doing stuff. They're calling plays to get the ball in his hands.
B
He gets Tebowish a little bit sometimes.
E
Yeah.
B
Using him as a battering ram.
E
Yeah. And I think he likes it. I don't. I don't. Again, no idea what his NFL ceiling is. If you're doing a quarterback beauty contest, I don't think I'm taking him in terms of just like, you know, guy throws a pretty ball or whatever. But if you're just ranking them by we need to go get a first down here. It's a fourth quarter and it's tied. I think I might have them pretty close to the top of the list, if not at the top.
B
So I I covered the, the Georgia Notre Dame quarterfinal last year and that was the game where Gunner Stockton was going to have to make his first start because Carson Beck got hurt. And I just like you walked around and it was like, Georgia is like, tell us about Gunner Stockton. And everybody was like, he's really nice. And I was like, oh no, oh no. And he seemed like a swell fellow, but it was like, oh my, this is a lot for you young man to be put in this situation. And then actually, I mean, he's not the reason they lost in Notre Dame. He actually played okay. Kirby's smart, made some screwball calls and they shot themselves in the foot in a lot of ways. I just again was opening up the stats. All I think about with Gunner Stockton is the fourth down throw he made against Tennessee. And then they made the two point conversion, then they won in overtime and again they had no right winning. And I thought that was that, that was like week four preparing for the Georgia ship to go down. I was signing up for an eight and four Georgia seasons. That's your dog mentality right there. And Gunner Stockton pulled it out of nowhere. And then again to your point fourth quarter, it feels like he's been saving them over and over again. And so then I was like, oh, let's like sort some stats. And then you get to the playoff quarterbacks and he has 14 big time throws and there are six quarterbacks in the playoff who have at least 20. And I was like, wait, I thought this guy was a baller who's making like ridiculous plays on his own all the time. And then I was like, oh, well, maybe not. But then also I'm not sure what he has to work with. So I think for, I mean he certainly doesn't have Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. He doesn't have Omar Cooper Jr. And Elijah Surratt. He doesn'. The run game, I don't think to the, to the depth and skill that, that Dante Moore has at Oregon. And when the Oregon receivers get healthy, he's going to have some weapons too. So I understand that does matter. But I just thought your point about Chambliss and like, you know, Chambliss is one of his worst games was when they played Georgia, right. And Gunner Stockton beat Trinidad Chambliss head to head. But I, I think that like maybe down to down, Chambliss is more of a threat, pushing the ball down the field, running, making plays like leading an offense. But maybe in the fourth quarter you have a point. So I was pretty locked in On Chambliss, you definitely would have taken Stockton fourth.
E
I would have taken Stockton fourth. Yeah. And like the, the rushing numbers were a bit of a revelation for me. That kind of like put it over the top. Passing like passing depth. He's good. Like he's not, he's not bad like at any level of the field. I'm pulling up his numbers against pressure. Like okay. Under pressure. Okay. Actually really better when blitzed by a significant margin than when he's not not blitzed. Six touchdowns, four interceptions. When blitzed, 17 touchdowns, one interception.
B
Oh my.
E
So again, I just think he might be the guy that like, you know what once to once the most pressure packed moment you can possibly give him and he'll perform. But when it's like first and 10 from your own 38 with eight minutes left in the first quarter, maybe it doesn't look great.
B
Yeah, no, I, I think that definitely could be right. Okay, so then. Okay. I, I guess I, I don't really want to take anybody.
E
I love, I love the position that you've, you found yourself in.
B
I know. Thank you. Okay, I'll take Ty Simpson from Alabama. It has to be Ty Simpson, right? You would, you would have considered Ty Simpson ahead of Trinidad Chambliss?
E
Probably. Yeah. Simpson like, you know, is, is not my particular cup of tea, but I do think you have to acknowledge that sometimes the arm looks pretty special with him. So I think I would, I think I would take something. Yeah.
B
So I, I will. I mean, you know, it's just, it's just a guide. It's just a guide. PFF stats. First seven games of the season for Ty Simpson, 20 big time throws, five turnover worthy plays. Last seven games for Ty Simpson, 10 big time throws, 10 turnover worthy plays. So there was a time like, and he was like maybe like the September Heisman winner. His, his three of his five highest rated games in PFF were in the first five. His top three highest rated games were the first five games of the year. So. And, and, and I think he's just been leaking oil a little bit since then as Alabama has been doing the same and playing a bunch of games that they could have lost and didn't I Again, I think like Ryan Williams has had a goofy year for Alabama. Jeremy Bernard is still good and, but I don't think like Alabama has the dominating skill guys that maybe they've had at times. And I just think there's been a lot on him and I sometimes I think you watch them and you can feel the burden he carries at Times, you know, like, I don't. I don't know if that's the right way to say it, but, yeah, I, I like the trust level. I would put him. Would. So I would have gone Stockton next fifth also. Right. So I would say I would trust Mendoza, saying and more. If they were my quarterback going in the playoff, I'd be, let's go. We can win the national championship. I don't want to trade my guy. I. I don't have it. I don't have doubts about my guy. Let's go. Chambliss and Stockton, I would think they give me a chance. And like, there's. There's a ceiling there. There's. And. And I don't think they're gonna fight, you know, knock us out of the game in the first half with three picks. Right?
E
Yeah.
B
My trust line is after five. I would not put Simpson in the I trust this guy category. Would you trust him? Like, are you a little bit higher on him that if he was your quarterback, you'd be like, no, we're good. We can do this thing?
E
No, I don't think. I wouldn't be that strong with it.
B
No. Okay. So then I think, like, he's. He's okay, but against Georgia in the SEC championship game, he completed less than half his passes. Right? Like, that's just kind of where we are. So I'm not going to pretend that I am a Ty Simpson expert, but he just has not been as good in the second half of the season as he was in the first. And he. Watching him makes me nervous, even just the way he plays. Like, sometimes in the midst of a play, it's like, oh, my God, what's gonna happen here? What are you doing? And then, then sometimes it's like. And then he throws the ball at somebody's ankle. It's like, okay, at least it wasn't a pick. But, like, there's a. Is he not a knot in your stomach kind of experience sometimes watching him play qb, the. The.
E
The spectrum of possible outcomes. Every time he drops back to throw the ball is probably about as wide as it can be with. With the quarterback because like I said, there's some really, really good stuff. But then there's like, yeah, there's the ball that hits the guy in the ankle. It's like, where was that going? He. I mean, he didn't play. He played okay. I thought that the first time they played Georgia and won on the road at Georgia. It's not like he's struggled against every good defense that Alabama has played, but yeah, his season is just kind of like going in the wrong direction and he got outplayed by Mater against Oklahoma. There was just like mistakes that, that cost Oklahoma that game and like kind of, kind of weird bounces that one Oklahoma's way the first time they played and then like one Alabama's way the second time they played. But I don't, I don't. Alabama did not have the best quarterback on the field when they played Oklahoma. Yeah.
B
Okay. Two left. Who you picking? Seven.
E
The Meteor. No, I'll pick. I don't know. I, I'm not. Baron Morton is the guy like, who I've by far seen the least of of all these players. So I, I guess I'll, I'll pick Carson Beck because I don't want to pretend like I know a bunch about Baron Morton. I don't love Carson Beck at all. And he's gotten kind of like worse every year throughout his career, which is not where you want to be. But I don't know, I guess he's got some, some talent. So I'll, I'll roll with Carson.
D
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G
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B
If Cam Ward was Miami's quarterback, how would we be thinking about this playoff, this matchup with Ohio State compared to where we are with Carson Beck?
E
I think if Cam Ward was Miami's quarterback, you would have seen a lot of people picking Miami to win the national title as like the team that's going to get it together and roll through the playoff.
B
Yeah, and I think again, like for Miami sakes, like, they've, they've, they won 10 games in, in the regular season last year and this year and they sort of like their defense let them down at the end of last year and didn't give them the shot to get into the acc, ACC championship game or the playoff. And so you sort of wasted Cam Ward. Not wasted like he helped elevate Miami to this new level, which is a playoff contender level, which is not where they had been for basically two decades. So Cam Ward certainly made an impact. But I've said it a thousand times on our Ohio State shows. I like almost everything about Miami except their coach and their quarterback. And so that's, that's where we are with Carson Beck, which is a tough place to be. Big time throws. Among starting quarterbacks, he has 14. That's tied with Gunner Stockton for the fewest in the playoff. He has 10 turnover worthy plays. He doesn't push the ball down the field quite as much as, as some of the other guys. You know, he certainly has one great weapon in Malachi, Tony, but he makes me, you know, he's not really. He's not. And he's not a run threat at all. Right. Like this is, I guess he doesn't take a ton of sacks maybe because he gets rid of the ball, but he's not gonna scramble. Like maybe the, the two guys who maybe are the least dangerous with their legs are, are saying. And Beck, right?
E
Yeah, I think so. Stock Stockton or she's been not Stockton. I was looking at the wrong guy. Beck's adjusted completion percentage is above 80. So like it accounts for, for drops. It looks like his receivers have had 15 drops. You know what's crazy is that Ty Simpson, it says here his 30 of his throws have been dropped. 30? Yeah. And his adjusted completion percentage is still only 75%. Yeah, yeah.
B
I mean she completes some signs like 48. So then Baron Morton is last for Texas Tech and again he missed a couple games and Will Hammond had to start. This is not the place to come for your Baron Morton. Breakdown of the week. We're not even going to apologize. It just is what it is. If and when we we'll get more eyeballs on Baron Morton because I'm certainly excited for Texas Tech and Oregon in a huge way. But again as we said, weakest units in the playoff, Ole Miss defense, Texas Tech offense. And he's the quarterback of the Texas Tech offense and so this is not why they are here. You know he has 13 turnover worthy plays but yet he's only thrown four picks. So that's nice. I don't know, I, I, I honestly have. If Baron Morton walked in into me on the street, I'm not sure I would know who he is.
E
No, I don't think so either. And like also it's just like the congratulations for having a low number of interceptions. The nature of that offense is you're not going to be in a position to throw very many. So yeah, pure air rate kind of stuff.
B
Yeah, so are if there's three tiers. Do you generally agree with Mendoza saying more There are guys let's go. We can win a natty with them. Second tier Chambliss and Stockton pretty good. Maybe more of a wild ride but let's take our shot. And then Simpson, Beck, Morton, you're a little more like I don't know man.
E
I think maybe you could have Simpson by himself.
B
Okay.
E
And then maybe Morton and Beck together in the bottom tier.
B
It's hard because like probably first half of the season Simpson is, is in one of the top two tiers and then second half of the season Simpson's at the bottom. But also like which one are you going to get? And maybe he rises up. Are we northern? I don't know if I can reach a sword. We think the three best quarterbacks are the quarterbacks for the northern teams. Are we Northern honks?
E
No, I just, I mean like yes, but like that I don't know that I'd use this as the example for like what is your art? What's your argument? If you want to tell me that you think Ty Simpson is better than Julian saying Dante Moore or Fernando Mendoza, I'll hear you out, but you're not going to convince me that you're, that you're right. Right. It's just facts are facts. And those, those are definitely the three best quarterbacks.
B
I just think they get a little loose down south, man. There's just, there's a little more looseness and, and there's still playmaking with the northern guys, but there's a little bit more sort of structure and we know what's up. And that's the thing about this is.
E
We'Re at the point.
B
So you got to win three. So, you know, I think Trinidad Chambliss and Gunner Stockton and Ty Simpson might get you. They could get you one, they could let one rip and like, holy moly, that guy kind of won that game by himself. But can they win three that way? I would not bet on that. Where I think like Mendoza saying, and more like, let's go. You drive the train. Obviously there's a ton of talent on all those three teams, but they are natty. They are natty type quarterbacks.
E
So. Yeah.
B
Okay. Little guide. Just a little guide. Just a little guide. We appreciate you guys being here. If you want to go check out our substack, we're writing over there, Big Wednesday show that, that dropped over there. Just take, you know, talking about your favorite Christmas present as college football fans and taking questions from our substack audience. If you want to come join us for, for the holidays, maybe just for a month to try it out. Maybe you want to ask for a Bill and Doug substack as part of a, of a late Christmas present or something. Billanddugosu.substack Go over there and sign up, see what you think. Like, subscribe, Tell a friend about the Bill and Doug Show. Thank you so much for being here. Have the happiest and happiest, happiest of holidays and the merriest of Christmases and then we'll, we'll probably do a few more things like this Bill, right?
E
Yeah. At least we're going to talk defenses. I know that we are. Yeah.
B
We're going to do a defense draft too. So. All right. For now, he's Bill Landis, I'm Doug Le Maurice and that was the Bill and Doug Show.
I
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F
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Episode Title: Fernando Mendoza, Julian Sayin, Dante Moore and drafting the best College Football Playoff QBs
Date: December 24, 2025
Hosts: Doug Lesmerises & Bill Landis (Blue Wire)
Main Theme:
Doug and Bill draft and debate the eight starting quarterbacks participating in the 2025-26 College Football Playoff, rating them by who they’d most want to lead their team this postseason. The discussion digs deep into stats, playmaking ability, clutch gene, and how each QB stacks up in current college football, with a dose of Buckeye-centric fun and context.
"There’s some decent quarterbacks here, but yeah, it’s probably lacking in star power compared to some other years." (Bill, [04:19])
A. First Overall: Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (Bill’s pick) ([06:11]–[11:41])
“He’s kind of been through it a little bit and come out with a W, even if he hasn’t played perfect … so I’ll roll with him first.” — Bill ([06:22])
“He’s a playmaker with his arms. He’s a playmaker with his legs.” ([07:17])
“I think Fernando Mendoza is pretty good. I’m not afraid to say it just because the guy might win the triple crown: Heisman, national championship, number one pick.” ([07:17])
“At the very least, Fernando Mendoza is, I think, built for this in a lot of ways. Mentally, emotionally, from an experience standpoint….” — Doug ([08:44])
B. Second Pick: Julian Sayin, Ohio State (Doug’s pick) ([12:11]–[15:26])
“He’s the most accurate passer in the playoff probably by a significant margin.” — Bill ([13:59])
“I think he’s maybe a little bit more of a gamer than he might get credit for…” — Bill ([14:48])
“His baseline’s pretty high.” — Doug ([13:48])
C. Third Pick: Dante Moore, Oregon ([20:10]–[25:31])
“I think he might be the guy with the most room to elevate in the playoff of all these quarterbacks.” — Bill ([22:21])
“He probably has the most like arm juice of all these guys too.” — Bill ([25:31])
D. The “Next Tier” and Debate ([25:52]–[35:10])
D1. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss (Doug’s pick, 4th) ([26:12]–[28:41])
“He has 500 rushing yards… and has really fueled this in a huge way.” — Doug ([27:16])
“He would scare me a little bit if you were game planning for him.” — Doug ([28:06])
D2. Gunner Stockton, Georgia (Bill’s pick, 5th) ([30:36]–[36:00])
“He is completing 87.5% of his passes in the fourth quarter with six touchdowns and no interceptions.” — Bill ([31:06])
“If you get into a tight game in the fourth quarter, it’s either him or Mendoza… the guys I might want most in this field.” — Bill ([32:03])
E. Ty Simpson, Alabama ([36:30]–[39:48])
“The spectrum of possible outcomes every time he drops back to throw the ball is probably about as wide as it can be…” — Bill ([39:48])
F. Carson Beck, Miami ([40:46]–[44:57])
“I like almost everything about Miami except their coach and their quarterback.” — Doug ([43:42])
G. Baron Morton, Texas Tech ([45:31]–[46:32])
“We’re at the point… so you got to win three. I think Trinidad Chambliss and Gunner Stockton and Ty Simpson… could let one rip and win a game by themselves. But can they win three?” — Doug ([47:59])
“I just think they get a little loose down south, man. There’s just a little more looseness… with the northern guys, a little more structure.” — Doug ([47:45])
On Mendoza:
"At the very least, Fernando Mendoza is… built for this in a lot of ways. Mentally, emotionally, from an experience standpoint….” — Doug ([08:44])
On Sayin:
“He’s the most accurate passer in the playoff probably by a significant margin.” — Bill ([13:59])
On Dante Moore:
“He probably has the most like arm juice of all these guys too.” — Bill ([25:31])
On Gunner Stockton’s Clutch:
“He is completing 87.5% of his passes in the fourth quarter with 6 touchdowns and no interceptions.” — Bill ([31:06])
On Ty Simpson’s volatility:
“The spectrum of possible outcomes every time he drops back to throw the ball is probably about as wide as it can be…” — Bill ([39:48])
The conversation is lively and analytical, with Buckeye-centric but balanced attention. Doug and Bill combine advanced stat analysis with colorful, relatable language and inside jokes, maintaining a light, energetic tone. They pull from deep covering experience but keep things accessible and jargon-light for fans.
Doug and Bill offer a confident, stats-backed, and personality-driven hierarchy of playoff QBs—Mendoza, Sayin, Moore at the top, Chambliss/Stockton wildcard contenders, and real skepticism about the bottom three—while mixing in their signature humor and fan-first perspective. The episode is an engaging, insightful listening experience, whether you’re a Buckeye diehard or a college football playoff junkie.