# John Middlekauff: Middlekauff expects either Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson to win this year's MVP, calling them the two best players in the league. He is pessimistic on the Bears, forecasting six or seven wins and saying he'd bet Caleb Williams doesn't work out as a franchise quarterback. He also sees Oklahoma's John Mattier as a first-round pick who'll be in the Heisman mix. **Claimed:** Sep 10, 2025 **Pundit:** John Middlekauff — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/pundits/john-middlekauff **Outlet:** The Herd with Colin Cowherd (podcast) — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/outlets/the-herd-with-colin-cowherd-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/3-and-out-with-john-middlekauff/is-caleb-williams-a-bust-qb-and-coach-relationship-49ers-cut-moody 6 checkable claims — 2 award picks, 2 mock draft picks, 1 draft bust call and 1 season win total — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet. It names 7 players and teams, each linked to their own record. 5 of 6 have settled so far, averaging 0 out of 100, against 40 for a naive guess at the same calls. > I would be stunned if one of those two guys doesn't win the MVP this year. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Caleb Williams to disappoint at the next level** - Kind: Draft Bust Calls · About: Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 100 for a naive guess - **Josh Allen to win MVP** - Kind: Award Picks · About: Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **Lamar Jackson to win MVP** - Kind: Award Picks · About: Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 0 for a naive guess - **John Mateer to be picked “first round pick” (picks 1–32)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: John Mateer - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **John Mateer to be picked “top fifteen to twenty pick” (picks 1–15)** - Kind: Mock Draft Picks · About: John Mateer - Verdict: scored 0 out of 100, against 50 for a naive guess - **Chicago Bears to finish with ? wins** - Kind: Season Win Totals · About: Chicago Bears - Verdict: too vague to check ## Who this take is about - Caleb Williams — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/caleb-williams - Chicago Bears — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/bears - Josh Allen — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/josh-allen - Buffalo Bills — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/bills - Lamar Jackson — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/lamar-jackson - Baltimore Ravens — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/ravens - John Mateer — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/players/john-mateer ## What others said about the same people - Trevor Ripley on Chicago Bears: Ripley picks the Bears to beat the Vikings at Soldier Field in Week 2, 30-19, arguing Minnesota's offense is hobbled by injuries while Chicago's offense edges an aggressive but star-thin Vikings defense. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/1fa96607-4b84-4eb4-b501-94ce307ff357 (scored 38.1) - Chris Broussard on Chicago Bears: Brew stood by the Lions as division winners and playoff team, picked the Texans over Cincinnati, the Bears over Minnesota, the Patriots to beat Pittsburgh with a solid Drake Maye game, flagged Jacksonville over Denver as his upset alert, and said he still feels good about the Ravens winning the AFC. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/a54915e0-49e6-427b-a7a5-4feb5d0f3cbb (scored 0) - Greg Jennings on Chicago Bears: Jennings put the Cardinals up as his upset alert over Seattle, backed the Texans over Cincinnati and the Bears over Minnesota with chips, put two chips on Denver beating Jacksonville, and wrote a headline of the Packers beating the Jets; he also called the Bengals a playoff team and the Chiefs winners over Indianapolis. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/420d3e29-6224-43a2-8d68-b15c864838cd (scored 0) - Danny Parkins on Chicago Bears: Parkins picked the Giants to beat the Rams outright, backed Jacksonville over Denver, Cincinnati over Houston and Chicago over Minnesota in the chips segment, endorsed Buffalo as the AFC's Super Bowl representative, and predicted Deshaun Watson has started his last NFL game. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/36d4ede8-3066-4102-abbc-cb08e4544c92 (scored 0) - Nick Shook on Baltimore Ravens: Shook said he would take the Steelers and Jaguars to win outright on the road, still expects the Chargers to beat the Raiders, and thinks Baltimore's run game will turn the Saints game into a double-digit Ravens win. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/b377b42a-7d78-4210-af2a-f8d1088561b2 (scored 0) - Pete Prisco on Chicago Bears: Prisco picks four road/home winners with exact scores: Falcons over Panthers, Bears over Vikings, Jaguars upsetting Broncos, Chargers over Raiders, and Cowboys over Commanders. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/49ffcfc9-5f68-4882-a86f-b835b925412d (scored 50) ## More mock draft picks The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Lance Zierlein on Jeremiyah Love: 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. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/cf600df8-87eb-492b-9d91-f7a2b39104ac (scored 100) - 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) --- 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=john-middlekauff