This is the biggest time of the year for longtime NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay.
Throughout his time at ESPN and into his new digs at The Ringer, NFL fans and media look to McShay for player analysis and intel, as well as the latest rumors about what teams are thinking.
So far this year, draft week for McShay has been riddled with inconsistency. He has waffled on both the No. 2 and No. 3 picks multiple times in the final days leading up to Thursday’s draft. And to make matters worse, as if fans weren’t picking apart his confusing reporting in recent days, McShay also took time to tout several prop bets involving those picks as part of a partnership with FanDuel.
It all started Sunday into Monday, when McShay released an episode of his podcast, NFL Draft Week Buzz, as well as his latest “What I’m Hearing” column. McShay projected Ohio State’s Arvell Reese to go No. 2, a surprising switch after the New York Jets had seemingly been locked in on Texas Tech’s David Bailey most of the offseason. A pick later, McShay joined in the sudden chorus of NFL voices connecting Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love to the Arizona Cardinals at No. 3.
Later on Monday, McShay shared a sponsored post on X touting prop bets on the draft slots for Love and Ohio State’s Sonny Styles.
To be clear, these are bets for which the action and the odds are directly affected by McShay’s reporting. Back in 2023, Shams Charania found himself in a similar conundrum, and the backlash was so significant that FanDuel eventually offered a statement defending him and its business practices.
Nobody knows for sure what will happen on Thursday night in Pittsburgh. But the Arizona rumors, coming after significant noise that the team was trying to trade back, have all the makings of a smokescreen.
The same day, in an appearance on The Ryen Russillo Show, fellow NFL draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah even tried to temper McShay’s reporting on the Cardinals’ interest in Love.
“It was so quiet, then at the end has gotten so loud, and it is everywhere,” Jeremiah said. “Anybody you talk to, they have all said the same thing: ‘Love at three, Love at three, Love at three.’ Well, I’m like, nobody was saying that a week ago … it doesn’t pass the smell test. And is it, ‘We want out of here, so who do we need to convince people, who are you scaring into taking him?'”
During Jeremiah’s riff, McShay also offered skepticism, admitting “it reeks.”
Undaunted, McShay offered further intel on Tuesday, reversing entirely on his Jets projection and adding significant caution to the Love-to-Arizona rumors.
“After releasing my Monday morning buzz column in which I predicted Reese over Bailey, I was told by a source to revisit that intel,” McShay wrote in his newsletter. “I’m now of the belief that New York views Bailey — a proven pass rusher — as the safer pick than Reese, despite Reese being a better talent and having a floor of a damn-good off-ball LB who can rush at times.”
“And I get the ‘flip-flopping’ accusations,” McShay continued. “But I’m not here to be stubborn — I’m here to keep you up to date with the info that’s being circulated leaguewide. What matters most is getting it right by draft day.”
McShay also noted that he had tied Love to Arizona throughout April, but went harder on the rumor this week after hearing “just how much influence” one particular voice in the Cardinals’ front office — who McShay reported has long been in on Love — actually had.
McShay is right that to the extent that draft projections matter at all, the point is to be as accurate as possible by Thursday night, not Monday or Tuesday morning. However, his promotion of those prop bets underscores a major reason anyone pays attention to his work in the first place: to make money off his intel.
We’d love to see McShay tell someone who bet big on Reese at No. 2 after he reported it that “what matters most is getting it right by draft day.”
Considering McShay recently labeled NFL reporter Ollie Connolly a “scumbag” for reporting public information about edge-rushing prospect Reuben Bain Jr., it’s not a great time for him to be waffling on key information or raising ethical concerns over his gambling partnership.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.