NFL Trade Rumors
With the NFL season kicking off and college football in full swing, it’s time for an updated mock draft! As always, this far out, mock drafts focus less on specific prospect-to-team fits, though I did try and consider that somewhat.
In this exercise, I did not select Texas QB Arch Manning. His family continues to insist he won’t declare for the 2026 NFL draft. While it’s important to do our due diligence — and he will continue to be ranked on my big boards until he officially withdraws — it’s easier to project Manning declaring anyway when he was supposed to have an elite season. He had a rough Week 1, and while it was just one game, for today I wanted to explore a draft scenario where he returns to college.
For a more in-depth look at all of these players, check out my updated top 50 2026 Big Board that dropped on Tuesday, as I have a mini scouting report and statistical breakdown for each player who appears in this mock draft (plus 18 more!)
Draft order is per Tankathon’s projections prior to Week 1 of the NFL season.
Talk about making a statement. Bain was a wrecking ball against Notre Dame — no matter where he lined up, he was unblockable. He took over in the fourth quarter and looked every bit like a top-flight NFL pass rusher. The No. 1 player on my big board, Bain may be working his way there on the consensus board sooner rather than later.
In the absence of Manning, I think Allar is the clear top quarterback in this class. He played a clean game in Week 1 against a terribly outmatched Nevada team, so we won’t get to see how he’s improved since last year just yet.
I’m a little lower on Nussmeier than this, but I think the NFL is going to love him. He had an absurd 2.09-second time to throw in the game against Clemson on Saturday. Teams will love his ability to make quick, accurate reads and get the ball out on schedule. In many ways, he’s built to attack the current NFL trend of two-high defensive looks.
Why not pair DT Jeffery Simmons with another interior force in Woods? The Clemson defensive stalwart can hold his own against double teams in the run game and absolutely pummel individual blockers one-on-one. He had some great pass rushing reps on display against LSU.
The Giants have been searching for a right tackle to pair with Andrew Thomas on the left side for years. Fano is easily the top tackle in this class, and he already plays on the right side for the Utes. He has freakish...
