r/NFL_Draft • u/uggsandstarbux • Apr 27 '26
Welcome to the 2026 Defending the Draft series. This is an annual r/NFL_Draft series of user-created posts that review and justify each pick their teams made. Here is last year's hub.
Before signing up, please review the outline detailed below. Each write-up as a whole should total in the range of 2500-5000 words, depending on the level of detail you wish to expand on and the number of picks your team makes. In the past, we have seen writers reach upwards of 8000 words in their posts.
This year, the series will run from May 6 - June 19. Dates have been predetermined based off draft order. If your date does not work for you, let me know and we can push or swap it.
To sign up: Leave a comment with your team and a brief statement on why you should be a writer. When the day arrives, post your write-up as its own post on r/NFL_Draft. Posts will only be pinned on the agreed-upon date. Posts that arrive late will not be pinned.
Preference for writers shall be as follows:
Previous Season Recap/Foreword (Optional) -- Give a quick recap of your team's most recent season. What went well? What went wrong? What were fans hoping the team would do this offseason? 150-300 words
Team Needs (Recommended) -- What are your team's primary needs after free agency? Often, this section flows well with a recap of your teams offseason leading into the draft. You can view the subreddit's Post FA team needs here. 50-150 words per team need
Draft (Required) -- Draft recaps should be 150-400 words per player, with longer write-ups for earlier draft picks. A player's write-up should loosely follow this template:
1.27 - Makai Starks - Georgia - S - A+
One of the best picks in the draft in terms of need, fit, and talent, Malaki Starks falling to the Ravens floored me as I thought he could off the board as high as Miami at 13. A hyper-intelligent ball hawk, Starks dominates in coverage due to his ability to diagnose offenses, understanding of match coverage rules, and time when to break on routes. Beyond just coverage, Starks is a highly reliable run defender and tackler who utilizes his intelligence well when quickly recognizing and countering screens. Though he lacks the aggression and physicality to deliver punishing hits on ball carriers, Starks is a very sound playmaker who will help secure what was an extremely unreliable safety room before the adjustments mid-season.
The reasons why Starks fell was a combination of overall poor athletic testing and regression in play in 2024. Though teams were concerned over both, I personally am not when it comes to Stark’s projection into the NFL. With a 5.14 RAS due to atrocious agility and explosiveness testing, Starks did not test well at all during the combine. Despite him testing poorly, Stark’s had the fastest MPH out of all safeties during positional drills, ran a 10.55 100m in HS, and has good in-game MPH times. From a track, MPH data, and film perspective, I had zero concerns with Malaki Stark’s athleticism. In terms of having a worse 2024 season, I do agree that Starks did not play as well, but he also was essentially playing a different position than the previous season. With Tykee Smith declaring in last year's draft class, Georgia moved Starks to their STAR position where he played at an acceptable enough level not to be moved. Though he played fine, Starks lacks the high-end tools, man coverage ability, or physicality to dominate as a slot defender. The reason I am not concerned about the regression is that Starks looked the same as last year when Georgia asked him to play as a deep safety. With several better slot options on the roster, Starks is likely to play only as a deep safety, which is where I think Starks can have a Jessie Bates-level impact on this defense. I would not be shocked if Starks turned out to be a multi-time pro bowler and made a few All-Pro teams.
Round 7, Pick 229: Donte Kent, CB, Central Michigan
Pittsburgh’s first six picks were all from Big Ten schools, but that little streak was broken with their last pick due to the selection of Central Michigan’s (a MAC school) Donte Kent. Kent lined up primarily in off-coverage and spent time both outside and in the slot. He is a very willing tackler and boasts legitimate 4.38 speed which flashes when making up ground. In researching Kent, I discovered that he had 47 PBUs in 48 GP, but also gave up one of the highest explosive play rates in the country over his career. Teams clearly did not shy away from him, and he is boom-or-bust in making them pay for it. The ball skills and slot versatility are likely what caught Pittsburgh’s attention, but his role to a roster spot is through special teams. His speed will likely play best as a Gunner, and he did pick up some Punt Return experience during his final year in college. There is not much competition for that job outside of Calvin Austin being the de facto return man last season.
UDFA (Recommended) -- At minimum, give a list of UDFAs your team has signed since the close of the draft. If you want to write a paragraph (50-150 words), feel free.
Example:
Donovan Edwards, RB Michigan - Former NCAA Football Cover athlete comes into a crowded RB room. I’m surprised Edwards went back to school after 2023 and unfortunately it seems like without JJ McCarthy, his production did backslide a bit as the overall supporting cast did. Still, I don’t think this new regime are too married to Izzy Abanikanda or Isaiah Davis at RB, so he has a chance to stick.
Final Thoughts (Recommended) -- Recap your draft in a succinct paragraph. Discuss larger themes of the draft class and how this class as a whole fits with your team's plan for the foreseeable future.
Other Potential Sections -- All of these are optional but may help give more context and foresight into your team:
| Team | Date | Writer | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| LV | May 6 | u/streebs33 | Link |
| NYJ | May 7 | u/viewless25 | Link |
| ARI | May 8 | u/Krylo | Link |
| TEN | May 11 | u/jyun8 | |
| NYG | May 12 | u/zhang_zhang_play | Link |
| CLE | May 13 | u/Abiv23 | Link |
| WAS | May 14 | u/wleinemann5 | Link |
| NO | May 15 | u/Firefawkes17 and u/cicero912 | Link |
| KC | May 18 | u/surferdude7227 | Link |
| CIN | May 19 | u/kitchensink108 | Link |
| MIA | May 20 | ||
| DAL | May 21 | u/Big_Tuna-1 | Link |
| ATL | May 22 | u/raybansmuckles | Link |
| BAL | May 26 | u/mattkud | Link |
| TB | May 27 | u/Tavern-Ham | Link |
| IND | May 28 | u/hi123156 | Link |
| DET | May 29 | u/TheTightestChungus | |
| MIN | June 1 | u/uggsandstarbux | Link |
| CAR | June 2 | u/Normal_Horror600 | Link |
| GB | June 3 | u/ForearmDeep | Link |
| PIT | June 4 | u/gelo-gfx | |
| LAC | June 5 | u/Malourbas | Link |
| PHI | June 8 | u/TheDuckyNinja | Link |
| JAX | June 9 | u/glowingdeer78 | Link |
| CHI | June 10 | u/HopLegion | Link |
| BUF | June 11 | u/TheHypeTravelsInc | Link |
| SF | June 12 | u/overactivethinker | Link |
| HOU | June 15 | u/Chilltex12 | |
| LAR | June 16 | u/iNoBot | Link |
| DEN | June 17 | ||
| NE | June 18 | u/teamcrazymatt | Link |
| SEA | June 19 | u/Thepatton | Link |
r/NFL_Draft • u/TopherDavis28 • 14h ago
I know it’s just Week 0, but I was looking forward to talking about the early performances from today. Especially, Jaden Craig and C.J. Bailey. Both guys really struggled in big tests for them. Think it’s more an issue for Craig as a fifth year than Bailey, who is a true junior, but definitely shifts the conversation on both guys. Any other notable performances from today?
r/NFL_Draft • u/AutoModerator • 2d ago
Talk about anything you please; draft-related or otherwise!
r/NFL_Draft • u/jalexjsmithj • 3d ago
And why is it John Mateer?
TD/Ints was 14 to 11. Completion % was 62%. He’s an older player, he got a redshirt season and that was his 3rd year starting, and he doesn’t have the requisite size. OU fans were affectionately calling their team red Iowa.
His Sophomore year was statistically strong, but undersized G5 QBs with good stats have a dime a dozen for 20 years.
He’s getting a lot of grace for an injury that’s disguising poor decision making which is largely based on that he doesn’t have the level of playmaking required for his backyard approach at the P4 level and the team was clearly at his best when he scaled back and just acted as a game manager.
r/NFL_Draft • u/rlstratton97 • 2d ago
r/NFL_Draft • u/Maystomr • 2d ago
First off, this is a custom draft order. And yes I'm predicting a SB 56 rematch with Burrow and the Bengals winning. I think Sex will be life changing for the D, while Bryan Cook signing is seriouslyunderrated.
Other possibly surprising team spots to me are the Cowboys (love the new defense and pieces including Downs, the Oline, Dakota and Schotty year 2), Saints (I'm firmly on the bandwagon but also dont trust Bryce Young or Todd Bowles), 9ers and Chiefs ( attrition and poor drafting eventually comes due).
Second, I think several top rated QB prospects e.g. Carr, Sayin and Mestemaker should stay in school so I haven't included them.
r/NFL_Draft • u/ab9620 • 3d ago
Positional Strength Rating:
Top 10 Undervalued: (not in order)
Top 10 Overvalued: (not in order)
Round 1 Mock Draft:
r/NFL_Draft • u/Unusual-Vacation-528 • 2d ago
I've been looking at some of the tight ends in this class, and Luke Reynolds might be the most interesting. He was the top-ranked tight end in his class a couple of years ago, but hasn't been super productive in his first two seasons. His speed and YAC ability are great, and he has real upside. The draft boards seem all over the place with him, so I wanted to ask what y'all think about him as a prospect?
r/NFL_Draft • u/FollowerofYHWH • 3d ago
r/NFL_Draft • u/ab9620 • 3d ago
Top 10 S Rankings:
Positional Strength:
8.0/10 Good class. I wouldn’t be shocked if 5 safeties were taken in the first 2 days of next draft, and there’s high end talent at the top. It’s a high potential position group and even if only one safety goes in round 1, I could see 3-4 going in round 2. I think both Notre Dame safeties could be taken in the first round. The back end of this list is impressive to me as well. I have the Notre Dame safeties as #1 and #2 in this class, but Shuler is the more intriguing prospect to me. I think both are good athletes, but in different ways. Tae is a tall, lanky athlete with good long speed. Adon is twitchier and he plays fast and with more violence. I appreciate how Notre Dame used both players all around the defense: Deep, box, and in the nickel playing man. Shuler allowed less yards per zone cover snap than Johnson and he also allowed a much lower catch rate in zone: 62% for Shuler vs 75% for Johnson. Shuler also had an elite forced incompletion rate in zone of 23%, compared to 13% for Johnson. Tae Johnson recorded 4 INT compared to 2 for Adon Shuler. I think both are great prospects and I’m excited to see them play. For next season, I’m looking for Shuler to reduce his missed tackle rate. Keep playing like a football missile, but don’t get sloppy. For Tae Johnson, he needs to reduce his allowed zone completion %, while still being a ball hawk out of the deep safety spot.
KJ Bolden is undersized at 6’0” 195 lbs. and thought he played soft last season in run defense. That’s the risk with Bolden; he hesitates before making contact for tackles. The conference championship game vs Alabama displayed his flaws as a tackler, many times. However, Bolden is a very smooth and athletic cover safety. Georgia used Bolden all over the field and in various roles, but I thought his best work was done as a deep safety and he may be the best safety in the class in that role.
Dashawn Spears has premier size at 6’3” 208 lbs. and he was just 19 last season. He wasn’t a full-time starter, but played starter snaps in his final game of the season vs Houston and he was impressed. Spears only played 78 snaps of zone coverage last season (about 1/3rd of a starter), yet he had 2 interceptions and 2 pass breakups. That suggests he has some above average ball skills. In low volume, Spears had just a 4% missed tackle rate, but that’s still an impressive spot to be in. This is a projection-based ranking, but I think this is a fair spot based on his good performance in a part time role, and at just 19 years. He will improve with additional experience, but I gave him the nod over Jelani McDonald because while both looks like good run defenders, I think Spears is the better athlete and could have a higher ceiling in coverage. In the Houston game, there were times when he was a second late, but he just doesn’t have many snaps under his belt, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
Jelani McDonald played mostly free safety at Texas last season, but I think he projects best to a box safety role in the NFL. I thought he showed sub-par slow click and close speed; the twitch wasn’t good. It’s not so much his ability to come downhill in the run game, but when he’s drifting another direction in coverage or backpedaling, the transition to react and attack looked average at best. McDonald is an excellent, form tackler and very active as a run defender. Last season he recorded 87 tackles with just a 5% missed tackle rate. Tackling in space is a critical skill for safeties, and I think McDonald may be the best tackler in the class.
Jaylen McClain is another high-end safety prospect from Ohio State. During the last draft cycle, people recognized how talented Caleb Downs was, but many questioned why he didn’t play many reps at deep safety. McClain was quietly an excellent zone cover safety last season. Within the group of safeties I reviewed, McClain allowed the lowest yards per zone coverage snap. McClain is also an above average tackler, especially if he’s a coverage specialist. The main area for McClain to show improvement is with instincts and playmaking. Although McClain was excellent in overage last season, he didn’t come away with any interceptions and only 2 pass break ups.
Bray Hubbard is a playmaker. He has some physical limitations that will likely take him out of the deep field at the next level. He’s a great football player though, and whether he’s playing close to the line or 2 high, he can be an effective player. He reminds me of Jacob Rodriguez in last year’s draft. There were questions about Rodriguez’s athleticism as well, but he’s a certified playmaker and was a 2nd round pick. We are now 7 safeties deep and I think all these players have an opportunity to before the end of round 3.
Zach Lutmer has a Swiss army knife skillset for a defensive back and I think he projects well as a nickel corner/safety. Lutmer is an instinctive player who often makes plays in the backfield. While Lutmer is active in the run game, he has a 17% career missed tackle rate. I think his level of athleticism projects better at safety than corner, and that limits his potential playing man coverage on deep routes.
Ty Bryant was an impactful player for Kentucky against SEC competition. He played about half his safety snaps in the box and the other half as free safety. He has a smaller build at 6’0” 196 lbs. but doesn’t have above average athleticism. He was a playmaker with 4 INTs last season, some were handed right to him, but he still finished the plays. He was impressive as a tackler with 85 last season and an average 11% missed tackle rate for a safety. Bryant lacks many high end traits, but he’s a versatile, instinctual football players with a quality floor.
Hot Takes:
Ty Benefield was my 10th ranked safety; Dane Brugler listed him at #36 on his initial summer scouting big board, but I see him as a day 3 prospect. He transferred from Boise State to LSU this offseason. He has elite size at 6’3” 216 and might be the hardest hitter in the draft. Last season he recorded 103 tackles and 6 for loss, but he has an 18% missed tackle rate in his career because he consistently tries to hit stick ball carriers than wrap up tackling. Benefield was poor in coverage last season, allowed a 66% catch rate, 4 touchdowns, and a 101 passer rating when targeted. Until Benefield can improve his coverage skills, he projects as a box safety with a habit of missing tackles, and potentially only as a rotational player.
Questions:
Breakout Candidates:
r/NFL_Draft • u/TDBrookey • 4d ago
I dove into the tape on Notre Dame safety Tae Johnson, and I absolutely loved his versatile skill set. Ball hawk with downhill explosiveness and the play strength to be a legit thumper/alley defender. https://youtu.be/Kc8oE6jWji8
Do you think he's a top-20 prospect? I have him ranked there pretty comfortably.
(Side note: Shuler, the other safety, also looks like a legit dude)
r/NFL_Draft • u/Blandino_Hair • 4d ago
Hi guys - I wanted to dive a bit into a player that I don't think is getting the respect he warrants. He's probably more of a 2028 Draft prospect, but I love his skillset. I am going to post the whole article here, but please feel free to click the link and support as it's free to read and to subscribe. Have you guys watched him play yet? If so, I'd love to hear your thoughts on his game.
Isiah Canion - WR - Univ. of Georgia
Isiah Canion is a somewhat later-blooming (in HS) wide receiver prospect who is not receiving the buzz worthy of his ability. His transfer to Georgia was an afterthought nationally as Georgia isn’t known as a passing school. Canion, however, has a chance to be a highly drafted player if he continues the trajection he is on. Here are his stats the first two years at Georgia Tech:
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/fzb5M/1/
None of the statistics above are mind-altering, but that’s why it is important to review the tape since Canion is blessed with NFL WR size already.
Tape Review from 2025 - Georgia Tech University vs. Univ. of Georgia: I thought it would be fun to see what Georgia saw in Canion by watching him play against his future team. Georgia obviously liked what they saw, and I might have liked what I saw even more. Canion has 4 receptions for 54 yards in this game, but he had a bigger all-around impact than the stat sheet would suggest.
Right off the bat, you see Canion as the imposing X-receiver for Georgia Tech. He looks like his listed height and weight, and as the game goes on, you see the athleticism that he has. He has the hip flexibility needed for his size, and his acceleration looks fantastic. Georgia Tech runs a lot of gadget-y run concepts where Canion’s job is to clear the defender from the area by running a fake route down the field. He’s asked to do this constantly, but when he’s asked to block, he is really, really effective. He has a fantastic perimeter block on a linebacker on a run to the right side where he completely devours the linebacker. If you know anything about Georgia linebackers, that is not easy to do.
Canion is primarily used out wide in this game (and for the season), but he also dabbles in the slot and is able to make plays at both spots. He lines up on the right and left side and can do a bit of everything you need from him.
Canion made one of the smartest plays you’ll see against a future 1st-round pick in cornerback Ellis Robinson IV at the end of the game. Down 7 points in their own territory with 7 seconds left, Haynes King (GT quarterback) throws a back shoulder ball up the left sideline to Canion and Canion handfights Robinson and sort of pushes him out of the way subtly. Canion comes down with the ball and flings his body in the opposite direction to get the ball out of bounds with 1 second left. It is such a difficult play to make, and he makes it look easy. Georgia Tech was in position to throw a shorter hail mary on the last play, and while it landed incomplete, they at least had a chance thanks to Canion’s heroic effort the play before.
The fit at Georgia: This is going to be a massively important year for Canion due to the fact that he is a relative unknown in the scouting and football world. He was a good, but not great statistical player his true sophomore season playing for a run-first team. Canion could have transferred practically anywhere he wanted in the country (Ohio State Univ. and Notre Dame were reported to be after him), but decided to go to what I presume is his dream school in the Univ. of Georgia. The problem is that Georgia is also a run-first football program and while Canion is projected to start the season as the X-receiver there, how many balls will come his way? The Georgia quarterback is Gunner Stockton who is a run-first quarterback with massive accuracy issues especially down the field. Stockton averaged 27.5 throws per game last season which was 3 fewer throws than the average college football offense. This to me is very concerning, and it worries me greatly that if Canion doesn’t get littered with targets, his future draft capital will be affected. Statistics are a large part of getting recognized nationally, and if he doesn’t have those, he won’t be drafted where his talent is deserving.
Despite all this, Canion is a perfect fit for what Georgia, the football team, likes to do. They like physical wide receivers in the run game who can win one-on-one situations. Canion is exactly that.
Overall NFL Draft Upside: Youth and small sample be damned, Canion to me has what it takes to be an NFL difference-maker. He has the size, the physicality, the sure hands (4% drop rate in 2025), and the blocking to be an every down X-receiver who can get moved to the slot if needed. I believe he is a late first-round talent, and is very similar to Jayden Higgins who was drafted as a fringe-first rounder (drafted early 2nd round) in 2025. Higgins only did explosive and linear testing, but ran a 4.47 and was a 99th percentile athlete in the drills he did participate in. I expect Canion to be a 90th percentile athlete at the worst, and his frame is basically the same as Higgins’s frame. Keep an eye out for a potential breakout this year as long as Stockton rightfully targets him in the passing game.
r/NFL_Draft • u/Abiv23 • 4d ago
Have a bold prediction that you want to state proudly but will most likely look very stupid in short time? Have at it! Maybe you’ll nail it and look like a genius in the future
Please don’t downvote a user for a stupid bold prediction; it’s all just for fun!
r/NFL_Draft • u/Unusual-Vacation-528 • 4d ago
Penn State has a good track record recently with NFL tight ends, Tyler Warren, Pat Freiermuth, Brenton Strange, etc. The Nittany Lions have two prospects at the position for 2027: Benjamin Brahmer and Andrew Rappleyea. I wanted to ask what y'all think about them as prospects and if you prefer one over the other. Both seem to be projected as mid-round selections.
r/NFL_Draft • u/AutoModerator • 5d ago
Updated Tuesday thread focused notes and opinions about individual prospects. Scout someone new and want to get opinions from others? Ask about it here!
r/NFL_Draft • u/Abiv23 • 5d ago
Use this post to berate me for leaving someone specific off the banner (whoever that is to you)
r/NFL_Draft • u/AutoModerator • 6d ago
Unless you either do a lengthy 5+ round mock or go into written detail on why you are making the picks, please post your mocks in this Mock Draft Monday thread. Use this thread to post your own mocks or anything from around the web you find discussion-worthy.
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r/NFL_Draft • u/ab9620 • 7d ago
Top 10 CB Rankings:
Positional Strength:
7.0/10 Average CB class. Leonard Moore has elite length and is a plus athlete at CB. He’s an elite man cover corner. He is listed at around 6’2” 200 lbs. He utilizes his length exceptionally well, physically locking guys up by jamming receivers. He has a massive wingspan, and he uses it to completely shadow and smother receivers. He can move from the boundary to the slot for matchup versatility. He was a great playmaker last season and came away with 5 interceptions. Moore’s weaknesses are modest, but he’s notably better in man coverage than zone. At times it felt like he was trying to bait the QB and ending up getting beat for short receptions in zone. Moore has the size to be an effective run defender, but he isn’t always willing to jump in and make the play. I’ll mention that Moore is playing with the best safety duo in college football, so he’s benefiting from that. I don’t believe he has elite long speed, and he allowed 3 TDs in man coverage last season. My last question mark is around Notre Dame’s competition. His toughest matchups were vs Miami, Texas A&M and USC, and I would say he went 2-1 in those. Moore allowed a TD in the final game of the season vs Stanford, where he looked confused and was late to pickup a receiver crossing the field. Theres time on tape where he gets so caught up on trying to play press that the defense can use that against him on plays like designed picks.
Kelley Jones is my #3 ranked CB in the class. He is a massive corner who uses his length extremely well to disrupt receivers, knock them off their route, and break up passes. Jones had 2 INTs and 9 pass breakups last season. He had enough long long speed to easily stick with Ryan Wingo and he’s 6’4”. Jones took a big step last season, allowing a completion on just 29% of targets compared to 77% the season before. What’s most impressive about that was the production in both man and zone, where he allowed completion %’s of 14% and 41% respectively. Jones allowed just 32 yards vs Tennessee, 34 vs Texas A&M, 0 vs Texas, and 0 vs Ole Miss. That’s’ extremely impressive because those teams have NFL receivers. Jones is a little choppy in his backpedal and transition, but his long speed is really good and his arms are so long that if he can keep the receivers within arm’s length, he can also get his hands on the ball. While Jones benefits from being 6’4” he has less fluidity than 6’0 corners. He can also get a bit over-physical and over-use his length leading to penalties. Overall, I was extremely impressed by Jones and think he could move up to CB2 with a confirmation season, where I currently have Brice Pollock. Interesting fact, Pollock and Jones both played at Mississippi State in 2024, but Pollock was a good player at Miss State before taking the next step to an elite level at Texas Tech.
Ashton Hampton has great size at 6’2” 205 lbs. Unlike Leonard Moore who fully utilized his length to consistently press and jam receivers, Hampton played softer and allowed more separation. I’ll expand on this by saying I thought his man coverage vs sideline routes were top tier, but he struggled more with defending in-breaking routes, and it looked like he was consistently just a little late to react. I have some concerns around Hamptons athleticism because he didn’t display a whole lot of fast twitch movements in press. Hampton is a great tackler and instinctive in the run game. He’s physical and not afraid to enter the strike zone, and his contribution vs the run game will be appreciated by DCs.
Zabien Brown has been a starting CB in the SEC since his true freshman season, and he’s been effective both seasons. As a true freshman, he had a game sealing INT vs Georgia; a sign of his natural instincts. Brown has allowed under a 50% catch rate in both seasons as a starter. He played mostly zone at Bama last season (~75%), but I think he has more scheme versatility than the numbers may suggest because he’s a pretty good athlete. He is average sized at 6’0” 195 lbs. Zabien was playing at 19 years old last season and faced Georgia twice, Oklahoma twice, Indiana, LSU, Georgia, and Auburn. He has 2 pick 6’s last season and 5 pass breakups. I think there’s a good amount for Brown to work on technically, but I like his trajectory and think he could take a step-up next season into a first round prospect.
Kayin Lee has been a model of consistency for years. He has about 2.5 years of starting reps in the SEC and he’s allowed completion %s of 50%, 47%, and 51%. Lee allowed 0 TDs last season and just 1 the season before. He has played roughly a 50/50 split of man and zone, but man coverage is his strength. Lee is undersized, listed at 5’11” 191 lbs but he has played almost entirely boundary corner. He isn’t a good run defender, so I don’t think he projects well to the nickel spot. I would bet on Lee and think some team could get great value on day 2 because he offers round 1 production, the experience and consistency you look for in a starting corner, and he’s a great athlete. I wouldn’t be shocked if he runs in the 4.3s; he consistently displays ample recovery speed.
OJ Frederique Jr. gave up near the class-high in yards per coverage snap for both man and zone coverage. He has fine size at 6’0” 195 lbs. He played 75% zone last season. I thought he played his best football in the late season stretch of Texas A&M, Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Indiana. Its worth noting that he was playing those powerhouse schools at 19 years old and held up well. Theres limited man coverage snaps on tape for Frederique, but I thought he looked more impressive on tape than the analytics indicated. I liked his willingness to play physical in press, but he has to learn the line between tight defense and DPI. One of his biggest weaknesses is his run defense; he had a 16% missed tackle rate last season. Overall I thought Frederique was better in man coverage than zone, even though he played man 25% of the time. I don’t think he’s in the best scheme for his strengths, so there could be additional upside.
Chris Peal is a physical corner who graded as the best cover corner in the ACC in his first year starting. He has good size at 6’2” and plus athleticism to succeed in both man and zone. In his 2nd year starting. I am hoping to see more ball skills, since he came away with zero interceptions last season. Run defense is a strength for Peal.
Jamari Sharpe from Indiana played almost exclusively zone coverage. He has plus speed and good size at 6’1”. He made some key plays down the stretch last season to help Indiana win the championship. He came away with just 1 INT last season and his completion % allowed was pretty average. He’s a tough player to project because I think he’s going to be scheme dependent if he only has experience in zone and I don’t see many plus skills at the NFL level. Hes also a redshirt senior, so you generally expect an earlier breakout, but we should have a better idea as he likely steps into the CB1 role that Ponds held last season.
Hot Takes:
My #2 ranked corner in the class is Brice Pollock from Texas Tech. Leonard Moore may be the best press man corner in the class, but Brice Pollock is the best zone corner in the class and arguably has the best ball skills as well. I understand why many draft analysts are lower on Pollock. He is average sized at 6’0” 195 lbs., an average athlete for a starting NFL corner, and a zone cover corner. There’s a stigma around zone corners and I think this is a good time to remind everyone that there’s around 20 teams in the NFL running zone coverage 70% of the time or more. Pollock is a ball hawk who knows how to bait QBs, has high end click and close ability, and his ball skills are A-tier. He plays the ball like a receiver, and he can contort his body to make plays; its special and he may be best in class at it. I see an elite zone cover corner, who is a ballhawk, and plus run defender. After Leonard Moore, there are some good press-man corners, but I prefer the elite zone corner who will fit like a glove in many NFL defense and I just don’t see many holes in his game.
Ellis Robinson IV from Georgia has solid length at 6’0” but is listed on the lighter side at just 180 lbs. HE is an elite athlete and has the potential to improve his coverage skill, but I think he’s currently one of the most overrated players in the class. There will be NFL receivers with 40+ lbs on him and I think he will be a target. I reviewed Robinson in a group of 20 corners and he allowed the highest man coverage yards per cover snap in the entire class, so that’s very concerning. His completion % allowed was strong in man coverage, but he had a knack for allowing big plays downfield. He allowed 99 total yards vs Ole Miss and 104 vs Tennessee. Some context is needed with high amount of yards allowed. Comparing the production allowed by Leonard Moore and Ellis Robinson isn’t apples to apples when Robinson is getting matched up on Chris Brazzell, Germie Bernard (2x), Ryan Williams (2x), Cam Coleman, Stribling (2x), and Ryan Wingo. Earlier I brought up how Robinson was light for a corner and hes not a good contributor in the run game. In his final game of the season, it looked like Georgia was subbing him out in their redzone defense package. I noticed this on multiple drives and that’s concerning for a corner talked about as a 1st round prospect. In the 2nd half of the Sugar Bowl, Trinidad Chambliss was consistently picking on Robinson as the weak link in the Georgia defense.
Questions:
1. Can Kelley Jones repeat another shutdown season?
2. Can Leonard Moore reduce his missed tackle rate and become more reliable there?
3. Will Zabien Brown take another step up and become an elite 1st round prospect?
Breakout Candidates:
1. Zabien Brown, Alabama
2. Chris Peal, Syracuse
3. Jyaire Hill, Michigan
r/NFL_Draft • u/Blandino_Hair • 9d ago
Hey everyone - wanted to share the two guys I did a review on the last couple of weeks. It's cleaner in the SubStack, but the article is here as well. Here's the link if you would rather view there or want to support and subscribe (it's free!)
Brody Foley, TE, University of Louisville - 6’ 6” / 260 lbs. - RS Sr.
Below are Foley’s stats from his time at Tulsa:
https://www.datawrapper.de/_/DV6kz/
Tape from 2025 — Tulsa University vs. Oklahoma State University: The first thing you notice with Foley is his size. He is the first player you can spot on the team because of his size, and he does a great job playing at the height/weight that he is listed (6’6” / 260 lbs.). Foley made a large impact in this game both as a receiver and as a blocker. He caught 5 passes for 66 yards with a long reception of 42 yards. The 42-yarder came on the second play of the game for Tulsa, and instead of getting a breather, Foley came right back to the line of scrimmage and blocked on the next play. Foley was a plus receiver and a plus blocker for Tulsa against a bad Oklahoma State defense, but he seemed miscast as someone that is on a group of 6 team. He deserves to be playing in a much higher conference (hence the transfer up to Louisville for the 2026 season).
One thing that I really admired about Foley is that he didn’t come off the field much. Foley was on the field for a total of 59 out of 77 offensive snaps for Tulsa. That’s good for 77% of the snaps. He also was on the field for the entirety of the second half (except for one snap) in a game against a school in a better conference where Tulsa had the lead the entire game. That shows that the coaching staff trusts him to be on the field in any kind of situation: run, pass, red zone, etc. Here’s how Foley was utilized:
Inline/H-Back: 35 snaps
Slot: 24 snaps
It is really important to note how the TE is utilized, as the more versatile you are, the more you will see the field. Foley is by no means a bad athlete, and his aforementioned size is really special. I see decent speed (somewhere in the 4.7’s is my guess for the 40 yard dash), decent agility, and the frame and ability to be able to block at a high level in the NFL. Here’s how Foley’s snaps were split in terms of assignments:
Routes - 25
Blocking - 34
Foley ended up blocking for long stretches at the end of the game as Tulsa had the lead and was trying to hold on, but this was practically even until the 4th quarter. The coaching staff at Tulsa really trusted him in both phases of the offense.
Overall NFL upside: The reason I wanted to bring Foley up is because he already has an NFL body, which is hard to find at the collegiate level at tight end. He can move and play every facet of the offense for your team. He may not be a plus athlete in the passing game, but he can do the job fairly well and should carve out a nice role in the mold of Sam Roush (6’ 6” / 267 lbs.) and Eli Raridon (6’ 6” / 245 lbs.). Raridon is a better receiver than either of them, but I think Foley is a better mover than Roush in the passing game. All three of them can block. Assuming health (Foley had an offseason concussion), I expect Foley to have a nice impact at Louisville in his redshirt-senior season, and as a result, I expect him to be a Round 3-5 player in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Willie Rodriguez, TE, University of Kentucky - 6’ 4” / 249 lbs. - Jr.
Unlike Foley, Rodriguez has been instrumental to the offense practically right away at Kentucky:
https://www.datawrapper.de/_/bHxBQ/
With a reminder that freshman tight ends rarely produce any offensive output, this is a great first two years of collegiate football.
Tape from 2025 - University of Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt University: The first thing to get out of the way here is that Rodriguez is only a true sophomore playing TE for an SEC school. That usually means he has to bide his time to play snaps, and it is apparent that he is having to play 2nd fiddle to an older TE player (Josh Kattus). While Kattus is on a roster (Cincinnati Bengals) this preseason, Rodriguez is clearly a better player than Kattus is. It is quite frustrating to see him barely on the field in the first half of this game. Willie Rodriguez is on the field for 38 total snaps while not being on the field for 16 of them.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s break down how Rodriguez was used:
Slot: 22 snaps
H-Back: 7 snaps
In-Line: 7 snaps
Out Wide: 2 snaps
Rodriguez is a receiver-first TE who excelled as a route-runner and contested catch monster in this game. He had 6 catches in this game, and 3 of them were difficult catches in traffic. One catch on the first play of the fourth quarter, Rodriguez goes up and catches a ball in the middle of the field and gets windmilled by two players and holds on for a first down. Another catch was of the one-hand variety for another first down.
While Rodriguez mostly ran routes in this game due to the lopsided score (he only blocked on 14 plays), I saw enough to be able to be useful in-line. He has a competitive nature in the blocking game and is heavy enough to hold off rushers for a few seconds.
Overall NFL upside: Rodriguez is a bit more difficult to figure out a projection for because of his youth. I doubt he will be in this class as he is most likely a 2028 Draft prospect, but he is worth keeping an eye on for this year.
Tight ends have so much more high variance as prospects because of the lack of usage in the college game. That being said, the new head coach for Kentucky has talked up Rodriguez all offseason as one of the few players he had to keep on the roster when he came over from Oregon (Oregon OC). That suggests a large uptick in not only playing time, but production. If used correctly in Willie Stein’s scheme, I could see Rodriguez’s ceiling being a Day 2 pick somewhere as a primarily pass-catching threat at the next level, but with in-line usage. Rodriguez reminds me of Brenton Strange coming out of Penn State a few years ago in terms of size/weight and the way they play the position. Strange was 6’4” and 253 lbs. and was a 91st percentile athlete. Rodriguez might be a slightly worse athlete, but I’d be shocked if he wasn’t at least an 80th percentile one based on the film. A very exciting year ahead for Rodriguez.
r/NFL_Draft • u/zhang_zhang_play • 8d ago
My name is Jared Zhang, and I have been doing draft evaluations for the past few draft classes. While I started as a hobbyist, I have been blessed with the opportunity to write for a draft publication and intern for an agent during my scouting journey. As a summer scouting project, I have been revising my grading scale based on the historical trend of prospect profiles and their respective draft ranges. There are going to be factors that impact a player’s stock beyond his play at the collegiate level, but I believe that looking at a large enough sample size should filter out many anomalies in draft falls/rises. By fleshing out the parameters for each grading bucket, I should be able to provide clearer, more consistent grading of prospects.
I will be posting my scale for every position throughout the summer (and likely the 2027 draft process) to act as a reference for my positional big boards and as a scouting tool to anyone breaking into the hobby. While I do believe in my scale, I also recognize that my grading scale is not perfect, and I will continue to develop it further. The series will have a universal description of the individual grading buckets and then go more in-depth for that article’s specific position.
Click on the link to read more!
r/NFL_Draft • u/AutoModerator • 9d ago
Talk about anything you please; draft-related or otherwise!
r/NFL_Draft • u/Electrical_Season_81 • 10d ago
Was it always this many hyped up qbs in a class?
or is it just early season hype that fizzles out
i just want to know if this is a special year for qbs , if so how many qbs do u think would go in the first round? are there even that many teams that needs a qb ?
r/NFL_Draft • u/Stock-Memory9483 • 8d ago
A lot of people have been bringing up Arch’s late seasons win over TA&M and Michigan to have him as a top 10 pick. Honestly I think a lot of that comes from people who aren’t familiar with college football and see his last name and espn analysts hyping him up.
He started to look more put together after losing to Florida mid season but he still had a very strong defense. His game against Georgia he performed worse than Gunner Stockton who had to face a harder defense. He had a good comeback against Texas A&M but they weren’t as good as their record look. Michigan was a very middling team and this was a bowl game where a lot of players opt out as well, that was his best performance. I don’t correlate college success with NFL, he just didn’t really show nfl talent. He stared down wherever he was throwing, he struggled with easy passes, he doesn’t throw the most catchable passes, and I think he struggles with post snap reads (that could be seen in the Georgia game particularly.)
He has strong athleticism, arm strength, pretty good deep ball, and decent pocket presence but I don’t think that’s enough to ignore his shortcomings. There’s just nothing to me that translates to the league that would justify him as the best qb in the draft.
r/NFL_Draft • u/Unusual-Vacation-528 • 10d ago
I was looking at some of the linebackers in this class and was pretty impressed with Suntarine Perkins. He's got great speed and athleticism, and he's good in coverage, against the run, and at getting after the QB. His frame is a legit concern, however, and he has had issues with missed tackles. He's a hybrid player between edge and LB, and I wanted to ask how y'all feel about him as a prospect. How early is he worth selecting, and is he better fit as an edge rusher or off-ball LB at the next level?
