I completely love the NFL draft. I really like the tape. I really like the evaluations. I really like the projections and anticipation. And we’re almost there — the 2026 draft kicks off with Spherical 1 on April 23. You’ll be able to catch me on the ESPN set for all three days of the motion.
The tape is not the whole reality on prospects. The actual evaluation comes from spending time with them and getting a way of who they’re; that is why staff interviews and visits are so vital. However the tape additionally does not lie, and after spending hours and hours watching this class, I needed to choose a couple of prospects who actually caught my eye. There are my guys within the class — the gamers I might be standing on the desk to draft.
The primary 5 are first-rounders who can be stars. I can not get sufficient of them and could be ecstatic to land any of them. The second 5 are sleepers I actually like. I might be focusing on them on Day 2 if I had been operating an NFL staff, and I believe they may all simply outperform their projected draft slots.
That is Yr 4 of constructing this checklist, and it begins with a star operating again anticipated to go within the prime 10 and ends with a Day 2 security who has a ton of upside.
Leap to:
First-rounders that I really like
Sleepers who may very well be stars
5 surefire stars in Spherical 1
Peak: 6-0 | Weight: 212
Each NFL common supervisor and head coach is on a mission presently of 12 months so as to add offensive gamers who can win video games on a single play. Love is that man. He can break an enormous play from wherever on the sector. He had 11 runs of 20 or extra yards final season, and 6 of them went for touchdowns.
Love has the facility, velocity, open-field elusiveness and flexibility to strike within the run recreation and go recreation. His route operating is nearly as good as most NFL extensive receivers. To that time, I assumed he regarded like a wideout caught operating routes with the operating backs on the mix. He drops his weight and adjustments course on a dime. Love hauled in 27 passes for 280 yards final season.
Do not get caught up within the debate about whether or not operating backs must be drafted within the prime 10. This younger man will not be a operating again. He’s a game-changing playmaker who piled up 1,652 yards and 21 touchdowns from scrimmage final season. On the finish of the day, that is what each staff desires.
Peak: 6-5 | Weight: 244
There isn’t any such factor as a can’t-miss prospect in a sport that’s so depending on environment and the flexibility to bodily persevere. However … Kinds is a can’t-miss prospect.
Together with his mix of distinctive bodily traits — measurement, velocity and fluid athleticism — and diamond-level character, I might sleep very effectively at evening realizing that I had drafted a participant who may very well be the face of the franchise. He completed final season with 77 tackles, a sack, a compelled fumble and an interception. After which, he confirmed off his explosion on the mix, with a 43½-inch vertical leap. He does all of it.
Kinds is simply scratching the floor of his potential as a multitool defender. He can achieve this many issues to make the protection higher — an important of which is perhaps his capability to guide and make these round him higher. Kinds is made for large roles in huge moments, and he is an extremely secure prospect in that he is already a professional. He is a foundational participant.
Peak: 6-4 | Weight: 320
At its core, soccer is about dominant, bodily play alongside the traces of scrimmage. And there was no one in faculty soccer final season who had extra snaps of impose-your-will play alongside the offensive line than Ioane. He’s an absolute tank at 320 kilos, and he has the flexibility to line up wherever on the road. Ioane performs with energy, agility, velocity and a stage of nastiness when ending blocks that’s actually distinctive.
Any entrance workplace that believes in constructing from the within out and staying robust down the center — one thing I’ve talked about for the previous decade — ought to see Ioane as essential foundational participant.
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Olaivavega Ioane’s NFL draft profile
Take a look at a few of the prime highlights from Penn State’s Olaivavega Ioane.
Peak: 6-2 | Weight: 203
Tyson is the perfect extensive receiver within the 2026 draft. Full cease.
He has all of it … measurement, explosive quickness, physique management, power and strong top-end velocity. He can transfer between the X, Z and slot receiver positions seamlessly and might put a number of stress on an opposing protection by exploiting matchups wherever on the sector. Tyson had 75 catches, 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2024 earlier than posting 61 catches, 711 yards and eight TDs in 9 video games in 2025.
The principle factor holding again Tyson from being broadly thought of as a surefire celebrity is his important harm historical past. He suffered a torn ACL/MCL/PCL in 2022, had a damaged collarbone in 2024 and handled hamstring points in 2025. The conversations amongst staff medical workers members relating to Tyson’s future availability projection can be fascinating. However I consider that the danger is definitely worth the reward. This man can be particular.
Peak: 6-0 | Weight: 199
A really sensible and achieved extensive receivers coach advised me a very long time in the past that one of the vital vital differentiating traits that he seems to be for when evaluating wideouts — past constantly catching the ball — is how shortly and successfully they will transition after the catch. Do they get the ball upfield? Can they make defenders miss? Can they break tackles? And have they got the velocity to show a brief go into an extended acquire?
Cooper checks these bins. He averaged 7.3 yards after the catch final season and confirmed no worry snagging the ball in visitors. He made probably the most tough catch of the season in a got-to-have-it state of affairs in opposition to Penn State. And Cooper, who had 937 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2025, can play within the slot or outdoors on the X or Z spot.
When he ripped off a 4.42 within the 40-yard sprint on the mix, that sealed it for me. This man can be a star on the NFL stage.
5 sleepers outdoors Spherical 1
Peak: 5-11 | Weight: 193
Activate any tape of the Hurricanes in 2025, and I assure you if Scott was on the sector, he was making performs. He had 67 tackles, 13 tackles for loss, 5 sacks, two interceptions, two compelled fumbles and 4 go breakups final season.
He’s the last word competitor and performs the sport with a ardour for contact. He possesses next-level soccer IQ and the velocity/quickness to be a three-down issue on the nickel place, and that has turn into crucial for the perfect NFL defenses. I noticed instances within the 4.32-4.35 vary for his professional day 40-yard sprint. That is excellent. We should always hear his identify known as early on Day 2, in my view.
Peak: 6-0 | Weight: 220
I’ve talked about Louis a ton this spring, and never simply because he performed at Pitt.
Bear in mind how impactful former Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks was in opposition to the run and the go throughout his nice NFL profession? I am not saying Louis is Brooks, however the Corridor of Famer’s model of play is precisely what I see after I watch Louis. He has the motion abilities of a defensive again and the arms of a large receiver. And I see the instincts, key-and-diagnose traits and total toughness within the field in opposition to the run to be an elite-level playmaker within the execs the second he steps onto the soccer area. He can get off blocks, defend the run and make powerful tackles (77 of them final season, together with 7.5 for loss).
“He simply jogs my memory a lot of Derrick Brooks.” @LRiddickESPN says @Pitt_FB‘s Kyle Louis has all the things it takes to be a star within the NFL 📈 pic.twitter.com/y2g9EbcVRr
— ACC Community (@accnetwork) March 30, 2026
Day 1 starter with Professional Bowl upside. Louis is a real baller made for right this moment’s recreation, and I really like him as a quintessential Will linebacker for any protection.
Peak: 6-4 | Weight: 316
Georgia Tech coach Brent Key has mentioned that Rutledge has the potential to be the perfect offensive lineman he has coached, which is saying one thing. Rutledge is a block of granite, taking part in with leverage and leg drive. He has the athleticism to play in zone or man run-game blocking schemes, and you’ll sense his competitiveness and need to place defenders on their backs.
Rutledge might want to refine his go professional method, however he has a powerful punch and wonderful anchor. Some consider he may very well be an All-Professional middle on the NFL stage. I do not care what place he finally ends up taking part in; I might need him on my staff.
Peak: 6-1 | Weight: 188
When a participant finishes his faculty profession with 15 interceptions, there’s little doubt that he has the instincts to anticipate route mixtures, get good breaks on the soccer and create turnovers. Clark is a giant play ready to occur, whether or not his alignment begins within the field as a nickel or dime LB, or in split-safety/single-high center coverages within the again finish, the place he can actually showcase his 4.41 velocity and vary. Oh, and he’ll assist the run and strike as a tackler, too. This all provides as much as the sort of prospect that groups will covet subsequent week.
Peak: 6-1 | Weight: 190
He is perhaps flying beneath the radar for the common football-viewing fan, however NFL groups know Stukes’ upside. He has good measurement and distinctive practical explosiveness. Stukes ran a 4.33-second 40 and posted a 38-inch vertical leap on the mix.
Stukes can play nickel, dime, free security or robust security as a result of he’s good, instinctive and an alpha competitor who likes to hit. Moreover, he is an effective blitzer. He’s equally expert as a person or zone defender, and he has distinctive vary and ball abilities as a deep-field security. Stukes has seven profession picks, together with 4 final season. There may be nothing to not like about Stukes … nothing in any respect.
