The tone to signal the final selection in the 2025 NFL Draft may still be fading, but it is never too early to look ahead to the 2026 NFL Draft. The process is reminiscent to the scene in the movie “Elf” where Santa celebrates traveling the globe to deliver presents to children by announcing that “after all that hard work, it is time to start preparations for next Christmas.”
These initial rankings are a combination of mine and Ryan Wilson’s independent thoughts, and not all 50 prospects have been evaluated by both. The rankings will sort themselves out over the next 10 months, so this serves as more of a preseason watch list for draft aficionados. A general way of consuming the list is to assume each ranking that evokes negative feelings was conducted by Wilson; it may or may not be true, but that is a perk of being the one that writes the story.
Without further ado, the 50 draft-eligible prospects to monitor this college football season:
The grandson of former Saints quarterback Archie Manning and nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning. All three were named to an NFL Pro Bowl at quarterback.
He transferred from Alabama after Nick Saban’s abrupt retirement. The Georgia native became the first freshman in Alabama program history to lead the team in tackles. His brother, Josh Downs, was a third-round draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts in 2023. His father, Gary Downs, spent seven seasons in the NFL after being drafted in the third round. His uncle, Dre Bly, was a two-time Pro Bowl selection and Super Bowl champion.
247Sports’ No. 5 overall prospect out of high school. He also participated in basketball and track and field as a high school prospect. His personal record in the shot put came in the Iowa High School Track & Field Championships where he finished fifth.
Four of his uncles — Gabe Reid, Spencer Reid, Teni Palepoi and Anton Palepoi — all played in the NFL.
Bain was named ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year and All-ACC third-team as a true freshman in 2023 after logging 45 pressures and 7.5 sacks.
His brother, linebacker Francisco Mauigoa, was a fifth-round pick by the Jets in the 2025 NFL Draft. His other brother, Frederick Mauigoa, was a Rimington Award watch list member at Washington State before spending time in the NFL with the Bengals and Panthers. Born in American Samoa, he was the No. 6 overall prospect out of high school, according to 247Sports.
His father, Doug Nussmeier, is the offensive coordinator under Kellen Moore with the New Orleans Saints after previously being a quarterbacks coach with four other NFL franchises, including stops at Alabama, Michigan and Florida. His dad was also a fourth-round draft pick of the Saints back in 1994.
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Parker, originally from Alabama, completed an internship with the Beverly Hills (Calif.) Chamber of Commerce in 2024. He holds the Clemson single-season record for forced fumbles (6) and the true freshman record for tackles for a loss (12.5).
Hill was born at the same hospital that delivered legendary NFL running back Barry Sanders.
Woods had a 12.2% pressure rate in 2024, per TruMedia.
Mendoza, who transferred to Indiana after three years at Cal, completed 68.7% of his passes for 3,004 yards and 16 touchdowns compared to four interceptions in 2024. His younger brother, Alberto Mendoza, is also a member of the Hoosiers football program.
McCoy was a Texas regional qualifier in the triple jump back in high school. The one-time Oregon State transfer had four interceptions last season.
Overton was originally a part of Texas A&M’s 2022 recruiting class, which was arguably one of the best in college football history; first-round pick Walter Nolen, first-round pick Shemar Stewart and Oregon wide receiver Evan Stewart were also a part of that class. His father, Milton Overton, is the athletic director at Kennesaw State.
Perkins missed all but four games of the 2024 season with a knee injury. He was 247Sports’ No. 5 overall recruit coming out of high school.
Williams appeared in three state championships and lost only one game during his high school football career. He is 92 receptions away from being the career record-holder at Clemson and has caught at least one pass in each of the 33 games he has played.
His 311 passing attempts without an interception to begin his career set an NCAA record, previously held by Baylor’s Robert Griffin III.
Uiagalelei is the younger brother of former Clemson and Florida State quarterback, D.J. Uiagalelei.
Rivers finished second in the long jump at the state championship in high school and led his basketball team to the 5A Texas State Championship in 2021.
Thomas competed in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes in high school. He had a 15.2% pressure rate last season, which was No. 30 among players with at least 200 pass rush snaps, according to TruMedia.
He began his collegiate career at Colorado before spending the past two seasons at Arizona State, racking up 75 receptions for 1,101 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2024. His brother, Jaylon Tyson, was the No. 20 overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Eventual No. 6 overall selection Ashton Jeanty led college football in tackle avoidance rate (40.5%) last season, according to TruMedia, but Love (38.3%) finished fifth among players with at least 100 carries.
Chaplin wrestled and played defense in high school, which speaks to his aggressive play style, as well as throwing shot put, discus and javelin for the track and field team.
Auburn OT Xavier Chaplin drawing first-round buzz after transfer, could be breakout star for rebuilt Tigers
Matt Zenitz
Sapp led Florida with 7.0 sacks and 13.0 tackles for loss last season. He is a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll representative.
Allen qualified for the Georgia state championship shot put event, in addition to running the 100- and 200-meter dashes. On the football field, he was a 4-star recruit who started 12 games for the Bulldogs last season.
Former NFL offensive lineman Geoff Schwartz has called dibs on leading the World “hype train,” predicting that he will be a top-10 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. World transferred from Nevada this offseason.
Everette grew up running track and recorded 11 interceptions in his final high school season en route to being named a 5-star recruit and 247Sports’ No. 18 prospect overall.
In high school, Singleton competed in the long jump and ran the 100-meter dash in 10.68 seconds. He transferred from Georgia Tech this offseason and is coming off a campaign of 56 catches, 754 yards and three scores.
Kilgore finished with five interceptions last season, which was tied for the fourth-most in college football.
Harris was a 5-star recruit out of high school and the No. 27 prospect overall. He was high school teammates with Clemson’s T.J. Parker.
Tiernan was a two-time captain for his basketball team in high school, in addition to one year with the football team. He’s started all 25 games at left tackle over the past two seasons.
Among defensive players with at least 200 pass rush snaps, Perkins had a 17.8% pressure rate in 2024, per TruMedia, which was highest among off-ball linebackers.
Barber played basketball in high school in addition to helping Trinity Christian Academy win the Florida Class 3A state championship in football. He started all 13 games at left tackle for Florida in 2024.
Two of Muhammad’s cousins — A.J. Green and Jabbar Muhammad — have gone on to play cornerback in the NFL. He has appeared in 30 games for Texas over the past two seasons.
Baxter missed the entire 2024 season with an injury, but average 4.8 yards per carry in 2023.
Lawson was a 5-star recruit and the No. 29 prospect overall out of high school. He played both sides of the ball and also played basketball. The Crimson Tide named him a permanent team captain.
Among wide receivers with at least 40 receptions last season, Anderson ranked No. 15 in yards after the catch per reception (7.5), according to TruMedia.
Lomu was a part of two state championship teams in high school. He had only played three games for the Utes prior to his breakout 2024 season.
His father, David Weeks, was a three-year starter and team captain at Georgia in the 1990s. Weeks earned first-team All-SEC honors last season after finishing second in the conference (and ninth in the FBS) with 125 total tackles.
Tate was a 5-star recruit and the No. 22 prospect overall out of high school, according to 247Sports. In the past five years, seven Ohio State pass-catchers have recorded at least 50 receptions in a season; five were taken in the first round of the NFL Draft, one is not eligible until the 2026 NFL Draft (Jeremiah Smith) and the other is Tate.
Delane also wrestled in high school. His younger brother, Faheem Delane, was a top-100 overall recruit as part of the 2025 recruiting class and signed with Ohio State.
Thompson did not allow a sack on 383 pass blocking snaps at Northwestern last season, according to TruMedia. He is one of eight siblings.
Singleton set a Penn State freshman record for rushing touchdowns (12) in 2022.
Boston has three drops on 109 career targets, according to TruMedia, which equates to a 2.8% drop rate.
Sadiq was a three-sport athlete in high school competing in basketball and track and field. He had one drop on 27 targets last season.
Spencer was a part of the Buford football team that won three-straight state championships.
46. TE Max Klare, Ohio State
Klare finished 10th among tight ends in receptions last season (51). He also played baseball in high school.
York competed in the 100- and 200-meter dashes in high school. He was named a season-long captain in his second season at Texas A&M.
Georgia has had defensive linemen Mykel Williams, Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, Warren Brinson, Zion Logue, Jalen Carter and Robert Beal Jr. drafted since Miller joined the team, so his role has grown exponentially over the past two years. Miller has been responsible for 15.4% of tackles when on the field over the past two years, according to TruMedia; the average among players with at least 500 defensive snaps is 11.2%.
The Washington transfer has allowed one sack on 944 pass blocking snaps during his collegiate career, according to TruMedia. He did not allow a sack last season.
Slaughter allowed nine pressures last season. Among collegiate players with at least 350 pass blocking snaps, the average was 16.3 pressures allowed, according to TruMedia.
There has already been a heavy flow of 2026 NFL Draft content at CBSSports.com. Matt Zenitz wrote a story about Auburn offensive tackle Xavier Chaplin, who transferred from Virginia Tech in recent months. Chris Trapasso and I took a look at the top-10 offensive and defensive prospects as well.
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