Lance Zierlein · Apr 21, 2026
Zierlein laid out his final mock draft: Jeremiah Love at No. 3 to Arizona, Sonny Styles at No. 4 to Robert Saleh's team, and Caleb Downs to the Giants at No. 5. He also called Styles the only first-round linebacker in the class and said Ty Simpson is a lock to be a first-round pick, most likely to Arizona.
“So what I ultimately did was I think I ended up going Caleb Downs there at at pick number five. I have Styles going four, I had Jeremy I Love three.”
said on air or in an interview · Move the Sticks (podcast) · read the original →
5 checkable claims from this
Each one is scored on its own against the published methodology. A pundit naming several outcomes is graded on each, not on all-or-nothing.
- Mock Draft PicksApr 21, 2026
“I have Styles going four, I had Jeremy I Love three.”
Scored 0a naive guess scored 50How this was scored
- draft:
- 2026
- naive:
- a shuffled mock scores 50
- player:
- Jeremy I Love
- season:
- 2026
- zero at:
- undrafted
- outcome:
- went undrafted in 2026; has not appeared on an NFL roster
- accuracy:
- 0
- baseline:
- 50
- actual pick:
- undrafted
- difficulty:
- 1
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- pick accuracy:
- 0
- predicted pick:
- 3
- weeks left when called:
- 0
- mock ordering score:
- only one pick — no order to score
- Mock Draft PicksApr 21, 2026
“the one thing that we're talking about being a lock them if you lock it in Ty Simpson, is he a locked to do in the first round. I'm gonna say lock... I feel like it's starting to look more and more like Arizona.”
Scored 100a naive guess scored 50How this was scored
- draft:
- 2026
- naive:
- a shuffled mock scores 50
- player:
- Ty Simpson
- season:
- 2026
- zero at:
- 32
- accuracy:
- 100
- baseline:
- 50
- actual pick:
- 13
- difficulty:
- 1
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- pick accuracy:
- 100
- predicted pick:
- first round (picks 1–32)
- weeks left when called:
- 0
- mock ordering score:
- only one pick — no order to score
- Position Order CallsApr 21, 2026
“So if he's on the board, we take him because he's the only first round linebacker.”
Scored 0a naive guess scored 50How this was scored
- draft:
- 2026
- player:
- Sonny Styles
- season:
- 2026
- outcome:
- went undrafted in 2026; later signed with WAS
- accuracy:
- 0
- baseline:
- 50
- position:
- linebacker
- difficulty:
- 1
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- actual order:
- undrafted
- predicted order:
- 1–32
- weeks left when called:
- 0
- Mock Draft PicksApr 21, 2026
“So what I ultimately did was I think I ended up going Caleb Downs there at at pick number five.”
Scored 77.11a naive guess scored 50How this was scored
- draft:
- 2026
- naive:
- a shuffled mock scores 50
- player:
- Caleb Downs
- season:
- 2026
- zero at:
- 32
- accuracy:
- 77.11
- baseline:
- 50
- actual pick:
- 11
- difficulty:
- 1
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- pick accuracy:
- 77.11
- predicted pick:
- 5
- weeks left when called:
- 0
- mock ordering score:
- only one pick — no order to score
- Mock Draft PicksApr 21, 2026
“Now I've got Sonny Styles going to Robert Salah at four.”
Scored 0a naive guess scored 50How this was scored
- draft:
- 2026
- naive:
- a shuffled mock scores 50
- player:
- Sonny Styles
- season:
- 2026
- zero at:
- undrafted
- outcome:
- went undrafted in 2026; later signed with WAS
- accuracy:
- 0
- baseline:
- 50
- actual pick:
- undrafted
- difficulty:
- 1
- weeks in the season:
- 18
- pick accuracy:
- 0
- predicted pick:
- 4
- weeks left when called:
- 0
- mock ordering score:
- only one pick — no order to score