Diego Pavia made history this past weekend, but not the kind anyone celebrates. The Vanderbilt QB became the first Heisman Trophy finalist to go undrafted since Jordan Lynch in 2014. For a guy who threw for 3,539 yards, rushed for 862 more, and accounted for 39 total touchdowns in the SEC last season, it was a stunning fall.
Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy weighed in on Diego Pavia going undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft, and his take was pretty straightforward. The NFL doesn’t have patience for guys who make noise without the measurables to back it up.
Dave Portnoy Believes Diego Pavia’s Attitude Cost Him a Spot in the 2026 NFL Draft
“The NFL is allergic to distractions,” Portnoy said flatly. “And you better have so much going for you in every other place that it overcomes it.”
The Barstool Sports founder saw it coming, though. Kind of, “I thought a late pick because of his tangibles or his competitiveness,” he said. But ultimately, he believes the off-field stuff pushed teams away. “I think if he’s not a loud mouth and a distraction, potentially he gets drafted.”
Diego Pavia is the first Heisman finalist since Jordan Lynch to go undrafted
“I think if he’s not a loud mouth and a distraction potentially he gets drafted, but the NFL is allergic to distractions… I’m rooting for him, I like him, but it wasn’t shocking.” – @stoolpresidente pic.twitter.com/4cOxCxwQ1F
— Wake Up Barstool (@wakeupbarstool) April 27, 2026
Pavia gave scouts plenty of reasons to hesitate before a single snap was even evaluated.
After losing the Heisman to Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza, he went on an expletive-filled public run that included targeting Heisman voters and showing up at a nightclub with a bottle service sign reading “F— Indiana.”
That’s the kind of headline that travels fast in NFL front offices. But Portnoy was careful not to write Pavia off entirely as a person. He drew a distinction between the antics and the player underneath them.
“I think the kid could probably play,” he added. “I was a huge Pavia fan and he’s competitive.”
He even went out of his way to separate Pavia from the ghosts of NFL misadventures past. “I think he really lives football, unlike Manziel,” Portnoy said, referencing Johnny Manziel’s well-documented spiral. “So I’m rooting for him. I like him.”
Still, rooting for someone and thinking a team will draft them are two different things. Portnoy laid out the cold reality pretty clearly. Size, age, attitude — the combination just didn’t add up for NFL decision-makers.
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Pavia measured in at 5-foot-10 at the combine, the shortest player there by more than two inches. His 40-yard dash came in at 4.76. Not exactly a number that makes scouts forget about everything else.
“If you’re gonna be a distraction in the NFL,” Portnoy continued, “you better be able to coach your team to the Super Bowl. That’s the only way you can be a distraction in the NFL.”
Pavia, clearly, isn’t there yet. Maybe not ever. He did catch a break on Sunday, though. The Baltimore Ravens extended a rookie minicamp invitation his way, giving him at least a shot to prove something in front of NFL coaches. It’s a long road from minicamp tryout to a 53-man roster, especially at quarterback. But it’s a door.
