Mel Kiper Jr. Predicts NFL Super Bowl, CFP Championship Teams & Winner in New Video with Field Yates

The 2026 NFL season is officially set to kick off this week, and some experts are already looking ahead to the end of the year.

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates released a new video in which they revealed their Super Bowl picks (42:40 mark) and their College Football Playoff championship game selections (27:55 mark).

Kiper said he considered the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Chargers and Houston Texans before ultimately choosing the Cincinnati Bengals as the AFC representative against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC. It would be the Cowboys' first time advancing past the Divisional Round of the playoffs since their last Super Bowl win over three decades ago, but Kiper picked the Bengals to hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Yates said he also considered the Bengals and initially chose the Texans before pivoting to the Ravens to make it out of the competitive AFC. He then revealed that his NFC pick is the Los Angeles Rams, who are entering the year as the betting favorites to win the Super Bowl. Despite the Rams' stacked roster, Yates picked the Ravens to win the Big Game in their first year under new head coach Jesse Minter.

As for their college football predictions, Kiper and Yates were on a similar track. Kiper picked Oregon to defeat Notre Dame in the national championship game, but Yates chose Ohio State over Oregon to end the College Football Playoff.

It will be fun to see how things play out over the college football and NFL seasons, and it's safe to say that both Kiper and Yates are hoping to achieve bragging rights when it's all said and done.