2026 NFL Draft: College Game Recaps – Week 15

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza is in the running to be the top quarterback prospect for the 2026 NFL Draft. While this game wasn’t flawless, Mendoza was impressive, making some huge throws to give his team its first conference championship since 1945.

On the first play from scrimmage, Mendoza ran a bootleg and took a hard hit to his right shoulder, and he had to be helped off the field. After missing one play, Mendoza came back in and made an excellent third-down play to roll out and find an open receiver with Arvell Reese bearing down on him. Shortly later, Mendoza had some bad luck on a wide receiver screen. His pass bounced off a blocker in front of the receiver, and Ohio State caught the deflection for an interception. Shortly later, Mendoza took a sack instead of throwing the ball away, and that helped lead to a missed field goal. Mendoza came back to throw a nice pass along the sideline to move the chains and get Indiana across the midfield. That set up another field goal for Indiana. Mendoza had less than 90 yards passing and dealt with a lot of pass rush in the first half.

In the third quarter, Mendoza threw a perfect deep ball for a 51-yard gain. A few plays later, Mendoza connected with Elijah Sarratt for a jump ball back shoulder completion in the front of the end zone to put Indiana up 13-10. On a third-and-6 with less than three minutes remaining, Mendoza threw a perfect pass to Charlie Becker for a 22-yard gain. It was a perfect pass and allowed Indiana to run enough clock to clinch the win over Ohio State. Mendoza finished completing 15-of-23 passes for 222 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

For the NFL, Mendoza looks like a pro starter. Mendoza has a strong arm, a quick release, and is accurate in passing at all levels of the field. This year, he has shown improvement in his pocket presence, reading coverage, working through progressions, and manipulating the pocket with his feet. He is smart and reads the field well. Mendoza throws accurately with good timing and anticipation. This tape will help Mendoza become a high first-round pick next April.

Ohio State has a pair of linebackers who are extremely talented with freaky skill sets. Both Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles have tremendous skill sets of size, speed, and athleticism. Reese is in contention to be the top prospect in the 2026 NFL Draft, and Styles looks like a first- or second-rounder. In the first half, Reese was pretty quiet, recording only one tackle. He was covering a lot of ground in zone coverage and helping to prevent open receivers. Styles was very active as a run defender, totaling nine tackles in the first two quarters. He was flying around the field and getting in on stops in both phases. Midway through the second half, Reese had a good pursuit of Mendoza on a third down to force an incompletion, but he was quiet otherwise and finished with only one tackle in the game. Styles finished with 12 tackles. Overall, this tape won’t help or hurt Reese. Styles strong performance could help his chances of being a first-round pick next April.

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson has become a hot prospect as he has been playing at a very high level for the Crimson Tide. In tight games, Simpson made some great passes to lead his team to wins over good teams like Georgia, Missouri, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. Against Oklahoma, Simpson was not as good, and Alabama had a surprising loss. Versus Auburn, Simpson was not prolific, but he did make some great plays to help his team. In the rematch against Georgia in the SEC Championship Game, Simpson had some struggles and had his worst game of the season.

Late in the first quarter, Simpson tried to make a tight window throw to a crossing receiver, but the pass was behind his receiver. Georgia safety K.J. Bolden tipped the pass, and teammate Daylen Everette caught the deflection for an interception. After that turnover, Simpson looked rattled. He had some passes off the mark as the pass pressure was getting to him, and he was falling off some throws while trying to avoid the rush. He aimed a short third-down throw, and the ball bounced in front of his check-down back to force Alabama to punt. At the half, Simpson was only 5-of-12 for 53 yards with an interception.

In the third quarter, it was more of the same as Simpson was rattled, uncomfortable, and inaccurate. Late in the quarter, Simpson got moving with an impressive play to dodge the rush, climb the pocket, and fire a missile downfield to an open tight end. Later in the drive, Simpson dropped in a perfect 23-yard pass into the end zone, but it was dropped by Ryan Williams. The next play, Williams drew the rush to him and then threw behind the defenders to Germie Bernard on a screen, and he did the rest to zig-zag through the defense for a touchdown. On the next possession, Simpson was under heavy pass rush again, and he threw a low-percentage throw on a fourth-and-short that sailed incomplete.

Late in the fourth quarter on a fourth down, Simpson was desperate, running for his life with two defenders chasing him. He spun around a few times and then threw a beautiful pass to the end zone that was dropped by Bernard. It was a tough catch, as a fingertip from a Bulldog defensive back slightly changed the trajectory, but it was a great pass by Simpson and hit Bernard in the chest. Simpson finished completing only 19-of-39 pass attempts for 212 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

With the way Simpson has played this season, he looks like a starter and a potential high first-round pick next April. This game will definitely hurt his draft stock compared to other quarterback prospects like Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. However, plenty of high first-round quarterbacks had ugly games in their final season and to conclude their collegiate career. This season, Simpson has shown some serious arm talent, making some beautiful throws downfield with superb ball placement to beat tight coverage. Simpson (6-2, 208) is accurate, smart, has a strong arm, and throws with timing and anticipation. Simpson has shown good ball security and decision-making throughout the season. With his skill set and upside, Simpson could be a good pro starter, and this game doesn’t change the evaluation.

Two Bulldog defenders helped themselves in this game. Georgia linebacker C.J. Allen was all over the field for the Bulldogs, making tackles in the ground game and impacting the short passing game. Allen had a hard hit to break up a pass, and was doing a superb job of covering in zone in the short portion of the field. Allen looked like Nakobe Dean in his great season for a National Championship Georgia team. This tape will help Allen to be a first- or second-round pick next April if he enters the draft.

Georgia cornerback Daylen Everette has not gotten early-round grades from some teams this season, but he helped himself with a good tape in the SEC Championship Game. Everette was in good position to catch an interception in the first half. He had steady and tight coverage over the next two quarters. In the fourth quarter, Everette had close coverage on a receiver in the end zone and was able to obstruct the throw to force an incompletion. Everette got in on tackles and was a physical defender. This tape will help his draft grade and could improve his chances of sneaking into the second day of the draft.

The 2026 NFL Draft is not a particularly strong class of talent, but one prospect that has real buzz is David Bailey. The Stanford transfer was superb this season with 12.5 sacks. Bailey was active, flying around the field, but he did not have splash plays in the Big 12 Championship Game.

In the first half, Bailey showed some speed getting upfield and putting pressure on the quarterback, but he was quiet overall. Texas Tech also controlled the time of possession, and Bailey did not have a lot of opportunities. In the third quarter, Bailey destroyed a screen by flying into the backfield and getting a hit on the quarterback to force a third-down incompletion. Bailey showed good speed to get upfield, and consistent turnovers from BYU kept Bailey on the sideline.

For the NFL, Bailey is a fast and athletic speed rusher, but he is undersized. Bailey (6-3, 250) shows explosion off the snap with the speed to turn the corner and eat up ground in a hurry. While Bailey is not big or powerful, he can generate enough speed and power to knock back blockers. Bailey also shows flexibility to rush from a variety of spots. He can stand over a blocker or put his hand in the ground. Bailey fights and competes in the ground game nicely on some plays, but he has limitations for the NFL, given his size. Teams like the Detroit Lions, which are looking for a base end who is big, strong, and a tough run defender who can set the edge, will not be high on Bailey. Other teams, like the Dallas Cowboys, who like ultra-fast twitchy edge rushers, will like Bailey.