Another look-ahead to 2026 … For those that missed it, ESPN has an article up this weekend listing the top 5 prospects by position for the 2026 draft by draft analysts Matt Miller and Jordan Reid and a couple or three things kind of jump out. First, it appears pretty clear that there is still a lot of sorting out today between now and April 23rd next year. The two analysts, for example, have different top prospects at literally half the positions.
Maybe the bigger issue, though, is that neither Miller nor Reid include Arch Manning, arguably the consensus #1 prospect overall, among their top 5 QBs as they don’t expect him to enter this year’s draft. And that’s backed up by lead ESPN analyst Mel Kiper who also just doesn’t see the Manning family wanting Arch to go pro with just one year of starting college experience under his belt (although we do wonder if a team like the hometown New Orleans Saints or NY Giants had the first pick overall might change their mind as he would be in position to pick a team that he really did want to play for.)
Manning, of course, is probably something of a special case, but what may make this draft so difficult to evaluate, at least until next January and beyond is that so many of the top prospects for this year’s draft are 3rd year players who may not be in such a rush to get to the pros with college players now eligible to cash in on their talent via the NIL dollars. And that’s especially true on the defensive side of the ball where each of the top 4 DEs (Clemson’s TJ Parker, Keldric Fualk of Auburn, Miami’s Reuben Bain and Mataylo Uiagalelei of Oregon), the top DT (Peter Woods of Clemson); both of the top LBs (Anthony Hill of Texas and Georgia’s CJ Allen); both top CBs (Jerod Mayo of Tennessee and Penn State’s AJ Harris); and the top safety (Ohio State’s Caleb Downs) are all third year players. Stay tuned!
