Titans, Saints, Giants 1-2-3 in weekly selection order … With another week in the books, the selection order for the first-round of the 2026 draft were it to be held this week has been updated here.
Dolphins bounce key personnel execs … Despite posting their best win of the season this past weekend, Miami continued the major shake up of its front office as the Dolphins parted ways with long-time personnel execs Adam Engroff and Anthony Hunt who had been the team’s co-directors of player personnel since 2019. The moves come just over a week after the Dolphins fired GM Chris Grier. The two were the longest tenured people in the Dolphins’ front office with Engroff, in particular, handling much of their draft preparation.
Giants fire head coach Daboll … He was a ‘dead man walking’ anyway so the NY Giants have fired head coach Brian Daboll after yet another meltdown loss yesterday that dropped the team’s record to 2-8 and left them sitting on the 3rd pick overall at the 2026 draft were it held this week. Interesting that the Giants did not fire GM Joe Schoen at the same time as the two came as a pair from Buffalo 4 years ago. That may suggest that Schoen could survive for at least another year. The team’s offensive co-ordinator Mike Kafka has bee named interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Wins by Saints, Jets, ‘Phins to shuffle draft order … There will be some shuffling at the top of this week’s selection order for the opening round of the 2026 draft as teams sitting on three of the top 4 picks going into the week each won their respective games earlier today. New Orleans, which had the #1 last week, for example, upset Carolina 17-7 for their 2nd win of the campaign; the NY Jets, who had been at #3 ,knocked off fellow bottom-feeder Cleveland 27-20, while #4 Miami posted the biggest upset of the week stunning Buffalo 30-13. As a result, Tennessee, which was on its bye this week, will hold the #1 pick at least for next week, with New Orleans at #2, the Giants moving up to #3, Cleveland at #4, the Jets now at #5, Las Vegas at #6 and Miami down to #7. As usual, the full, updated selection order will be posted after tomorrow night’s Monday night game.
LSU QB Nussmeier benched in Tide loss … There was a somewhat surprising development in LSU’s loss at Alabama last night when the Tigers pulled QB Garrett Nussmeier early in the 3rd quarter with the game still very much in the balance. Nussmeier had led LSU on a long march down to inside the Alabama 10-yard line after receiving the second half KO but they had to settle for a FG after taking a delay of game penalty and then Nussmeier ran into a sack. Nussmeier was 18 of 21 on the day, but for just 121 yards and no TDs. For the record, Nussmeier was replaced by the more athletic Michael Van Buren, but he was no more effective as the Tigers went down 20-9 to the 4th ranked Tide. And as of this morning, LSU is non-committal which of the two will start next week when the Tigers host Arkansas. Nussmeier, of course, entered the season considered to be one of the top 2-3 prospects at the position for the 2026 draft, but has seen his stock drop of late, in part because of nagging injuries as well as a sometimes leaky offensive line, and the latest developments certainly aren’t going to help.
Montreal to play Saskatchewan in CFL final … It will be the Montreal Alouettes against the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the 112th edition of Grey Cup game next Sunday evening in Winnipeg. Montreal beat Hamilton 19-16 in the CFL’s Eastern final earlier today, while Sask came from behind late to defeat the BC Lions to punch their ticket to Winnipeg. However, both games came down to the final play. Montreal kicked a 36-yrad FG as time expired to defeat Hamilton, while Saskatchewan drove 75 yards with less than a minute on the clock for the game winning TD on a 3-yard pass from Trevor Harris to Jeff Nield with just 11 ticks on the clock. Game time in Winnipeg next week is 6:30 with coverage in Canada on TSN and RDS, while the game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Network in the US, as well as internationally on the league’s free live-streaming platform CFL+.
Plenty for scouts to chew on after wild and wacky B1G finish … It was indeed as #2 Indiana got a last minute TD pass from QB Fernando Mendoza to star WR Omar Cooper to beat Penn State 27-24 to stay unbeaten and tied with Ohio State atop the conference standings. It was a particularly wild and wacky ending for Mendoza, the consensus top QB prospect for the upcoming draft. He threw an ill-advised pick mid-way thru the 4th quarter to set up a go-ahead by the Nittany Lions; then looked totally discombobulated on the Hoosiers’ next drive; before leading a final 80-yard scoring drive in the final two minutes with no time outs and facing a very aggressive PSU pass rush. All that will give NFL scouts plenty to chew on as Mendoza clearly throws darts well down the field, but also looked indecisive at times.
Who to watch in college football this week … Interesting week on the college football schedule with one game involving top 10 teams facing each other, as well as programs ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th facing quality opposition. For the record, that one game involving top 10 teams is actually in the Big XII as #7 BYU faces #8 Texas Tech, while #2 Indiana plays at Pen State, #3 Texas A&M travels north to play #22 Missouri and #4 Alabama is at home to LSU in a game featuring two of the top QB prospects for the upcoming draft. Here’s a preview of who we’ll be watching in this week’s big games with an eye toward 2026.
FCS showcase event announced … The NFL and NCAA, in collaboration with the American Football Coaches Association, announced late last week that they will be hosting a showcase for FCS draft prospects in junction with the Division I national championship in Nashville early in January. The actual FCS DI title game is slated for January 5th. Around 50 FCS prospects will be invited to participate in the showcase activities. Of course, many of those same players will also be invited to one of the major all-star games and/or the scouting combine, but it will give some players who might otherwise have been overlooked by pro scouts, an extra opportunity to show their stuff. For the record, this year’s FCS playoffs get underway the weekend of November 29th with top-ranked North Dakota State the odds-on-favorite.
Buckeyes top seed in first official CFP ranking … To nobody’s great surprise, defending national champion and current top-ranked college team Ohio State is the #1 team on the initial CFP playoff rankings released last evening. The other top seeds, if the playoffs started this week, are Indiana at #2, Texas A&M at #3 and Alabama at #4, while Georgia, Mississippi, BYU, Texas Tech, Oregon, Notre Dame, Virginia and Memphis round out the top 12. Memphis is in as the highest ranked non-Power 4 team, although the Tigers aren’t in the top 25. Note that this year, conference champions do not get the byes; instead the top 4 spots will go to the four highest ranked teams in the final poll. And needless to say there will be some changes between now and then; this week for example, #7 BYU is scheduled to play #8 Texas Tech meaning that the loser of that game is almost assuredly going to be dropped from the top 12. The playoffs get underway with the first round games on December 19-20 at the home stadium of teams seeded 5th thru 8th; the quarter-finals will be played New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in the Orange, Rose, Sugar and Cotton Bowls; the semis will be held January 8-9 in the Peach and Fiesta Bowls; while the national championship game will be played January 19th in Miami.
Couple more late trades to note … There were a couple of trades that weren’t officially announced until after the deadline passed earlier today as Chicago acquired ER Joe Tyron-Shoyinka and a 2026 7th rounder from Cleveland in exchange for a 2026 6th round selection, while the LA Chargers get a conditional 7th round pick in 2028 from the NY Jets for CB Ja’Sir Taylor.
Jets shake up draft adding three firsts in big deals … Normally most years there’s a lot of buzz around the NFL in the days leading up to the trade deadline, but then pretty much crickets on the day. This year was an exception, though, thanks in large part to the NY Jets who consummated two major deals, in the process acquiring three first round draft picks including one extra this year and two more in 2027. First, the Jets sent All-Pro CB Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis for the Colts 1st round picks in both 2026 and 2027 as well as veteran WR Adonai Mitchell, then shipped star DT Quinnen Williams to Dallas for a 1st round pick in 2027, a second this year and veteran DT Mazi Smith. In other deals today, Seattle acquired WR Rashid Shaheed from New Orleans for 4th and 5th round picks this year, while the Saints also acquired a 6th in 2027 from the LA Chargers for OT Trevor Penning and Jacksonville acquired WR Jakobi Meyers from Las Vegas for 4th and 6th rounders.
Cowboys get vet LB from Cincy as trade deadline looms … The NFL trade deadline comes up at 4 PM ET later today. Last night, Dallas acquired veteran LB Logan Wilson from Cincinnati for what is being reported as a 7th round pick in 2026.
Saints, Titans 1-2 in weekly selection order … With another week in the books, the selection order for the first-round of the 2026 draft were it to be held this week has been updated here.
Ravens get vet ER from Titans for conditional pick … Baltimore has acquired veteran edge rusher Dre’Mont Jones from Tennessee i exchange for what is being described as a conditional 5th round pick in 2026. The pick reportedly can escalate to a 4th depending on production. Jones is a versatile player who has lined up at DT, DE and OLB during his 7 year career.
Niners top pick out for year … San Francisco has confirmed that rookie DE Mykel Williams, the team’s first round pick at the 2025 draft, will miss the rest of the season after tearing an ACL in yesterday’s win over the NY Giants. Williams was the 12th player selected at this past April’s draft; he had been considered prior to the 2024 season as a potential #1 pick overall, but he ended up playing on a bad foot most of the year which limited his effectiveness and dropped dropped his grade. Thru the first half of this year Williams has 20 tackles including one sack.
As the QB turns; college edition … A couple of stories we’re following regarding the QB position for the upcoming draft and beyond. There’s something of an interesting situation at South Carolina where the Gamecocks fired offensive co-ordinator Mike Shula over the weekend, Shula, of course, had been the coach of star South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellars, who has been mentioned prominently as a possible top pick this coming April. Sellars, though, had been discounting those whispers saying that he was happy where he was and wasn’t likely going anywhere soon. We’ll see if this situation with Shula impacts his thinking whether to change his mind and actually enter the draft or possibly transfer as he is just a 3rd year player with a couple more years of eligibility available to him.
Meanwhile, while Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza remains the slight betting favorite to be the first QB selected this coming April, there is a new name being thrown into the discussion these days and that’s Alabama’s Ty Simpson who has the Tide rolling. Simpson, who bided his time on the Alabama sidelines for three season before taking over this fall, still has a year of eligibility left and may figure that after waiting that long he’s in no hurry to leave, but he’s got a strong accurate arm with a quick, compact release, as well as enough athleticism to avoid trouble in the pocket. For the record, Simpson, who is 6-2, 210, is on pace to throw for over 3,000 yards this fall as he’s completing 68% of his throws, including 20 for TDs against just one pick.
With trade deadline looming Eagles get Phins’ DE Phillips … The NFL trade deadline comes up at the end of business on Tuesday. In fact, there were several deals last week in anticipation of the deadline and there was another overnight as Philadelphia acquired veteran DE Jaelan Phillips from Miami for a 2026 3rd round pick. The Eagles actually have two 3rd rounders this year as they earlier acquired one from the NY Jets, but it is believed that the Dolphins will get Philadelphia’s own pick which needless to say will be considerably later in the round than the Jets’ selection.
Saints back to #1 with Jets idle … With the NY Jets on their bye week, the New Orleans Saints will move back into the #1 spot on the weekly if the draft were held this week selection order for the first-round of the 2026. The Saints lost 34-10 loss to the LA Rams earlier today which drops their record to 1-8. Tennessee is also 1-8 and will be in the #2 spot after the Saints, at least for the week, while the Jets will drop to 3rd at 1-7. In fact, because the Saints SOS figure is somewhat lower than that of the Jets this week, New Orleans actually would have had the top pick for the week win or lose by the Jets. Meanwhile, if the draft were held this week, Miami would have the 4th pick, followed by the NY Giants and Cleveland. Cleveland, though, would actually have the 4th pick ahead of both Miami and the Giants if they lose the game in hand they have over those two teams.
Eagles get vet CB, future pick for Ravens’ 6th … Philadelphia has acquired veteran CB Jaire Alexander from Baltimore in exchange for a 6th round pick this coming April. To complete the deal, the Eagles will also get a 7th rounder in 2027.
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