ESPN releases 2026 NFL Mock Draft not including Arch Manning

We’re a week out from what was the 2025 NFL Draft in Green Bay. Now, analysts and experts are already turning their attention to the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh a year from now.

ESPN’s Jordan Reid released his first mock of the 2026 NFL Draft on Thursday. With that, he did preface that it was very early, for these prospects and the franchises in their respective slots, with plenty to change ahead of next April. Still, after basing the draft order on their listed odds as well as tiebreakers before pairing that with information and intel, this mock came from that.

Clemson led the way in this projection with four selections in the first round, including three picks in the Top 10. Penn State, with each of its picks in the Top 20, and Oregon tied for second then with three apiece. Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, Texas, and Utah also had a pair each. That had, as far as conference, the Southeastern Conference leading with 13 selections, the Big Ten in second with nine, the Atlantic Coast Conference, led by the Tigers’ total, with five, and then four from the Big 12.

Defense then wins out positionally in this projected draft. There are nine total picks in the trenches, with six defensive ends and three defensive tackles. There are also five cornerbacks and seven in total for the secondary. The draft also has five offensive tackles. Then, at quarterback, there are four at the position, with each taken in the top eight.

Here’s how Reid has mocked the 2026 NFL Draft a year out from teams being on the clock:

1. Clemson QB Cade Klubnik – Cleveland Browns (via Tennessee Titans)

Despite the Titans being odds-on currently to be at No. 1 again in 2026 as they were in 2025, Reid has Cleveland using one of their two first-round picks, which it got to in the trade with Jacksonville for the pick that would eventually be ATH Travis Hunter, to move up to the top pick. He then has the Browns taking yet another quarterback after taking two in this latest draft last week, with Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders in “a bigger swing next April”.

Klubnik developed well over his first two years as a starter with the Tigers, coming off a junior season where he posted 63.4% completion for 3,639 yards, 36 touchdowns, and six interceptions in passing while being mobile enough as well. If he continues that through his senior year and into the draft process, Reid thinks Klubnik “could be the long-term answer” for Cleveland.

2. Alabama OT Kadyn Proctor – New York Giants

Proctor, a former top prospect at offensive tackle out of high school, is coming into his junior year as a starter again for ‘Bama. Continue what he has done through two seasons in Tuscaloosa and he should be a top pick in next year’s draft.

Reid sees plenty of size and traits, which are currently better in the run game than the pass to him, to think this could be the case for Proctor. That could land him with the Giants, as New York still recently has been near the most sacks allowed in the league, as a piece on that line for years to come.

3. Clemson DT Peter Woods – Tennessee Titans (via Cleveland Browns)

Tennessee could have traded out of the top pick this year, before selecting Miami QB Cam Ward, and is projected to do so next year here. That said, Reid has it working out for them with them ending up with potentially the top player on his big board by this time next year in Woods.

Woods, coming into his junior year with the Tigers, has 54 tackles, three sacks, and a pair of forced fumbles. That, paired with “a nonstop motor”, could make him the next piece added to the rebuild in Music City.

4. South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers – New York Jets

Being here at fourth overall would suggest to Reid that the Jets’ first season under Aaron Glenn did not go well in what would be a 10th straight losing record for the franchise. That, to him, would mean picking another quarterback coming out of this upcoming season with Justin Fields under center.

That’s where Sellers, a younger prospect with athletic traits, comes in after his second year as a starter after posting 230.9 total yards per game with 25 total touchdowns in his first year with the Gamecocks. More tape, with more production to go with his build, is what could get him to be not just one of the top college quarterbacks this fall but one of the first off the board in the draft next spring.

5. Ohio State DB Caleb Downs – Cleveland Browns

Back up again for the second of their top five picks, Cleveland could then pair that quarterback with a defensive selection. That would possibly end the Browns up with arguably the best one at the collegiate level, who happens to play two hours down the road, in Caleb Downs.

Downs, a former top prospect himself, has been incredibly productive through a season apiece at Alabama and Ohio State with 94.5 tackles a year with 10 deflections, four interceptions, and one forced fumble and recovery while also being capable as a punt returner. As “the complete package at safety — active, instinctive and capable of shutting down the middle of the field”, Cleveland could get quite a haul in the top five here with both Klubnik and Downs.

6. Oregon OT Isaiah World – Las Vegas Raiders

Las Vegas is building its roster up for its first season under Pete Carroll. The Raiders could continue to do so in the next draft with a top-rated offensive tackle in World.

World, who will be at Oregon this season after transferring in from Nevada, was the top tackle and one of the best players in the portal after his career in the Wolfpack, including no sacks allowed last season. Doing something similar in the Big Ten could be what makes him “the first tackle off the board” for Reid rather than Proctor like he has it here.

7. LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier – Los Angeles Rams (via Carolina Panthers)

This is the second trade in the Top 10 for Reid, with the Los Angeles Rams also adding a first round pick in a move back with the Atlanta Falcons. That trade will lead LA to select “Matthew Stafford’s heir apparent” in Nussmeier.

Nussmeier, the latest top quarterback out of Baton Rouge, completed 64.2% of his throws for 4,052 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions in his first year as a starter for the Tigers. He, with “some of the most exciting throws (Reid has) seen on tape,” can be a top selection himself now, especially if he cuts down from those dozen picks this fall as a fifth-year senior.

8. Penn State QB Drew Allar – New Orleans Saints

Allar could have come out in this year’s draft and likely been drafted decently high in this quarterback class. Instead, after a career-best passing season with 66.5% completion for 3,327 yards, 24 touchdowns, and eight interceptions in leading the Nittany Lions to the Big Ten Championship and the national semifinal of the College Football Playoff, he’ll be back in University Park in hopes of a similar, if not better, season.

New Orleans still has a major quarterback question after last week’s draft because of Derek Carr with Spencer Rattler and now Tyler Shough also there. That could have the Saints looking at another one next spring with Allar, who’ll likely go somewhere in the first round at this time, as an option.

9. Clemson DE T.J. Parker – Indianapolis Colts

Parker is the third selection in the Top 10 for the Clemson Tigers. That’s after an improvement in his sophomore season with 57 tackles, 19.5 being for loss, with 11 sacks and six forced fumbles.

Another bump in those stats could solidify Woods, “a versatile player capable of playing from multiple pre-snap alignments and stances,” wrote Reid, as the top pass rusher in next year’s class. That could land him with a team like the Colts here in the Top 10.

10. Auburn DE Kedric Faulk – New England Patriots

New England focused on offense in this year’s draft to best help QB Drake Maye after being one of the worst units in the last half-decade. That could lead the Patriots back to the defensive side next year with their top pick, which might be a player like Faulk.

Faulk, entering his junior year on The Plains, improved his stats to 45 tackles, seven sacks, a forced fumble, and a deflection. If he can now “become more consistent rushing the passer” alongside his run defense, Reid thinks he can better justify this spot in the Top 10 and as the second edge off the board.

11. Texas LB Anthony Hill Jr. – Carolina Panthers (via Los Angeles Rams)
12. Utah OT Spencer Fano – Seattle Seahawks
13. USC WR Ja’Kobi Lane – Dallas Cowboys
14. Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy – Miami Dolphins
15. Penn State DE Dani Dennis-Sutton – Arizona Cardinals
16. Alabama DT LT Overton – Pittsburgh Steelers
17. Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love – Chicago Bears
18. Penn State CB A.J. Harris – Minnesota Vikings
19. Ohio State WR Carnell Tate – Denver Broncos
20. Georgia LB CJ Allen – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
21. Miami OT Francis Mauigoa – Houston Texans
22. LSU WR Nic Anderson – Los Angeles Chargers
23. Utah OT Caleb Lomu – Los Angeles Rams
24. Colorado CB DJ McKinney – Green Bay Packers
25. Florida DT Caleb Banks – Cincinnati Bengals
26. Oregon DE Matayo Uiagalelei – Washington Commanders
27. Clemson CB Avieon Terrell – San Francisco 49ers
28. Texas Tech DE David Bailey – Buffalo Bills
29. Texas A&M DE Cashius Howell – Detroit Lions
30. Texas CB Malik Muhammed – Baltimore Ravens
31. Vanderbilt TE Eli Stowers – Philadelphia Eagles
32. Oregon DB Dillon Thieneman – Kansas City Chiefs