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We’re down to one unbeaten team as we head to Week 8, and there’s plenty to get to, so let’s waste no time …
Caleb Williams vs. Drake Maye
Thursday night gave us a look into the NFL’s future. So before Patriots-Bears, one of the producers I work with at NBC Sports Boston, Jeff Capotosto, suggested asking execs and coaches whether they’d take Drake Maye or Caleb Williams to build around. My quickie straw poll, conducted via text, elicited responses from six GMs, five offensive coordinators, four assistant GMs, a VP of player personnel and a pass-game coordinator.
The verdict: Williams 12, Maye 5.
Then the two combined to go 46-of-64 for 629 yards, four touchdowns and a pick in the Bears’ 30–24 win. The two had mishaps—a red zone pick for Maye and a bad sack taken at the end by Williams—but were mostly brilliant. The responses before that on what differentiated the two, from the coaches and execs, were illuminating, too.
Those in my poll who took Williams cited his ceiling, creativity and early record of clutch play. The difficulty to prepare for him, in particular, broke a tie for some. “You call a perfect D,” said an assistant GM, “and still get beat, just like Josh [Allen] and [Patrick] Mahomes.” For most, it was close, though I had one OC text, “It’s Caleb; it wouldn’t really be close for me. More ability, keeps getting better, gives you a chance to win every game and he’s clutch.”
On the other side, those who took Maye pointed to his personality and sustainability. One GM texted he “would lean Drake, just falling back on the makeup and total package, not that Caleb is deficient, just maybe more volatility in his game long term.” An OC added, “Drake, but it’s close. Drake appears to me to be a little ahead of Caleb operating in the pocket and getting through progressions in the passing game, and still has athleticism to create. Caleb has great athleticism/speed and arm strength but is maybe a little less consistent.”
That coach then added, “Both are going to end up being really good.”
And that raised a follow-up question for me with all these guys: Are these two the best to come out over the past six classes (2021 to ’26)? Most of those I asked said yes. A couple told me C.J. Stroud is the best passer, and could be a threat to pass them if he keeps building on his strong start. Others said Brock Purdy’s the most polished and best processor of the group at this point. Some still said that fellow 2024 pick Jayden Daniels would be right back in the discussion with better health.
But all agreed that the Bears and Patriots should feel pretty good about where they are.
On that note, the 2027 quarterback class isn’t looking the way many had hoped going into the year—and the Dante Moore situation at Oregon is another brick in that wall.
Ducks coach Dan Lanning announced Monday that Moore is likely done for the year as a result of a concussion he sustained taking a cheap shot against USC on Sept. 26. Presuming he enters the draft, he’ll carry the experience of 24 college starts, below the old threshold scouts have held of 25 starts for a quarterback, and 33 games played over three years at Oregon and one before that at UCLA.
On Tuesday morning, I hit up two college scouting directors and a director of player personnel who’ve evaluated him. And said the season left them wanting a little more, based on Moore’s tape coming into the season.
“He’s got a lot of arm talent,” texted the director of player personnel, who compared him to Jordan Love. “First-round arm talent. He’s accurate. Not a super impressive athlete, not very fast, but I really like the way he throws from the pocket.”
“He’s a really talented passer—smooth, fluid, accurate,” said one of the college directors. “He’s just above the line athletically. He’s not great, but it’s not a hindrance. [C.J.] Carr and [Drew] Mestemaker are better athletes, [Fernando] Mendoza, [Ty] Simpson are better athletes. But it’s not a major concern. He can process; he’s smart. I think he’s tough, a good player, a starting quarterback. He’ll go in the first round, maybe not top 10. … Good, not great strength, that’s just above the line, too. His superpower is his accuracy.”
“He’s a talented passer, good arm, smooth mechanics,” said the other college director. “He’s not dynamic, but a good athlete who can throw to all three levels, can throw on the move. I would’ve liked to see more, answering the bell and playing well in big games. He didn’t get those opportunities. … He had a new coordinator, a new system, and never really got into the year with it. There are certainly a lot of questions, a lot to be figured out.”
To that end, the first college director said, “He’s gonna have to ace the spring process, which I think he will. He’s a really talented thrower, and routes on air, in shorts, he’ll look good.”
The director of player personnel agreed he’s a “first- or second-round pick” and that he’d want to sit down with the kid to dig further into it. Moore has a great reputation as a teammate and is considered to have a high football IQ. But team leadership will certainly look further into the decision now to walk away from college football, which Lanning implied was out of Moore’s control after Moore had returned to practice.
Anyway, it’s another example of where the quarterback class is going. Speaking of that …
• After asking around, I’d say Notre Dame’s Carr and Oklahoma State’s Mestemaker are hitting November as the college quarterbacks with the most momentum within the NFL scouting community. Moore is somewhere in that mix, as is ex-Cincinnati QB Brendan Sorsby, who’s sitting out this season after losing his eligibility for gambling.
After that, Miami’s Darian Mensah and Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss have a chance, but questions remain on the ceiling of both guys (and Chambliss will be 25 when the 2027 NFL season kicks off). UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava is out for the year, and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin is, too. South Carolina’s wildly gifted LaNorris Sellers never developed the way NFL folks hoped, and he’s now in his fourth year in college.
Texas’s Arch Manning, of course, will get a ton of attention. But he’s still where he has been: a talented, raw playmaker that doesn’t see or process the field fast enough, doesn’t play on schedule or particularly well from the pocket as a result of that, and could use another year in college. Of course, there’s always the shot that, as with Justin Fields, his ability to see and process the game faster just sort of is what it is.
Manning could go back to school. So could Carr and Mestemaker, too. But the flip side is what that decision did to Sorsby and Moore, and how seeing that could affect guys tasked with making a similar decision a couple of months from now.
Los Angeles Rams
Want to know how Rams coach Sean McVay turned the tide for a 2–4 team last week? He took wins and losses out of the equation for a group that’s heard for months now that they should never lose a game.
Interestingly, to a degree, he didn’t even make it about beating the Raiders.
“No one was down about our record,” third-year tailback Blake Corum told me. “No one thought about our record. No one thought about, Are we going to win Sunday? It was more so one day at a time. Like, how tough and how focused can we be today? How hard can we work today? We really didn’t think about wins and losses. It was more so just improving on our game, on our skill. And I think that’s what made it so great.”
Of course, process over results isn’t new in football. But it did work.
The Rams rushed for 199 yards. Matthew Stafford posted a tidy 114.8 rating. The defense held the Raiders to 2.8 yards per carry, and got to Kirk Cousins. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better. And has the potential to be a starter, which Corum seemed to agree with when I asked how the Rams could build on the win—“We emulate what we did last week.”
It’s worth recognizing the job Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich has done, given the circumstances. He lost Jalon Walker for the year in August. James Pearce Jr.’s predraft character questions came home to roost, leading to a suspension. And he’s working young guys in at a lot of key spots.
Yet Sunday, the result of the unbeaten 49ers’ five second-half possessions: interception, turnover on downs, touchdown, interception, fumble.
“I give ‘Brick’ all the credit, and the guys, for fighting,” Falcons coach Kevin Stefanski told me postgame. “We knew that was going to be a heavyweight fight today. You’re going up against Kyle Shanahan and Brock Purdy and that crew. You better be ready to go. … But sticking with the boxing analogy, we’re scrappy. We’re going to fight. And we got two rookie linebackers starting against a Kyle Shanahan offense. That’s scary. That’s not ideal.
“And were we perfect? Hell, no, we were not perfect. But if you keep fighting, you keep swinging, you have a chance. And then Kendal [Daniels] makes a play at the end. I mean, the kid one week ago is literally on his way to the hospital. Or maybe at the hospital at that time. And here he is making as big a play as there is in the game to help us win.”
Because, in large part, Ulbrich and the defensive coaches had him ready for that.
It’s interesting watching how the Giants’ running back situation has played out. Cam Skattebo was effectively benched in Week 6, after fumbling in Week 5. After Week 6, Najee Harris was cut after criticizing the team’s by-committee approach to the position. And in Week 6, there was Skattebo, breaking off a 42-yard run in overtime, which was followed immediately by Devin Singletary’s 30-yard game-winning scoring run.
In the wash, Harbaugh showed what he’s looking for at that position, and really every position.
“I mean, I think it was just us responding,” Singletary told me postgame. “We took a lot of criticism in the run game the past few weeks. In this league, you’re going to be challenged, and it’s all about how you respond. And I think we were able to respond the right way, and we can definitely build off of this.”
It’s old school, for sure—a sort of “spare-the-rod-and-spoil-the-child” approach—but if your players buy in, it works. And as Conor Orr and I discussed on the podcast this week, this is just the latest example of that.
🎙️🎙️ 10.26 Pod! 🎙️🎙️@ConorOrr and I go in on the @Giants' revival, Harbaugh's program, and @JJMcCarthy18's emergence in New York. And we cover all things from the Sunday of Week 7, Paris to Seattle and everything in between.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) October 26, 2026
Download AND subscribe: https://t.co/mcbTHE0IZT pic.twitter.com/nc4edZWLJG
Certainly, the biggest development from Monday would be the Cowboys’ run game emerging. Dallas rushed for 204 yards on 38 carries, a 5.4-yard average, despite only two runs of 12 yards or more—one for 15, the other for 30—reflecting how its offense simply consistently chipped away, and moved the line of scrimmage on Philly.
That said, the defense still needs improvement.
As for the Eagles, questions remain about whether they’ll be open for business, with players like Dallas Goedert, Tariq Woolen and Hollywood Brown in contract years, and others like Saquon Barkley potentially attractive to other teams. It’d make sense for Philly to accumulate some draft picks, as the team looks to get younger at certain spots over the next couple of years, with some cap debt to reckon with.
That said, the Eagles have already gotten a head start on that. In 2028, thanks to the A.J. Brown and Cam Jurgens trades, they have two first-rounders and two second-rounders.
I don’t think Klint Kubiak’s decision to stick with Kirk Cousins is about Mendoza’s readiness. I sense this is about the Raiders staying in contention and the offense’s ability to create the right environment around him. Mendoza’s work has been really good, and I don’t think the team would be uncomfortable putting him in a game. At this point, it’s about waiting for the right time.
Finally, Jay-Z being the Super Bowl halftime show makes me feel old in one particular way—at this point, the legendary rapper is an incredibly safe choice. He appeals to a wide range of folks. He’s proved to be as good a businessman as he is a performer. That said, I’m old enough to remember Reasonable Doubt coming out (1996), when his image was a little different. Which, again, is only a sign of my own age.
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