The 2026 NFL Draft QB Tiers Special

NFL teams have more data and scouting resources than ever. Yet they haven’t gotten better at picking the best college football players. Why not? ESPN senior writer Bill Barnwell joins Richard and Alex to dive into a complicated topic:* 0:20: Welcoming our guest, Bill Barnwell* 9:24: The NFL Draft is the biggest deal in the city of Pittsburgh* 16:31: Why NFL teams haven’t gotten better at drafting over the decadesDuring this episode, Alex mentions a few statistical studies that researchers have done on pro sports teams’ draft performance over time. You can find those here and here. Producer: Anthony Vito This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Longtime pals Ben Solak of ESPN and Derrik Klassen of The Athletic join Richard for this year’s discussion of the college football QBs who will soon become NFL QBs. From Joe Fagnano and Diego Pavia (a statue player in CFB, but probably not one in the NFL) to No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza, here’s how the crew sees this year’s QBs stacking up. Producer: Anthony VitoThis is a subscriber episode, but everyone can hear a nice big free previewTo get this episode and many, many more (as well as a whole back catalog of evergreen college football history shows, reporting on the coach carousel, and more), become a paid subscriber today.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comSUBSCRIBER EPISODE: Richard and Alex take subscriber questions! As the college football offseason hits more or less its halfway point, it’s mailbag time. Among the many questions we answer in this episode, you will find * 0:55: Utah did not envision that Kyle Whittingham’s departure would go down like that. Was the Utes’ fate foretold by what happened at … Maryland? All the way back in 2010?* 22:03: Who could be the next Texas Tech?* 50:15: Does basketball really have more portal activity than football, or does it seem that way because of small roster sizes? (Yes.)* 52:34: Why doesn’t Richard believe in the sanctity of the one true portal window?* 54:00: How big is the talent gap between a G6 and P4 position coach?* 58:43: Was Greg Sankey born on third base? Plus a longer chat about the way college sports media talk about conference commissioners.* 1:04:13: Why do we express skepticism about USF’s finances?* 1:11:23: If we could cover any sport other than CFB for a living, what would it be?Producer: Anthony VitoThis is a subscriber episode, but everyone can hear a nice big free previewTo get this episode and many, many more (as well as a whole back catalog of evergreen college football history shows, reporting on the coach carousel, and more), become a paid subscriber today.

In this latest SZD/Extra Points Sports Business Hour with guest Matt Brown, Alex and Richard talk about several things you’ve seen in the news. Find Matt at Extra Points, and listen to our conversation here: * 0:45: Learfield, the college sports multimedia rights company, sold to a (new) private equity owner in a $2 billion deal. This is one of the largest deals in college sports history, but for what? Matt helps us understand the importance of companies like Learfield and its rival Playfly, and how they affect both our favorite teams and their financial statements. Will this deal change much about the college sports landscape, though? It doesn’t seem like a slam dunk. * 19:45: The Trump administration’s college sports executive order is fake and made up, but somehow, that’s not the same thing as “meaningless.” It also might destroy any potential for a serious legislative solution to college sports’ problems. Matt tells us what he’s learned from Capitol Hill sources. * 32:37: Did the Big Ten office do a make-work for Wisconsin’s AD so that the Badgers could get someone better in that job? The answer isn’t “definitely not.” * 42:34: The NCAA makes an example of … Iowa. * 47:35: Audience question 1: What would be the pros and cons of media rights consolidation?* 52:04: Audience question 2: Which schools are doing fun and different things with their House settlement allocations? Thanks to Matt! Read him all the time at www.extrapointsmb.com Producer: Anthony VitoThis episode is free, but to get lots more, become a paid subscriber todayFor $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get:* Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more)* Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history* Subscriber Q&A opportunities* The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this thing alive and wellThanks to Homefield and Nokian Tyres Do you think your area has the worst roads in North America? Tell Nokian Tyres.Find the Jackie Robinson collection and much more at Homefield. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

Richard and Alex discuss how the offseason is going across the Group of 6 college football conferences. In this episode: * 1:52: A fresh way to talk about the G6 offseason * 3:55: Our tour through new head coaching hires, starting with Charles Huff at Memphis and Brian Hartline at USF, then moving all around the country* 1:10:49: Recruiting talk. Who has money? Miami University, apparently* 1:24:35: Fine, we’ll talk about the Masters, and Alex will make peace with Auburn fans Read the 2026 returning production rankings Producer: Anthony VitoThis episode is free, but to get lots more, become a paid subscriber todayFor $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get:* Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more)* Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history* Subscriber Q&A opportunities* The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this thing alive and wellThanks to Homefield and Nokian Tyres Do you think your area has the worst roads in North America? Tell Nokian about it, and get entered in a drawing for a set of tires.Shop Michigan and UCLA national title gear at Homefield. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comGodfrey joins Richard and Alex for a discussion about college football history. For understandable reasons, people all cautious about calling for teams to make coaching changes when the incumbent is a legend in the job. How careful should we be, though? In this episode, we go through the past 40-ish years of coaching transitions from living legend to … someone else. How do schools do when they either fire an all-timer or need to replace him in retirement? The answer isn’t great, but it’s not as bad as you might think. * 2:04: Why Dabo Swinney got us thinking about this subject * 16:20: The rare cases of the “guy after the guy” arguably doing a better job than the coach he replaced, or at least winning more games for a while* 21:15: The maintainers who kept the train on the tracks, like Ryan Day* 39:13: The long, slow declines, like Virginia Tech post-Frank Beamer* 59:52: The tank jobs, like Ron Zook or Ron Prince * 1:24:16: The cases where the jury is still out, like Kalen DeBoer. (Is that jury still out? We have a mini-debate.) * 1:31:15: Lessons for Clemson heading into another fraught season This is a subscriber episode, but everyone can hear a nice big free previewTo get this episode and many, many more (as well as a whole back catalog of evergreen college football history shows, reporting on the coach carousel, and more), become a paid subscriber today.Producer: Anthony Vito

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comVirginia Tech has had a rough decade. Has the cavalry finally arrived to save the program from irrelevance? Tech hired James Franklin and appears to appears to be throwing huge sums of cash at his program in the hopes of stopping a backslide that started late in Frank Beamer’s career and then spun out of control under Justin F…

How are things going for all 16 teams in the SEC? Let’s discuss which way the arrow is pointing. Alex and Richard head to the Southeast on this latest Offseason Vibe Check, a chance to talk about actual football teams during the long, cold offseason. In this episode, the crew covers … * 1:25: Texas’s offensive line problem and whether a nice finish to the regular season and a bowl win can be a springboard * 5:16: Ole Miss’s Pete Golding era and the window that’s still open* 9:41: LSU’s Lane Kiffin honeymoon period * 13:45: Texas A&M’s opportunity depending on Marcel Reed’s growth * 16:57: Arkansas’s Tyson money, Ryan Silverfield’s rough PR start, and a transfer class that makes you raise your eyebrows* 22:18: Mississippi State’s reunion with an old friend * 26:15: Vanderbilt’s post-Diego Pavia reset with five-star Jared Curtis* 28:05: Alabama’s Ryan Williams retention and a quiet case for quarterback development. But what else is there? * 33:29: Auburn’s clear and immediate upgrade at quarterback * 36:26: Oklahoma’s OL portal haul * 39:47: Florida’s Georgia Tech offensive import and Buster Faulkner’s fresh start* 41:09: Kentucky’s CEO-style setup under Will Stein * 44:14: Missouri’s dip down the prep recruiting rankings and whether Eli Drinkwitz can reverse that trend * 48:49: Georgia’s spurning of the portal world * 52:12: Tennessee’s latest blue-chip QB moment * 58:27: South Carolina’s crossroads under Shane BeamerThis episode is free, but to get lots more, become a paid subscriber todayFor $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get:* Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more)* Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history* Subscriber Q&A opportunities* The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this thing alive and well This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.splitzoneduo.comAlex talks with the wise baseball scribe (and USC football fan) Joe Sheehan of the Joe Sheehan Baseball Newsletter about how our sport is currently on a trajectory that looks awfully familiar to another sport’s recent arc. College football is grappling with a long list of the same problems and proposals that have been bouncing around Major League Baseball for decades: Should the sport consolidate its media rights in the name of “competitive balance”? Can we even agree on what that term means and on how balanced the game is right now? How wide is too wide a gap between the richest teams and the poorest? To what extent should players be tied to their teams so that fans have a reason to build a connection with them? And what could college football’s leaders learn from the good and bad decisions baseball’s bosses have made over the past 50 years? What about from the rules of baseball that didn’t even come out of any one decision, but by accident? This episode covers all of that. Happy Opening Day, by the way. Alex here with the strongest possible recommendation to check out and subscribe to Joe’s newsletter here. For me, Joe is a formative writer whose years of emails have shaped the way I think about one of my favorite sports. I appreciate him coming on SZD to indulge this theory of mine. Producer: Anthony VitoThis is a subscriber episode For $10 a month (or getting a free month with the whole year), you get: * Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more) * Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history * Subscriber Q&A opportunities * The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this podcast alive and well

The ACC Offseason Vibe Check is here. Alex and Richard check in with all 17 ACC football schools and throw in Notre Dame as well. In this episode …* 1:31: Miami made a big playoff run and then simply reloaded * 4:14: Duke won football, men’s basketball, and women’s basketball conference titles in the same year, and yet still has bad vibes because of some devastating portal losses * 7:47: Georgia Tech’s fourth defensive coordinator under Brent Key, the Buster Faulkner exodus to Florida, and whether Alberto Mendoza can be the next Haynes King* 10:16: SMU’s offensive coordinator change leaves Kevin Jennings is looking around the empty house wondering who’s going to help him* 13:29: Stanford brings on Tavita Pritchard as Andrew Luck’s handpicked guy, and Yale transfer Nico Brown is the portal add to watch* 17:01: Virginia might really be building something now? * 19:25: Cal has a legitimately improved talent picture under Tosh Lupoi * 22:56: NC State went 8-5, but doesn’t feel like an 8-5 program * 24:45: Louisville is setting itself up for another preseason hype cycle * 28:17: Wake Forest had a great first year under Jake Dickert and may find itself strained to keep the momentum going * 29:09: Boston College’s year-two flameout to 2-10 under Bill O’Brien leaves questions about what happens now * 32:54: Syracuse continues to cook in recruiting, but will need a QB * 34:32: North Carolina looks better, at least on the field* 36:52: Clemson may – may! – be getting close to the end * 41:52: Pitt kept its QB and OC, but the money situation is a big problem * 45:40: Notre Dame brings back most of the band and takes a shot at an Ohio State wide receiver * 51:30: Florida State’s early-season schedule could end the Mike Norvell era by mid-October* 58:41: Virginia Tech is the most fascinating team in the sport to Alex, but we’ll mainly talk about the Hokies on a larger show next week This episode is free, but to get lots more, become a paid subscriber todayFor $10 a month (or a free month with the whole year), you get:* Roughly twice as many episodes (usually two bonus a week in season and once a week out of season, but sometimes more)* Our entire back catalog of hundreds of bonus episodes, with many of them focused on evergreen topics from college football history* Subscriber Q&A opportunities* The knowledge that you’re helping us make an audience-driven podcast about college football and keeping this thing alive and well This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.splitzoneduo.com/subscribe