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Fernando Mendoza is widely regarded as the top quarterback and presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft when the Las Vegas Raiders go on the clock on April 23.
However, not everybody thinks the Indiana Hoosiers star should be the top pick. In fact, not everyone believes that Mendoza is even the top quarterback available in the draft.
Instead, according to ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky, both he and a number of NFL general managers believe that honor belongs to Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson.
Simpson, who is the consensus No. 2 quarterback in the draft, spent much of the early 2025 college football season as the leader to go No. 1 overall before a difficult second half saw him plummet down the ratings.
But do Orlovsky and ESPN as a whole have an ulterior motive for pushing Simpson over Mendoza?
Critics Believe Dan Orlovsky’s Ty Simpson Push Is Part Of A Larger CAA Conspiracy
“I understand his season finished strong, but there’s not a ton of big-time throws,” Orlovsky said of Mendoza on a recent episode of ESPN First Take. “You’re looking at a guy and saying first pick? I think through eight games, Ty Simpson’s tape from Alabama, through the first eight games of the season, is significantly more impressive than Fernando Mendoza’s.”
While Orlovsky didn’t explicitly say he’d take Simpson over Mendoza. He strongly insinuated as much, which led many fans to theorize that there must be an ulterior motive behind his take.
Dan orlovsky should not be able to go on national tv and hype up Ty Simpson when they are both represented by CAA sports https://t.co/pg6PqaDz3w
— John (@iam_johnw) March 24, 2026
One common theory is that Orlovsky was hyping up Simpson because both he and Simpson are repped by the same agency, CAA.
Dan Orlovsky Isn’t Buying That Theory
However, Orlovsky was quick to poke holes in that theory.
“I see a lot of the things that get said, I don’t address them all. But the agents work for us, not the other way around,” Orlovsky said. “They’re employed by us, respectfully, that’s how the business model is. CAA is a very big agency; they have a lot of people.”
Dan Orlovsky responds to claims that he prefers Ty Simpson to Fernando Mendoza because of his CAA affiliation.
“There’s no ulterior motive behind this”pic.twitter.com/S5Eh4igxSa
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 24, 2026
“I would just say I’m not nearly important enough to CAA financially for them to pay me to say something about a guy who might be the 20th pick in the draft,” Orlovsky continued. “I don’t make enough money for them to pay me money to say that. But people can think what they want. There is no motive behind this, there is no ulterior motive behind this.”
Orlovsky faced similar criticism when he backed Josh Allen over Lamar Jackson for the 2024 NFL MVP Award. Allen is also represented by CAA.
However, in all likelihood, he simply believes both of those takes. Several ESPN personalities are represented by CAA. As are a number of superstar athletes.
But the reality is, CAA is the world’s largest sports agency. If you wanted ESPN personalities represented by the agency to never discuss fellow clients, you wouldn’t have anything to talk about at all.
Could Orlovsky be working on behalf of CAA? Sure. Anything is possible, and only he and the agency know for certain. But it’s far more likely that Orlovsky is just sharing his honest beliefs, whether people like them or not.