POSITIONAL RANKINGS

Entering the 2025 season, the QB class was supposed to be loaded but for a variety of reasons it has fallen well short of expectations - injury (Drew Allar), inexperience (Arch Manning), poor protection (Garrett Nussmeier), and inconsistent performances (Carson Beck & Cade Klubnik). As we stand now, only two QBs look like first-round draft picks at this point of the season - Fernando Mendoza (Indiana) and Ty Simpson (Alabama)

As the leaves begin to turn, we are getting a better sense of the quality and depth of the upperclassmen who are likely to populate the top of NFL draft boards next April. To say the QBs have under-performed would qualify as an understatement at this point in the season. Only Carson Beck has played like a first round draft pick through the first third of the season.

It is a very rare occurrence that a kicker gets drafted before the third day of the NFL Draft – the last kicker to get drafted on the second day of the draft was Michigan kicker Jake Moody who went to the 49ers with pick #99 in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft. No kicker or punter is projected to earn a Top 100 grade next spring although there may be as many as five specialists who earn a draftable grade for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Safety is a position that is often overlooked and undervalued in the NFL. NFL GMs tend to place the highest priority in the NFL Draft on QB, OT, WR, EDGE, IDL, and CB. In other words, positions that either support the QB or positions that directly attempt to stop the QB typically take priority early in a draft for an NFL squad. Saturday selections (rounds 4-7) are generally used on RBs, TEs, IOL, LB, Safeties, Kickers, and Punters. But the 2026 Safety class looks to potential

Last year at this time, the 2025 CB class had three outstanding prospects – Travis Hunter (Colorado), Will Johnson (Michigan), and Benjamin Morrison – that were considered potential Top 10 picks. Injuries suffered by Johnson and Morrison caused them to fall in last April’s draft but all three players remain top prospects. The 2026 CB class looks to have plenty of depth but there are no prospects that rank nearly as high as Hunter, who was drafted second overall by the Jaguars

From the vantage point of mid-August, the 2026 LB class may be one of the better classes to enter the NFL in the last decade with as many as a half dozen off the ball and inside LBs grading out as first-round picks, and that is not including Suntarine Perkins (Ole Miss) and Harold Perkins (LSU), who’s best skills are rushing the passer but project as LBs on early run downs in the NFL due to size concerns. Unfortunately for these athletes, the NFL Draft values LBs less than th

The quality of the 2026 defensive tackles and 5Ts (3-4 DE) pales in comparison to the prospects that NFL teams hauled from last year’s draft. There is neither the top end quality nor the depth that characterized the 2025 IDL class. But that does not mean there are not any IDL that look like potential starters or important depth pieces in the NFL next year. There is likely to be two or three IDL who will be selected in the first-round of the 2026 NFL Draft.

The 2026 Edge Rusher class looks to be on par with last year’s class, if not even slightly better, although there does not figure to be any prospects that are likely to grade out as highly as Penn State’s Abdul Carter (Giants). However, as many as a half dozen prospects could earn first round grades by the time the 2026 NFL Draft rolls around next April and the depth should provide NFL contributors even late on day three and into free agency.

The 2025 NFL Draft provided a deep and talented class of prospects that should provide several long-term NFL starters including Grey Zabel (Seattle), Donovan Jackson (Minnesota), Tyler Booker (Dallas), and Tate Ratledge (Detroit). The potential top center (OC) and guard (OG) prospects available next April may not be quite up to the level of the 2025 class.