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John Middlekauff is a former NFL scout and former contributor to The Athletic Bay Area who now appears regularly on The Colin Cowherd Podcast and The Herd with Colin Cowherd. His predictions span the NFL calendar — draft positioning, win totals, playoff berths, Super Bowl picks — with particular attention to teams like the 49ers, Chiefs, and Bears. He digs into roster construction and coaching decisions, whether it's evaluating quarterback prospects like Jaxson Dart and Ty Simpson or debating whether the Steelers are headed for disaster. The scouting background shows in how he frames things: fit, scheme, and where a player lands on the depth chart.
Writes at The Colin Cowherd Podcast (podcast)
Every take from John Middlekauff, including the ones still waiting →
Is John Middlekauff accurate? Across 102 graded calls in 31 articles, John Middlekauff scores 61.29% accuracy and a MissedTakes Score of 8.88, which means their calls were better than a naive guess on the same claims. That is an established record: thirty or more graded articles.
95.84% of their claims were specific enough to check. Most of what they said committed to something.
Every number here is computed from the published methodology, and every call below shows its own arithmetic.
8 of 31 graded articles on this page, newest first — page 2 of 3.
Daniel Jones to be 1st on the depth chart
“I will stick with what I said. I think Daniel Jones gonna be the starting quarterback.”
San Francisco 49ers to win the division
“I want the Niners to win the division... I'm gonna I was gonna bet on the Niners to win the division anyway.”
Matthew Stafford to be 1st on the depth chart
“does Matt Stafford start Week one? I would lean yes, even though I have no more information than anyone else”
Omarion Hampton to be 1st on the depth chart
“So Hampton was gonna start over him regardless... So I think Hardball would ride Hampton like a like secretariat”
Omarion Hampton to win Offensive Rookie of the Year
“I don't think it's outrageous to go offensive rookie of the year... So I would say offensive Rookie of the Year would be on the table for sure.”
Denver Broncos to finish with 11 wins
“I think the Bronx is gonna be pretty good. And if he's good and you have an elite defense, they're gonna win eleven twelve games.”
Omarion Hampton to record 1,300 rushing yards
“Could Hampton be a thirteen hundred yard rusher and have ten plus touchdowns because he's it's pretty freaking good.”
Omarion Hampton to record 10 rushing tds
“Could Hampton be a thirteen hundred yard rusher and have ten plus touchdowns”
Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the division
“And as we're sitting here right now I'm giving it to the Bucks”
Green Bay Packers to make the playoffs
“I mean, I expect the Packers to make the playoffs”
Daniel Jones to be 1st on the depth chart
“Anthony Richardson is going into his third year. I think we all know how this thing's gonna end. Daniel Jones going to be starting week one.”
Green Bay Packers to win the division
“I'm gonna pick the Packers to win the division.”
Kyler Murray to move
“And I think there's a pretty good chance that Kyler Murray is playing somewhere else in twenty twenty six.”
“There's no way you can have the Bears above the Broncos. It's impossible.”
Michael Jenkins to make the roster
“One thing that I do think is gonna happen is he's going to be on the team and they'll just kind of deal with the you know, I guess the PR”
Jauan Jennings to record 80 receptions
“I'd be stunned if he got seventy seven balls last year, if he didn't catch eighty plus balls this season.”
Bo Nix to finish top 15 at his position, by passing yards
“But is he gonna be a top twelve starter, fifteen starter half of the league for sure of this year? Yes?”
Dak Prescott to finish top 12 at his position, by an unstated measure
“I think he's a top twelve quarterback who is really really underachieved in January”
Patrick Mahomes to finish top 1 at his position, by passing yards
“Like I'm sorry, Patrick Mahomes is one. Like I don't even know how you argue”
Jauan Jennings to be 1st on the depth chart
“are you niece torn Ricky Pearsall is already injured? Like I am, clearly the number one wide receiver on this team heading into week one, not even debatable”
“I know Sirianni has won the Super Bowl, but I would take Dan Campbell over Nick Sirianni.”
Chicago Bears to finish with 10 wins
“The Bears should win ten games.”
San Francisco 49ers to finish with 9 wins
“They have no excuse to not win. I think at minimum nine games... anything other than nine wins if you're the forty nine ers based on this schedule... would be viewed as a disaster.”
Green Bay Packers to win the division
“the reason when we did the segment last week about picking them to win the division is they won eleven games where the quarterback was banged up”
Denver Broncos to finish with 10 wins
“if you have a dominant defense with an offensive coach who's proven, like, how are your floor is so high? I mean, your floor is immediately like ten wins.”
Jaxson Dart to be 1st on the depth chart
“So I would expect We talked about this yesterday. Jackson dart to be inserted much earlier than later.”
Buffalo Bills to win the Super Bowl
“I believe that josh Allen will get a Super Bowl ring for it's all said and done.”
Indianapolis Colts to make the playoffs
“Daniel Jones leads the Colts to the playoffs.”
New York Giants to finish with 4 wins
“This is a this tough schedule. Colling Thiss got four or five wins written all over it.”
New England Patriots to make the playoffs
“Speaking of the Patriots, I think they make the playoffs.”
Indianapolis Colts to finish with 9 wins
“Again, they're just looking nine to ten wins. I'm not talking twelve thirteen.”
Daniel Jones to be 1st on the depth chart
“This race is over. He's going to be the starting quarterback.”
Indianapolis Colts to make the playoffs
“if he has the Patriots and who's the other team he is in the playoffs, Oh the Colts. I respect that”
Anthony Richardson to disappoint at the next level
“And let's face it, the Anthey Richardson. He is the new version of Trey Lance. They swung for the fences that they whiffed.”
New England Patriots to make the playoffs
“I also though, if he has the Patriots and who's the other team he is in the playoffs, Oh the Colts.”
Seattle Seahawks to finish with 10 wins
“They went ten and seven last year. It's not like they won four or five games, so why couldn't they go ten and seven again?... I'd be stunned if they're not over five hundred.”
Daniel Jones to be 1st on the depth chart
“I think Daniel Jones is gonna be the start of Week one. And that was before the kid heard his inj hit his shoulder.”
“If I had to pick these three guys, like Who'd I want on my team, I would go Stingley, McDuffie, Sauce. ... But if my life depended on it, you'd have to choose Sauce because he's the least of the three. I would say, fluid athlete”