# Paul Pabst: Pabst says Arch Manning will stay at Texas for his senior year rather than enter the draft, and floats the Atlanta Falcons as a team that could either surge to a conference title game or collapse. **Claimed:** Aug 28, 2025 **Pundit:** Paul Pabst — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/pundits/paul-pabst **Outlet:** The Dan Patrick Show (podcast) — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/outlets/the-dan-patrick-show-podcast **How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview **Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/the-dan-patrick-show/hour-3-sleeper-teams-cfp-player-bonuses One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened. Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in. > I'm in, Marvin in one hundred percent in in. *(their words, quoted for attribution)* ## The claims - **Atlanta Falcons to beat expectations** - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: Atlanta Falcons - Verdict: not settled yet ## Who this take is about - Atlanta Falcons — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/falcons ## What others said about the same people - Colin Cowherd on Shemar Stewart: Cowherd delivered his own top-15 draft board — what he would do as GM of each team — pairing prospects with picks 1 through 15, and separately argued Shedeur Sanders is a far better prospect than Daniel Jones and that Aaron Rodgers should retire. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/1d3f1be7-f506-422a-af38-e6e32088f3e5 (scored 91.7) - Chris Rose on Malcolm Koonce: Hosting a mock free-agency draft, Rose predicted destinations for Nick Bolton, Carlton Davis, Russell Wilson, Malcolm Koonce, Stefon Diggs, Byron Murphy, Chase Young and Jacoby Brissett, plus Justin Fields returning to Pittsburgh, Ronnie Stanley leaving Baltimore, and the Browns trading up to No. 1 to take Cam Ward. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/854e8838-2328-4092-997e-8ad4ee22995d (scored 0) - Gregg Rosenthal on Kirk Cousins: Rosenthal made a series of offseason personnel predictions at the combine: he believes Kirk Cousins will be traded away from Atlanta, that Justin Tucker will never play for the Ravens or in the NFL again, that Joey Bosa should/will be released by the Chargers, that Ronnie Stanley will re-sign with Baltimore rather than reach free agency, and that Chris Godwin will re-sign with Tampa Bay. He also expects Jaire Alexander not to return to Green Bay, Jonathan Allen to be traded, Jonah Williams to remain a Cardinal, and Brian Thomas Jr. to improve. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/a4aab509-2a3b-4c8a-b94d-29a1aee44baa (scored 0) - Ralph Vacchiano on Tua Tagovailoa: Vacchiano ranks all 32 NFL teams entering the 2026 season, with the Rams first and Dolphins last. He also flags the Giants as a potential surprise team with a top-10 defense, and notes Deshaun Watson won Cleveland's QB job while Tua Tagovailoa starts Week 1 in Atlanta. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/6f782be9-64d3-47cf-b054-6566e14194d6 (scored 0) - Steven Ruiz on Michael Penix Jr.: In a retrospective tiering of all 32 starting quarterbacks, Ruiz treats Michael Penix Jr. as the Falcons' Week 1 starter over Kirk Cousins, whom he places in his lowest tier. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/968b3764-11ef-41b5-a370-ff570b3219d1 (scored 0) - John Breech on Tua Tagovailoa: The unsigned Pick Six newsletter expects Seth McLaughlin to step into the Lions' starting center job with Cade Mays injured, and suggests Tua Tagovailoa is on track to be Atlanta's Week 1 starting quarterback. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/a040e9f9-5016-4dce-b2b3-a4c411e950f5 (scored 0) ## More surprise team calls The same kind of call, about other players and teams. - Ralph Vacchiano on New Orleans Saints: Vacchiano says the Saints, whom he had already called the NFC's biggest surprise of the season, are good enough to win the weak NFC South, though not yet a championship contender. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/5f9c80c5-56ee-4c30-9938-09b673e1cb7f (not settled) - Gilberto Manzano on Las Vegas Raiders: Manzano calls the 2-0 Raiders under first-time head coach Klint Kubiak one of the season's biggest surprise teams and a club now thinking playoffs, sees the 2-0 49ers headed for another winning season, and views New Orleans as the class of the NFC South with Tyler Shough playing well. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/fa21a317-d0b7-4f3e-81de-9d115e1a8be7 (not settled) - John Breech on New Orleans Saints: Grading Week 2, Breech says the Saints — fresh off upsetting the Ravens in Baltimore — look like a club that could beat expectations this season. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/1a27a5ac-d1f0-4578-b0d0-9ef7e24f7639 (not settled) - Pete Prisco on New York Jets: A Week 2 NFL power rankings column places the Seahawks first and the Dolphins last, with the 49ers rising six spots after beating the Rams and the Cowboys falling 12 after losing to the Giants. It also suggests the Cardinals and Jets could be better than expected. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/c5b3ea52-abec-4709-9830-c2d0c3016f61 (not settled) - Rich Eisen on New Orleans Saints: Eisen accepted that the Giants can be the best team in the NFC East (while pumping the brakes on NFC contender talk), restated his preseason Josh Allen MVP pick, insisted the Rams are too talented to miss the playoffs, and put his marker on the Saints as the NFC South team that can beat expectations. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/c97509bf-62f7-4680-9786-5ec11688175a (not settled) - Steve Hartman on Cincinnati Bengals: Hartman picked the Rams and Bills to meet in the Super Bowl with the Rams winning, named the Bengals as his surprise team with Joe Burrow winning MVP and Cincinnati winning its division and reaching the AFC Championship Game against Buffalo. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/419294f8-3232-424c-8913-448c91b6a31f (not settled) --- 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=paul-pabst