Dan Orlovsky has made quite a few headlines recently for his wild take that Ty Simpson is a better prospect than Fernando Mendoza in this year’s draft. The NFL analyst and former QB says that after watching the tape, he’s been more impressed with the throws he’s seen Simpson make compared to Mendoza. And he has now doubled down on it, too.
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Orlovsky first shared his hot take on Get Up, where he made the case that Simpson is better than Mendoza. He later went on X, quote-tweeted the clip from the show, and mentioned that it was just his opinion on the matter. Shortly after, he joined The Pat McAfee Show live from his car and got roasted on live TV for his baffling take.
Today, Orlovsky is continuing to back up his opinion, this time on a different ESPN show.
“I don’t have anything negative to say about [Fernando] Mendoza, I’ve been adamant about that. I think he’s a good player. It’s a traits versus tape argument for me. I understand that Fernando Mendoza has a lot of the traits that a lot of the quarterbacks in the NFL are built upon… Ty Simpson, for me, has better tape,” Orlovsky argued on First Take.
It can’t be understated how far and away Mendoza has separated himself from the rest of the QBs in this draft class. He’s the most “sure thing” since the Cincinnati Bengals drafted Joe Burrow #1 overall in 2020. For Orlovsky to say that Simpson is the better prospect because of some tape is ludicrous to a degree.
“It’s a traits vs. tape argument for me. … If you’re going off of the tape, I think it’s hard to argue that Ty Simpson’s not a better player.”
—@danorlovsky7 on his pick for the best QB in this draft class pic.twitter.com/Hh1JRilF8W
— First Take (@FirstTake) March 25, 2026
Nevertheless, the analyst continued to rave about Simpson. “I think that there are more examples of me watching Ty Simpson drop back to pass, NFL concepts, stuff that quarterbacks we see do on a consistent basis in the NFL. I think he’s got very fast eyes,” Orlovsky noted.
The analyst had clips to support his claims. To be fair, Simpson is a quality QB who is a mid-first-round prospect. It’s not surprising to see that he has clips of him making good decisions and displaying his talents.
However, Simpson is nowhere near the size of Mendoza. He also has less experience as a starter and was less efficient than his counterpart. He’s seen more as a high-upside prospect with injury risk. Mendoza is seen as a safer, top-tier prospect with better measurables. Regardless, Orlovsky still believes the proof is in the tape.
“I just think there’s a lot of clips for Ty Simpson. I understand he doesn’t have the measurables- I can get into that argument or that conversation. But I just believe that if you go off the tape, I think it’s hard to argue that Ty Simpson’s not a better player.”
In reaction to Orlovsky’s hot take, fans in the comments naturally picked him apart.
“Orlovsky had AWESOME tape as a prospect.. He also ran out of the back of an endzone… Tape don’t solve it all,” the top commenter quipped.
“The NFL needs to be sued for allowing Dan to have a MVP vote,” another added. “The tape shows Ty Simpson throwing 8td’s and 3int’s in the final 7 games of the season combined…. Cmon dude,” one noted.
Orlovsky had AWESOME tape as a prospect..
He also ran out of the back of an endzone…
Tape don’t solve it all
— BoxscoreHQ (@BoxScoreHQ) March 25, 2026
The fans took their turns getting shots in on Orlovsky. This came less than a day after he was roasted by many for his appearance on McAfee’s show. The reception was so bad that he had to tweet out a picture of a paper that read, “People often forget that kindness is free.” Clearly, it all got to him.
