The 2026 NFL Draft is Tonight – What Does The Future Hold?

Tonight 32 young men’s lives will change forever. At 5pm PT the Raiders will kick off the 2026 NFL Draft, live from Pittsburgh. For the first time in history the city will host the NFL for it’s premier event of the offseason.

After tonight a majority of teams will have what they believe to be their future (a majority since not every team has a first round pick). Inevitably a majority of these players will not pan out as expected since even the best NFL scouts still have zero clue how “can’t miss prospects” will develop once in the league.

Below you will find my mock draft for tonight, along with my predictions for the careers of the players expected to be drafted over the next 3 days.

Mock Draft

*This mock draft does not predict any trades – which is arguably the most unlikely thing in sports, however I am not going to pretend to know which teams are going to trade up/down to get the guy they want.

Predictions

Offense

Fernando Mendoza will struggle – then succeed

The Heisman Trophy winner transferred to Indiana last season after spending three years as a – honestly – mediocre at best quarter back. In two seasons as the Golden Bears (dumb name, just be the bears) starting signal caller he threw 30 touchdown passes and ran for another 4, while throwing 16 interceptions. Then, he came to Bloomington. He threw for 41 TDs, rushed for 7, and only threw 6 interceptions on his way to winning a College Football National Championship. 

The loveable, innocent, wholesome Mendoza overcame his past mediocracy to immortalize himself in college football, and he will do so in the NFL as well. 

He will come out the gates as rookie and struggle, he will throw bad interceptions, he will get blindsided and drop the ball for a fumble-6, and everyone will drag him as a standard Raider top pick. However, he is a smart dude – he was committed to Yale before Cal, not bad schools I guess academically – and has the personality of Kirk Cousins, on steroids. He’s a good person and a great football player. He’ll make any adjustments needed, study beyond belief to prove people wrong when he starts to struggle. 

Three years from now he will be a top-10 quarterback in the league, come five years, top-5. 

QB Career Ranking Predictions:

Great Career (Multiple Pro-Bowls, minimum 2 All-Pros)

    Solid Career (maybe one or two Pro-Bowls, but mid-tier entire career)

    Average QB / Career Back-up (Few seasons as a starter, likely career backup)

    Zero Success / Very Bad (It’s going to be embarrassing when they see the field)

    May Never See The Field (bounce around for 3-4 years, then head to UFL)

    This is a bad QB class as a whole, on video and paper.

    Jeremiyah Love – Look back and say “He should have been #2 pick”

    I hate Notre Dame with a passion, but Jeremiyah Love is so damn good. He’s going to be around the league for a long time (well, long for a runningback – so what, like 7 years). He may not set records, but he is going to have a Christian McCaffrey esque career – just a great runningback. He’s going to be a problem for teams on the ground, and won’t be as much of a threat as McCaffrey in the passing game, but he has the ability to catch passes and could be thrust into catching more than he did at Notre Dame.

    Same As Every Year Before Predictions – Tight End Might Be Biggest Steal

    Every year I fall in love with a tight end and this year that is Eli Stowers out of Vanderbilt. He is going to fall to a team in the second round and has the potential to be a top-TE in the league. At 6’4-230lb, he isn’t built as a blocker, but his pass catching ability makes him a threat. The receiving strength he has outweighs the lesser blocking side of his game.

    Defense

    Jacob Rodriguez will have same success in NFL

    The undersized Rodriguez compiled a laundry list of accolades at Texas Tech. He brought home this season the defensive player of the year awards (Nagurski and Bednarik), best linebacker (Butkus), and one of 3 linebackers in last 10 years to win the Lombardi Award. While his 6’1-230lb stature isn’t that of the greats before him, his ability to make plays using speed and technique will carry him in the NFL.

    Caleb Downs might not be good

    Safeties high in the draft is a weird thing to me. Downs is undersized and while he was dominant at Ohio State, the NFL is a different animal. He won’t be covering 3rd stringer from Western Kentucky, he’ll be covering 6’5 men running 4.3 40’s. While he has tape performing against bigger guys, bigger guys in the NFL are harder, better, faster, stronger. (Thanks Kanye)

    Draft Day should be a national holiday – I hope you are celebrating tonight!

    Until Next Time,
    Trevor

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