NFL Draft

Top 10 interior defensive linemen of the 2026 NFL Draft:

We’re closing out our two-week venture into the trenches, as part of the annual positional draft breakdown series, with all interior defensive linemen. In this group, I include I include everything from a true zero-technique head-up over the center all the way out to a 4-/5-technique over the center. With how versatile front alignments have become, even though I incorporated what players are best suited to play as, and some as more defined in the roles they’ll be put into, most of them will be asked to wear different hats.

Right off the bat, I was pretty underwhelmed with this group. There’s a player atop the list who could’ve been a top-15 pick if he wasn’t still dealing with a lingering injury, but another name that was discussed in that range last summer has massively fallen off and there are hold-ups I have with most names beyond that point as well. Altogether, eight of the first ten names are all in the 30-to-100 range.

Once again, these grades do not reflect potential injury or off-field concerns, which is particularly important to point out for this crop of prospects. Let’s talk about them:

 

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NFL Draft

Top 10 interior offensive linemen of the 2026 NFL Draft:

We‘re already officially past the mid-way point of our positional draft rankings series, and after discussing offensive tackles and edge defenders last week, we’re moving to the interior, starting with the offensive side of the ball yet again. This is a group that started to grow on me the more I started to watch, although I did find it funny how many undersized centers and big guards with some movement restrictions there were, to cap the ceiling overall.

There’s one legitimate top 15 pick headlining the class. After that, there are more names I’d have be willing to target early in the second round, before the get to an extensive list of names in contention to have their names called some time over the rest of day two. Altogether, I can get to a number in the high 20s that I’d consider potential rotational players with developmental upside.

Let’s get into it:

 

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NFL Draft

Top 10 edge defenders of the 2026 NFL Draft:

After breaking down the offensive tackle class earlier in the week, we flip things around and look at the guys that’ll be coming off the edge against them, as part of the positional draft rankings series. This includes guys that I project to primarily line up anywhere from a five- to a nine-technique. Ohio State’s Arvell Reese and Michigan’s Jaishawn Barham already were listed among the (off-ball) linebackers.

With Reese not being part of this group for me, even if he may ultimately be deployed on the edge, we may not have that premier, clean prospect atop the ranks, but number one will be a top-five overall prospect in the class for me. I do see a bit of a drop-off to the next name and then an even bigger one to the handful that come after. However, ultimately I would be fine with the entire top 10 coming off the board within the first 50 picks, and even the two guys that just missed the cut for me, could easily go at the end of the second round. Plus, then there are probably around 30 total guys that I’d deem “draftable”.

This is how the class stacks up for me:

 

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Top 10 offensive tackles of the 2026 NFL Draft:

We’ve arrived at the big boy portion of this positional draft breakdown series, where we’ll start with the offensive tackles before transitioning to edge defenders and then moving on to the interior of the trenches next week. For clarity’s sake – you will find names like Iowa’s Gennings Dunker and Duke’s Brian Parker II among the “IOL” list. And I don’t take (current) injury or other concerns into account for these rankings, since I don’t have all the information, while individual teams will alter their boards based on scheme fit/guidelines.

Although we don’t have this one perfectly clean OT prospect in the class, I believe the top seven names are all worthy of going in the first round. After that, I see a steep drop-off, to where I wouldn’t touch anyone else until the third round. In fact, despite there being a few interesting developmental options, with a couple of massive guys that present certain flaws, outside of this top ten, I would only consider an investment either very late on day two or early on day three.

This is what it looks like:

 

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NFL Draft

Top 10 cornerbacks of the 2026 NFL Draft

After taking a look at a deep wide receiver class earlier this week, we’re taking at the looks that are going to cover them – the corners. This group includes what you’d categorize as boundary, field-side and slot guys (nickels). As a quick note, you will find Arizona’s Treydan Stukes on the safety list.

As always, my rankings are all based personal evaluations, not taking current injuries or potential off-field concerns into account, since I don’t have insights into medical reports and similar information. And of course, since I’m not working for a specific team, these projections don’t take scheme fit or certain benchmarks into account.

While one of them missed the entire 2025 season with injury, based on the tape alone, we have two top 15-level prospects, another one firmly inside the first round on my end and a couple of others I could easily sneak in late. The top eight names may all end up being among the first 50 players selected, and then there are several intriguing guys, who may lack some refinement but offer certain qualities teams may want to invest solid draft capital into.

This is how they stack up for me:

 

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NFL Draft

Top 10 wide receivers of the 2026 NFL Draft:

We enter week two of our positional draft rankings series, and already I had to push the release of this iteration back, because of sheer number of draftable wide receivers in this class. I will have watched 35-40 guys when this comes out, and I still feel like I should run through a few more names.

Once again, all these rankings are based on my personal evaluations, not taking current injuries or any potential off-field issues into account, considering I don’t have insights into medical reports and other such information. And of course, since I’m not operating for a singular team, these projections don’t scheme fit or team-specific guidelines/benchmarks into account.

Although we don’t have that true number one receiver who has checked all the boxes in the pre-draft process, my number one guy has top ten ability, there are four other names with first-round grades, and even beyond the 13 total that I’ll discuss here, including three that I listed as “just missed the cut”, there are prospects worthy of hearing their names called on day two.

This is how they stack up for me:

 

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NFL Draft

Top 10 linebackers of the 2026 NFL Draft:

This year’s positional NFL Draft rankings series is underway, and we switch over to the defensive side of the ball for the first time, with a highly intriguing linebacker class. All these rankings are based on my personal evaluations, not taking current injuries or any potential off-field issues into account, considering I don’t have insights into medical reports and other such information. And of course, since I’m not operating for a singular team, I’m trying to be “scheme agnostic” in my projections, while the 32 NFL front offices will study these players through the lens of what they value in their buildings and maybe even non-negotiables they have for size/testing measurables.

You can make a strong case that the breadth of talent within this linebacker class is as good as any other position. There are two names that’ll most likely end up within my personal top five overall prospects, two guys would be worthy of going somewhere else in round one, and then five more linebackers firmly have day two value based on my evaluations. Even beyond that, depending on the role and profile you’re seeking, there are interesting names that could make an impact to some capacity, potentially even with a couple of other true starters.

This is how they stack up for me:

 

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NFL Draft

Top 10 running backs of the 2026 NFL Draft:

It’s time to kick off this year’s positional rankings series for the NFL Draft, and as always, we’ll start with running backs. For the next six weeks, we’ll alternate between offense and defense, sort of going by who would go up against each other in actual games – meaning linebackers as the contrast to this on Friday, offensive tackles and edge defenders, etc.

These lists are based on my personal evaluations, not taking current injuries or any potential off-field issues into account, since I simply don’t have insights into medical reports and other such information. And of course, this isn’t put together for any specific team or scheme, since all 32 NFL front offices will have these names stacked up differently, with regards to the people in-house.

Although we have a blue-chip prospect at the top, who will end up inside the top five of my own big board, this running back class unfortunately doesn’t have the same quality beyond that as we’ve seen in years past. I only view two other names as worthy of going in the second round and only three additional ones in the third. The rest of the top ten is rounded out by names you can make a case for early on day three, depending on your preferred flavor. Beyond that, there are intriguing rotational players and guys who can fill specific roles, but not the type of diamonds in the rough as I’ve highlighted at different points previously.

Let’s get into these names:

 

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NFL Draft

Biggest risers and fallers coming out of the 2026 NFL Combine

The 2026 NFL Scouting combine is in the books and it’s time to talk about which prospects helped/hurt their draft stock the most! Although the film remains the main piece for their evaluation, having official measurements, comparable testing numbers and seeing them together on the same field, provides helpful context. I’ll give you one riser and faller at each position, along with a few additional relevant names.

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NFL Free Agency, NFL Offseason

One fit for each NFL team in 2026 free agency:

The 2026 NFL offseason is officially here and before we fully dive into draft content, I’m releasing my annual version of a free agency preview, matching all 32 teams with one player about to hit the open market.

We’ll go through each of them, from most to least available effective cap space, quickly discuss their roster make-up, which areas they’re looking to address and then lay out which specific player would make sense, along with a contract projection.

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