Top draft insider insists Jets won’t even get a shot at top 2026 QB prospect
The New York Jets are hoping to have no shortage of quarterback options available in the 2026 NFL Draft, but one prominent draft insider believes one of the top QBs in the class isn't actually going to declare — and he's been saying it for months.
Longtime NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay has continued to insist that Oregon quarterback Dante Moore will return to Eugene in 2026 and opt to forgo entering the draft. According to McShay, Moore’s parents, his agent, and the Oregon coaching staff are all united in that plan.
Moore is widely viewed as one of the top prospects in the 2026 draft and would have a real chance to be the No. 1 overall pick if he were to declare. Instead, McShay maintains Moore is “100 percent” returning to school, even as the redshirt sophomore surges up draft boards and leads Oregon to the brink of the College Football Playoff.
That's far from an ideal scenario for a Jets team that is expected to target a quarterback early in this year's draft. Moore is part of the presumed trio of top quarterbacks alongside Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza and Alabama’s Ty Simpson.
If Moore stays at Oregon — and McShay remains adamant he will — the Jets' quarterback pool suddenly gets a whole lot thinner.
Todd McShay is adamant the Jets will not have a chance to draft Dante Moore
McShay insists that he has it “on good authority” that Moore plans to remain at Oregon, develop further, and enter the 2027 draft instead. Given his situation, it’s not hard to see why that path might appeal.
Moore is only 20 years old and won’t turn 21 until after draft night. This is his first full season as Oregon’s starter, and he’s doing it as a redshirt sophomore. Still, the allure of being a high draft pick is usually enough to convince many prospects.
Moore has thrown for 2,447 yards while completing 73 percent of his passes, adding 23 touchdowns to just six interceptions and averaging 8.6 yards per attempt.
He’s led Oregon to an 11–1 record and a No. 6 national ranking, with the Ducks tracking toward a playoff berth despite missing the Big Ten title game. On talent and production alone, he may be the most naturally gifted passer in the 2026 class.
If Moore doesn’t declare, the top of this quarterback class shrinks dramatically. Mendoza remains the leader in the clubhouse, while Simpson has slipped in recent weeks after a strong start.
Removing Moore from the equation increases competition, narrows the Jets' options, and raises the risk that the team simply won’t love whoever is available when they’re on the clock.
With most regimes typically getting one real shot to select their franchise quarterback, the Jets may not force a pick they don’t fully believe in. If Moore stays in school — and McShay insists he will — the Jets could pivot entirely, potentially waiting for the 2027 class, where the organization holds three first-round picks.
Moore still has time to change his mind, but McShay is rarely this firm without reason. If he’s right, the Jets’ QB outlook could be a bit more complicated than anticipated.
Bengals' logic for not trading Trey Hendrickson is Exorcist head-spinning bad
Some NFL front offices like to play the personnel equivalent of 4D chess, whereas the Cincinnati Bengals' brain trust loves them some Scrabble Junior.
Trey Hendrickson is on an expiring contract and turns 31 in a month's time. Not that he has the typical wear and tear of a defensive end his age, since he didn't start until later in his career.
But that isn't the point I'm making. The point I'm making is, the Bengals have committed a comedy of errors in handling their relationship with Hendrickson ever since he signed on before the run to Super Bowl LVI. He's the best free-agent acquisition in franchise history, yet Cincinnati's chief decision-makers are averse to paying him what he's worth.
There is no cohesive vision for the future of this Bengals organization. Hendrickson's ongoing drama, inability to secure a multi-year contract, and the team's refusal to trade him, only underscores that notion.
Bengals used Quinnen Williams' massive Cowboys trade package as an excuse to not pull off Trey Hendrickson trade
I would qualify this with "reportedly" but we all know it's true. An insider like Fox Sports' Jordan Schultz isn't going to, you know, make stuff up out of thin air when it's something this important.
Schultz insisted that the Bengals were open to offers for Hendrickson. They even decreased their initial asking price of a first-round pick.
That is, until the New York Jets traded Quinnen Williams to the Dallas Cowboys for defensive tackle Mazi Smith, a 2026 first-round pick and a 2027 first-rounder.
Oh you read that right. I was already mad enough that Jerry Jones' Cowboys took away Logan Wilson, and later in the day, outbid the Bengals (they probably weren't bidding in actuality) on an elite defensive tackle in Williams.
Anyway, here are the key bits from Schultz's monologue:
"It was my understanding that they had lowered their asking price, But ultimately then. Quinnen Williams gets a massive haul from the Cowboys to the Jets. And as a result of that, I think Cincinnati then said, 'OK if we're gonna trade Hendrickson, it needs to be in the vicinity of Quinnen Williams.' [...] I also still think there is hope internally that the Bengals can make a playoff push, especially if Joe Flacco continues to play well and if Joe Burrow continues to be on track for his rehab mid-December."
We're hot off Halloween, so it's apropos to invoke the horror classic The Exorcist's iconic scene of Linda Blair's possessed Regan MacNeil spinning her head a full 360 degrees.
That's how it feels to hear what Schultz said about the Bengals. How much self-delusion can fit into one football headquarters?
There should be sociological studies and/or paranormal investigators deployed to report on whatever the heck is going on in Cincinnati. What's in the water!? Is there a demonic force cursing the defense? Is the perpetually understaffed, seedy scouting department so haunted that the Bengals can't draft good players anymore?
What sort of brainwashing does it take to believe this 3-6 team, with this historically pathetic defense, can go at least 7-1 the rest of the season to get to 10 wins?
Maybe Schultz is speculating about that belief in the postseason, but why else wouldn't the Bengals trade Hendrickson? The writing is on the wall. The bridge is basically burned. Cincinnati is bound to franchise tag him to spark a whole other soap opera this offseason.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who understands the math ain't mathin' any other way.
The answer to Cincinnati's confounding, contradictory math/football philosophy equation is simple. This Bengals' front office doesn't have the slightest clue as to what they're doing.
