# Ross Jackson: In a seven-round Saints mock draft for the 2026 NFL Draft, Ross Jackson has Ohio State safety Caleb Downs falling to New Orleans at No. 8 overall after two quarterbacks go 1-2, then lays out picks at 42, 73, round four, 137, 148, 170 and 189. **Claimed:** Jan 14, 2026 **Pundit:** Ross Jackson — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/pundits/ross-jackson **Outlet:** Locked On Saints (podcast) — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/outlets/locked-on-saints-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air, transcribed by us **Original:** https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/pdrl.fm/83ac39/lockedon.simplecastaudio.com/26a658f6-15f1-4878-ab5f-d78d7d886aa9/episodes/a95df954-c087-4437-b664-81e6f1130269/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=26a658f6-15f1-4878-ab5f-d78d7d886aa9&awEpisodeId=a95df954-c087-4437-b664-81e6f1130269&feed=aKgoC4uX 17 checkable claims — 17 mock draft picks — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 20 players and teams, each linked to their own record. 12 of 17 have settled so far, averaging 57.6 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess at the same calls. > the decision right off the bat... is Caleb Downs, the Ohio State safety at an array overall *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **David Bailey to be picked “surefire top 10, top 15 selection” (picks 1–10)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: David Bailey - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Jeremiyah Love to be picked “off the board within the top seven selections” (picks 1–7)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Jeremiyah Love - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Tacario Davis to be picked at number 170** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Tacario Davis, New Orleans Saints - Verdict: scored 1.43 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Jordyn Tyson to be picked “off the board within the top seven selections” (picks 1–7)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Jordyn Tyson - Verdict: scored 95.76 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Tanner Koziol to be picked at number 189** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Tanner Koziol, New Orleans Saints - Verdict: scored 33.86 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Kaytron Allen to be picked at number 137** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Kaytron Allen, New Orleans Saints - Verdict: scored 11.46 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Nadame Tucker to be picked at number 148** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Nadame Tucker, New Orleans Saints - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Caleb Downs to be picked at number 8** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Caleb Downs, New Orleans Saints - Verdict: scored 87.81 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Arvell Reese to be picked “off the board within the top seven selections” (picks 1–7)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Arvell Reese - Verdict: scored 100 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Rueben Bain to be picked “off the board within the top seven selections” (picks 1–7)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Rueben Bain - Verdict: scored 70.71 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Emmanuel Pregnon to be picked at number 42** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Emmanuel Pregnon, New Orleans Saints - Verdict: scored 13.63 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Zachariah Branch to be picked at number 73** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Zachariah Branch, New Orleans Saints - Verdict: scored 77.11 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Elijah Sarratt to be picked “off the board before pick 42”** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Elijah Sarratt - Verdict: not settled yet - **Chris Bell to be picked “off the board before pick 42”** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Chris Bell - Verdict: not settled yet - **Dante Moore to be picked “picks one and two overall”** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Dante Moore, New York Jets - Verdict: not settled yet - **Tim Keenan to be picked “round four”** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Tim Keenan, New Orleans Saints - Verdict: not settled yet - **Fernando Mendoza to be picked “picks one and two overall”** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: Fernando Mendoza, Las Vegas Raiders - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - David Bailey — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/david-bailey - Jeremiyah Love — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/jeremiyah-love - Tacario Davis — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/tacario-davis - New Orleans Saints — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/saints - Jordyn Tyson — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/jordyn-tyson - Tanner Koziol — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/tanner-koziol - Kaytron Allen — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/kaytron-allen - Nadame Tucker — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/nadame-tucker - Caleb Downs — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/caleb-downs - Arvell Reese — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/arvell-reese - Rueben Bain — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/rueben-bain - Emmanuel Pregnon — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/emmanuel-pregnon - Zachariah Branch — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/zachariah-branch - Elijah Sarratt — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/elijah-sarratt - Chris Bell — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/chris-bell - Dante Moore — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/dante-moore - New York Jets — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/jets - Tim Keenan — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/tim-keenan - Fernando Mendoza — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/fernando-mendoza - Las Vegas Raiders — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/raiders ## What others said about the same people - Nick Wright on New Orleans Saints: On his Week 3 pick show, Nick Wright gave straight-up final-score predictions for five games, calling blowouts by Seattle over Washington and Kansas City over Miami, a Jacksonville home win over New England, a narrow New Orleans win over the Raiders and a low-scoring Baltimore win over Dallas in Brazil. He also called Seattle the best team in the NFL with the league's best defense. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/afa6070a-4229-4b28-a922-31d609ad1adf (scored 33.33) - Chris Broussard on Las Vegas Raiders: Broussard picked the Bills to beat the Chargers in a competitive, higher-scoring game, said the Chiefs will rout the Dolphins, and for upset alert parlayed the Patriots over the Jaguars and the Raiders over the Saints. He also restated his Cowboys-versus-Ravens Super Bowl matchup pick. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/dee7585c-6da6-4afc-9954-ff32cf8de4e3 (scored 100) - Kevin Wildes on New York Jets: For upset alert Wildes took the Broncos to beat the Rams straight up in Denver and added the Jets to beat the Lions straight up. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/35bc2cfa-9927-43ce-be97-5c73bb6517fd (scored 0) - Dan Beyer on New Orleans Saints: For his Week 3 survivor pick, he took the Saints to beat the Raiders at home, saying he doesn't see Las Vegas staying unbeaten. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/fdedf503-5121-4109-b003-d5c980b00456 (scored 0) - Darrion Gray on New Orleans Saints: Predicted the Saints beat the Raiders 27-17 at home. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/778eb604-cf02-49f1-8468-fbc8b0798375 (scored 45.24) - John Hendricks on New Orleans Saints: Predicted a lower-scoring Saints win over the Raiders, 24-19, with the defense carrying them. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/5d6f55b1-d993-4659-a8b9-d95c6942875e (scored 42.86) ## More mock draft picks The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Nick Shook on Max Iheanachor: Shook walks through his full first-round mock draft, assigning a prospect to every pick from No. 1 to No. 32, headlined by Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders, David Bailey to the Jets and Jeremiah Love to the Cardinals in the top three. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/7d4209aa-2e2d-47a2-b6e5-791d16d209cb (scored 87.81) - Gregg Rosenthal on K.C. Concepcion: Rosenthal disagrees most with Casey Concepcion being left out of the first round, arguing he could go as high as the top 15 and certainly won't last past receiver-needy teams in the late twenties. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/8fae9a3a-7fd8-454c-99cc-0a8400c35d7d (scored 67.71) - Daniel Jeremiah on Keyron Crawford: In discussing teams without first-round picks, Jeremiah projected specific Day 2 picks: Clemson WR Antonio Williams to the Falcons at 48, Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez to the Colts in the second round, Oklahoma edge R Mason Thomas to the Packers at 52, and Auburn edge Keiroon Crawford to the Broncos at 62. He also expects Riley Leonard to open as the Colts' starting QB and Travis Hunter to play cornerback full time in Jacksonville. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/f60c916c-1b5f-4252-8733-1770c7809577 (scored 80.52) - Daniel Jeremiah on Carnell Tate: Jeremiah says Denver, not Kansas City, will be the clear favorite in the AFC West this season; he also puts Carnell Tate sixth and Monroe Freeling twentieth on his prospect board, mocks Tate to Cleveland at No. 6, and expects Georgia receiver Branch to be a Day 2 pick after a strong pro day. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/48a1d189-dc0f-4250-aa3b-0e27119c733a (scored 91.7) - Bucky Brooks on Carnell Tate: In a mock draft covering the first 14 picks, Brooks made the odd-numbered selections: Fernando Mendoza to the Raiders at No. 1, a Miami offensive lineman to Arizona at No. 3, Caleb Downs to the Giants at No. 5, Ohio State's Arvell Reese to Washington at No. 7, Carnell Tate to Kansas City at No. 9, tight end Kenyon Sadiq to Miami at No. 11, and Spencer Fano to the Rams at No. 13. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/677f566f-9e38-4dd7-b312-0baad54b440e (scored 80.52) - Jeff Cavanaugh on Lorenzo Styles: Streaming from the NFL Combine, Jeff pegged safety Dylan Thienemann's draft range at roughly picks 20-35, said LSU safety AJ Halsey would cost a second- or third-round pick, and insisted Sonny Styles' brother would not be a top-50 selection despite a fast 40. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/f1f48cc1-f9d5-44ca-b130-2c6447b49bc6 (scored 0.51) --- Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages. Full method: https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/methodology We summarize what a pundit said and quote a short span for attribution; we never republish their article. If this is wrong, tell us: https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/corrections?pundit=ross-jackson