2026 NFL Draft: Mel Kiper, Field Yates, Jordan Reid release eye-opening 3 round mock draft for ESPN

The 2026 NFL Draft is less than a month away, and that means the time to put out the perfect mock draft is drawing to a close. To that end, ESPN has released one of its most comprehensive projections to date.

Analysts Mel Kiper, Matt Miller, Jordan Reid and Field Yates teamed up to create a complete three-round mock draft. They took turns picking in the mock draft, which should smooth out any potentially wild runs.

Let’s take a look at how their mock draft turned out. We begin below.

1. Las Vegas Raiders: QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana

The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and national championship-winning quarterback seems to be a slam dunk favorite as the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. He’s the kind of player who can change a program’s fortunes — just ask Indiana.

In his lone year at Indiana, Mendoza threw for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns, against just six interceptions. He also ran for 276 yards and seven scores. The perfect candidate to lead off ESPN’s mock draft.

2. New York Jets: EDGE Arvell Reese, Ohio State

The Jets need a lot of help defensively, and Reese was the best that Ohio State — and possibly college football — had to offer at his position. He was absolutely everywhere in 2025.

This season, Reese logged 69 tackles, 10.0 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks. He also had two passes defended, showing some ability to be disruptive in the passing lanes.

3. Arizona Cardinals: OT Francis Mauigoa, Miami

The offensive line could be a hard-hit position in the top 10 picks of the NFL Draft, even though ESPN isn’t predicting a huge run in this mock draft. Still, the Arizona Cardinals are tapping into the deep pool early. Here, Francis Mauigoa comes off the board.

Mauigoa was the star of a very good Miami offensive line, one that helped the Hurricanes reach the national title game. At 6-foot-6, 335 pounds, Mauigoa is the ideal mold for an offensive tackle.

4. Tennessee Titans: EDGE David Bailey, Texas Tech

ESPN generally has a pretty good balance between offense and defense early on in this mock draft, and there are a few directions Tennessee could go here. Few better places to turn than David Bailey from a stout Texas Tech defense.

Bailey was a first-team AP All-American this season. He also earned a slew of other awards after finishing with 47 tackles, 18.0 tackles for a loss, 13.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and three passes defended.

5. New York Giants: RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame

The first running back off the board goes to a team that has been searching for answers at the position since Saquon Barkley departed. The Giants haven’t had a 1,000-yard tailback since 2022.

Love is coming off a season in which he tallied 199 carries for 1,372 yards. He was great in the big games and against cupcakes, scoring 18 times in every game but the season opener against Miami.

6. Cleveland Browns: WR Makai Lemon, USC

Cleveland has a lot of issues to figure out on offense. Not the least of those is significantly upgrading the talent in the skill position spots for whoever might man the quarterback gig in 2026.

Enter Lemon, who was a superstar while at USC playing in Lincoln Riley‘s offense. Lemon is fresh off a 79-catch, 1,156-yard season in which he scored 11 times. He’s big-play potential personified.

7. Washington Commanders: S Caleb Downs, Ohio State

The defensive trend in this mock draft picks back up at No. 7 overall. This time, Washington snatches arguably the best defensive back in the class with Caleb Downs out of Ohio State.

Downs emerged on the scene as a star freshman at Alabama before transferring to Ohio State. With the Buckeyes, he won a national title. This season, Downs tallied 68 tackles, 5.0 tackles for a loss, a sack, two interceptions and two passes defended.

8. New Orleans Saints: LB Sonny Styles, Ohio State

New Orleans looks to shore up its defense with an early pick out of Ohio State, which provides plenty of options in the top end of the draft. In this mock draft, it’s Sonny Styles going six spots after teammate Arvell Reese.

Pro Football Focus pointed to an 87.4 run-defense grade, a 91.6 tackling grade and an 86.9 coverage grade as reasons justifying a possible selection this high. Styles tallied 82 tackles, 6.5 tackles for a loss, a sack, an interception, a forced fumble and three passes defended during his final year with the Buckeyes.

9. Kansas City Chiefs: TE Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon

Kansas City has a glaring need at running back, and there’s some hope that Jeremiyah Love could fall this far. Not in this mock draft. Instead, the Chiefs turn to the tight end out of Oregon.

Sadiq doesn’t have a long track record of success in college. But he did have a breakout season in 2025. He tallied 51 catches for 560 yards and eight scores last fall for the high-powered Ducks.

10. Cincinnati Bengals: CB Mansoor Delane, LSU

The mock draft continues with another defensive pick, this time the second one in the secondary. Cincinnati opts for one of the best pure corners in the draft in the LSU product.

Delane, in his final season, racked up 45 tackles. He also picked off two passes and broke up 11 passes, showing himself to be extremely disruptive in the passing game.

Rest of the 1st Round – Mock Draft

11. Miami Dolphins: WR Carnell Tate, Ohio State
12. Dallas Cowboys: EDGE Rueben Bain, Miami
13. Los Angeles Rams (from ATL): WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State
14. Baltimore Ravens: CB Jermod McCoy, Tennessee
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: EDGE Akheem Mesidor, Miami
16. New York Jets (from IND): WR Omar Cooper, Indiana
17. Detroit Lions: OT Monroe Freeling, Georgia
18. Minnesota Vikings: S Dillon Thieneman, Oregon
19. Carolina Panthers: OL Spencer Fano, Utah
20. Dallas Cowboys (from GB): EDGE Zion Young, Missouri
21. Pittsburgh Steelers: OG Vega Ioane, Penn State
22. Los Angeles Chargers: EDGE Keldric Faulk, Auburn
23. Philadelphia Eagles: OT Max Iheanachor, Arizona State
24. Cleveland Browns: OT Kadyn Proctor, Alabama
25. Chicago Bears: DT Peter Woods, Clemson
26. Buffalo Bills: CB Avieon Terrell, Clemson
27. San Francisco 49ers: WR KC Concepcion, Texas A&M
28. Houston Texans: DT Kayden McDonald, Ohio State
29. Kansas City Chiefs (from LAR): CB Brandon Cisse, South Carolina
30. Miami Dolphins (from DEN): S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, Toledo
31. New England Patriots: EDGE Cashius Howell, Texas A&M
32. Seattle Seahawks: EDGE R Mason Thomas, Oklahoma

Round 2

33. New York Jets: QB Ty Simpson, Alabama
34. Arizona Cardinals: EDGE TJ Parker, Clemson
35. Tennessee Titans: WR Denzel Boston, Washington
36. Las Vegas Raiders: DT Christen Miller, Georgia
37. New York Giants: LB CJ Allen, Georgia
38. Houston Texans (from WSH): OG Chase Bisontis, Texas A&M
39. Cleveland Browns: OG Emmanuel Pregnon, Oregon
40. Kansas City Chiefs: OT Blake Miller, Clemson
41. Cincinnati Bengals: WR Zachariah Branch, Georgia
42. New Orleans Saints: CB Colton Hood, Tennessee
43. Miami Dolphins: OT Caleb Lomu, Utah
44. New York Jets (from DAL): CB Chris Johnson, San Diego State
45. Baltimore Ravens: OG Keylan Rutledge, Georgia Tech
46. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: LB Anthony Hill, Texas
47. Indianapolis Colts: EDGE Malachi Lawrence, UCF
48. Atlanta Falcons: DT Caleb Banks, Florida
49. Minnesota Vikings: RB Jadarian Price, Notre Dame
50. Detroit Lions: EDGE Jaishawn Barham, Michigan
51. Carolina Panthers: LB Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech
52. Green Bay Packers: DT Lee Hunter, Texas Tech
53. Pittsburgh Steelers: WR Chris Brazzell, Tennessee
54. Philadelphia Eagles: WR Germie Bernard, Alabama
55. Los Angeles Chargers: OG Jalen Farmer, Kentucky
56. Jacksonville Jaguars: LB Josiah Trotter, Missouri
57. Chicago Bears: EDGE Dani Dennis-Sutton, Penn State
58. San Francisco 49ers: OT Caleb Tiernan, Northwestern
59. Houston Texans: LB Jake Golday, Cincinnati
60. Chicago Bears (from BUF): S Kyle Louis, Pittsburgh
61. Los Angeles Rams: CB D’Angelo Ponds, Indiana
62. Denver Broncos: TE Eli Stowers, Vanderbilt
63. New England Patriots: EDGE Gabe Jacas, Illinois
64. Seattle Seahawks: CB Keionte Scott, Miami

Round 3

65. Arizona Cardinals: QB Carson Beck, Miami
66. Tennessee Titans: OL Gennings Dunker, Iowa
67. Las Vegas Raiders: WR Skyler Bell, UConn
68. Philadelphia Eagles (from NYJ): EDGE Keyron Crawford, Auburn
69. Houston Texans (from NYG): CB Chandler Rivers, Duke
70. Cleveland Browns: CB Keith Abney, Arizona State
71. Washington Commanders: WR Ted Hurst, Georgia State
72. Cincinnati Bengals: DT Domonique Orange, Iowa State
73. New Orleans Saints: WR Chris Bell, Louisville
74. Kansas City Chiefs: EDGE Romello Height, Texas Tech
75. Miami Dolphins: EDGE Derrick Moore, Michigan
76. Pittsburgh Steelers (from DAL): S AJ Haulcy, LSU
77. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: TE Oscar Delp, Georgia
78. Indianapolis Colts: C Sam Hecht, Kansas State
79. Atlanta Falcons: CB Davison Igbinosun, Ohio State
80. Baltimore Ravens: WR Malachi Fields, Notre Dame
81. Jacksonville Jaguars (from DET): DT Gracen Halton, Oklahoma
82. Minnesota Vikings: C Connor Lew, Auburn
83. Carolina Panthers: C Logan Jones, Iowa
84. Green Bay Packers: CB Treydan Stukes, Arizona
85. Pittsburgh Steelers: QB Drew Allar, Penn State
86. Los Angeles Chargers: CB Malik Muhammad, Texas
87. Miami Dolphins (from PIT): CB Daylen Everette, Georgia
88. Jacksonville Jaguars: WR Brenen Thompson, Mississippi State
89. Chicago Bears: WR Antonio Williams, Clemson
90. Miami Dolphins (from HOU): TE Max Klare, Ohio State
91. Buffalo Bills: WR Ja’Kobi Lane, USC
92. Dallas Cowboys (from SF): CB Julian Neal, Arkansas
93. Los Angeles Rams: QB Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
94. Miami Dolphins (from DEN): CB TJ Hall, Iowa
95. New England Patriots: WR Bryce Lance, North Dakota State
96. Seattle Seahawks: RB Mike Washington, Arkansas
97. Minnesota Vikings: WR De’Zhaun Stribling, Ole Miss
98. Philadelphia Eagles: TE Michael Trigg, Baylor
99. Pittsburgh Steelers: DT Darrell Jackson, Florida State
100. Jacksonville Jaguars (from DET)L: S Genesis Smith, Arizona