POSITIONAL RANKINGS

McCoy missed all of last season in Knoxville with a torn ACL but was able to work out at Tennessee's Pro Day and ran and jumped like a first-round pick. But his medical examination at the NFL Scouting Combine revealed structural damage in that same knee that may shorten his NFL career. McCoy, SNS' number 15 prospect overall, then proceeded to tumble out of the first-round on Thursday evening. Based on pure ability, no CB, other than Mansoor Delane, grades out nearly as highly

Usually there is drama with the first pick of the draft but not so much this year since there is only one franchise QB in this draft, the Heisman Trophy winner. Mendoza will be given time to develop behind veteran Kirk Cousins and will not be rushed into the lineup in Vegas. Mendoza is an athletic and highly intelligent leader who has the arm strength and intangibles to be developed into a long-term NFL starter.

The 2026 NFL Draft starts tonight in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and runs through Saturday evening. The NFL Draft is the final stop of the NFL off-season and it serves as the final piece of talent acquisition for NFL teams before the new season truly begins. Next stop are mini-camps, OTAs (Organized Team Activities), UDFA try-outs, and finally, 2026 training camps open in July. 257 prospects will have their dreams come true this weekend but the journey is not over for these pros

That means for the 1,400 or so prospects that were not selected, their hope is to be offered a free agent contract or a formal try-out offer to have an opportunity to attend rookie mini-camp this summer. But as long-time fans know, adding quality UDFAs with starter’s traits allow an NFL team to build depth that is needed to navigate an NFL season. Let’s take a look at some prospects who are unlikely to get drafted but have the skills needed to contribute in the NFL.

As much as on-field production matters, the NFL loves prospects that checks boxes. Height, weight, hand size, arm length, wingspan, 40 time, vertical and broad jumps, and bench press reps are the primary boxes that scouts want checked. When a prospect with great on-field production does not check these boxes, their draft stock typically plummets. Bain and Howell were two of the most impactul EDGE defenders in the country. But both prospects have short arms and that worries N

The 2026 NFL Draft QB class looked like it could have been special at the beginning of the 2025 college football season but the reality of the class is there are few potential starting QBs in this draft and only one that could project to being a franchise QB - Indiana's Fernando Mendoza. Another ten or so prospects look like potential developmental starting QBs. The remaining QBs figure to fight for a roster, or more likely, a practice squad spot next fall.

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.