Make-or-Break NFL QBs, a CFB Preview, and the WNBA Renaissance With Todd McShay and Diana Taurasi

Key takeaways

• Simmons' contender shortlist is the Rams, Seahawks, Texans, Ravens, Broncos (he prefers them to the Chiefs), Eagles, and one of the Bills or Patriots. Forced to pick between the AFC East rivals, McShay takes Buffalo and Josh Allen, conceding New England's roster is deeper top to bottom. Both men argue Drake Maye's playoff fade came down to health: Maye was banged up and rookie left tackle Will Campbell played through a torn MCL that the Patriots front office all but confirmed.
• The Chargers and Cowboys are the teams McShay thinks the national conversation underrates. He expects Justin Herbert to "shred this league" now that both starting tackles are back, but flags the interior line, especially the guards, as possibly the worst in football. He believes Dak Prescott has his best supporting cast yet, paired with a defense Dallas has quietly rebuilt into a middle-of-the-pack unit even after trading Micah Parsons.
• The make-or-break quarterback is C.J. Stroud, who followed a strong rookie year (4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, 5 interceptions) with two seasons of regression, despite what both call a roster and defense good enough that Houston just needs him to "drive the car." Slot receiver play is central to him, and Tank Dell's injury gutted that. Bryce Young (Carolina won't extend him yet) and Michael Penix (three college ACLs, Atlanta projected among the NFC's worst) face similar one-year verdicts.
• McShay calls a healthy Joe Burrow an automatic 10-win quarterback but worries Cincinnati's persistently bad offensive line is physically wearing him down, and he would like Burrow moved to a better situation if 2026 disappoints. Matthew Stafford is the other inflection point—a second title would push him toward the all-time top 10, and both compare his still-sharp arm at this age to Roger Clemens pitching deep into his 40s.
• The college quarterback class is deep and volatile: Dante Moore projects as the likely No. 1 (McShay's comp is a faster C.J. Stroud) but hasn't shown enough late-game moments, Fernando Mendoza jumped from a Day 2 grade to Miami's projected top pick, and LaNorris Sellers, Darian Mensah, Arch Manning, C.J. Carr, Sam Leavitt, and Nico Iamaleava are all in first-round range. McShay also rates receivers Jeremiah Smith (a Julio Jones comp) and Cam Coleman above any 2025 receiver, likes edge rushers Dylan Stewart and Colin Simmons and Notre Dame corner Leonard Moore, and says a pick in the 20s next year could beat a top-seven pick this year. His must-watch teams are LSU under Lane Kiffin, Texas, and Miami, which he picks to win the title; he pegs UCLA at eight wins.
• Taurasi traces the WNBA's move from an older, physical, post-dominated league to today's fast, guard-driven, 100-point game, crediting rule changes (three seconds in the key, no hand-checking) and Paul Westhead's run-and-gun system that won Phoenix titles in 2007 and 2009. She says she would average close to 30 now, predicts someone soon averages 30 to 35 and that it will be A'ja Wilson, and warns that three expansion teams stretch the talent, coaching, and officiating too thin. She praises Olivia Miles (Kyrie-level handles), Paige Bueckers (changes a locker room), Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell's Fever as the hardest playoff out, and Minnesota as the title favorite, while defending Geno Auriemma and Pat Summitt-style intensity as something pro sports can no longer sustain.

Notable moments

• Simmons confesses he had his daughter's boyfriend Hank place bets for him in Massachusetts while he was in LA; the wagers were voided for breaking proxy rules, and he joked that his daughter now "has to break up with her boyfriend."
• On the Texans' path behind a dominant defense, Simmons' analogy: "just drive us from Boston to New York City," middle lane, cruise control at 67 to 72, no phone, put on a true-crime audiobook.
• McShay on 19 years covering the Cowboys at ESPN: "Nothing makes my stomach turn more than a Tuesday when the Cowboys have no business being in the news cycle and it's the A block of a show."
• McShay names LSU and Lane Kiffin his "gold" must-watch team, citing the offseason chaos around reinstating former NFL players, and picks Miami to win the national championship.
• Taurasi on modern player check-ins: "So D, how do you feel from a scale of one to 10? I'm like, what the fuck? I'm 42. I feel like shit. Leave me alone."
• Taurasi says the three-hour Geno Auriemma documentary made her like him more, noting how little actual basketball it covered: "So that makes me a little bit of a psycho."
• Taurasi on what she gained by building the league in leaner years: world travel and a normal life, groceries without a bodyguard, "I feel like I gained all the things that they'll never have."
• Taurasi on coach relationships: "The whole being friends with your coach thing is a crock of shit. I don't need a friend. I need a coach."

Time saved: 1 hour, 35 minutes.