2026 NFL Draft Ramblings

Arizona Cardinals  (C-)

• Jeramiah Love maybe be first year Bijan all over again as this looking to be a genuine 2.5 rb backfield if they try to keep james conner or trey benson involved besides new signee of Allgeier. Kendrick Bourne only real pass catching shake up to this team but Love could take some easy safety net and designed screen volume away from Mcbride. This offense will be much the same in terms of being really well spread out the hope is for dynamic play to increase and touchdowns to go their way. Minschew and Beck aren’t true competition to Mr. Brissett 

Atlanta Falcons (C)

• Just a reminder Tua will be the QB for a least a good portion of next year but he is on a tiny contract and could be kicked out fast. Tons of D-Line work and Sydney Brown trade should help defense stay middle of the pack

Baltimore Ravens (B)

• Vega Ioane and Zion Young are great picks in early rounds but ravens traded down and ended up drafting a ton of filler low round picks

• No one was willing to trade 2027 draft class picks so trade down teams need to hit to make it worth it

• Zion Young opposite Hendrickson could some great rookie numbers

• Ja’kobi Lane best big body option to pair with Flowers

Buffalo Bills (B-)

• DJ Moore, Skyler Bell, Knox, Kincaid by end of year will be true volume targets in buffalo as the run game increases and mixed WR sets reduce

Carolina Panthers (B-)

• Continued focus to build in the trenches no real FA or draft prospect to rival Tet receiving volume

• Potentially nasty D-line if Jaelen Phillips works out to his ceiling

• I and the Panthers org seem to be Jataveion Sanders believers hopefully he can stay healthy

Chicago Bears (B+)

• Thieneman was a big snag late in the first round and should go great with Coby Bryant to make for two great athlete safeties to make one of the best safety nets in the league for a team that seems to allow it’s secondary to play aggressive for picks even if it could cause big gains against them. Great new pulling guard in the second round Logan Jones from Iowa could expand Chicago’s outside run game and continue to improve their great o-line

Cincinnati Bengals (C+)

• Bengals went heavy into D-line in FA post hendrickson. The D-Line will mostly consist of 4 new bengals. Boye Mafe from the Seahawks, Sexy Dexy, Johnathan Allen a veteran interior D-linemen and new pass rush expert rookie Cashius Howell

• Hard to grade a Bengals draft very high with no first round pick and no O-line taken in any round

Cleveland Browns (C+)

• Browns are opposite of the Bengals and have almost no repeat O-linemen in the building as all were dropped in FA a heavy commitment in cap was spent on buying from the open market from the league but Browns will have to hope rookie Fano is as much of a versatile OL as described as he may need to bounce all over till this unit finds its final form

• KC Conception and Denzel Boston are both going to be fantasy talking points that will probably end up being nothing of value as they aren’t stars enough to compete with being a Brown

Dallas Cowboys (B-)

• Caleb Downs alone almost makes this an A grade draft but the desperation seen for D-line pressure screams Jerry Jones is trying to prove he was actually the smart one in the parsons trade

• Rashawn Gary and Malachi Lawrence should do well enough to make someone like Downs thrive in turing this Defense around

• Apparently even before playing his upcoming franchise tagged year Jerry stated they have no intention of signing Pickens to a contract and then they didn’t draft WR till 7th round and signed no one in FA so good luck Ceedee Lamb

 Denver Broncos (C)

• Broncos hit their needs with their limited picks. These last few drafts have been sold for FA talent and Waddle will have to hit big to make this roster feel anything different

Detroit Lions (C-)

• Blake Miller will probably be exactly what this O-line needs to reach it’s former glory but their over pay to receive Edge Derrick Moore feels like they ruined there chances to experiment with changing this team around. It’s about to be payday for all this rookie contract talent the lions have and this may truly be their last year for a deep playoff push

Green Bay Packers (C)

• What a surprise the packers went with some of the physically largest players in the draft and built in the trenches. Nothing truly wow worthy as they seem to be content with trading all their former stars to the Cowboys in some sort of pipeline deal for Parsons that only Jerry Jones could understand. 

Houston Texans (A-)

• Houston has done an excellent job in filling the gaping holes they had last season that prevented a historic defense from reaching the superbowl the addition of Monty and tons of FA signings for interior O-line men show a distinct effort to be a run first offense and relieve the pressure from stroud. 1st round pick Rutledge will be the culturally lynch pin of this style of play his highlight reel was half pancakes. In case all that slightly boosting to the offense wasn’t enough 2nd round pick Kayden Mcdonald being an absolute beast in the middle of the D-line with re-signed Will Anderson and Hunter may contend for rookie of the year as a DT. Also they paid big for Reed Blankenship from the eagles who should add another heavy hitting secondary star to this physical to the point of cheap shotting back seven. Oh also they picked up what is being touted as the best blocking TE in the draft in Marlin Klein.

Indianapolis Colts (B-)

• First round pick is gone for Sauce which is a trade I love unlike a lot of sports media. I do however find it annoying that the Colts have seemingly drafted with so much plug in play need with their later picks. Pick a real good Linebacker in CJ Allen who had first round metrics but then trade away Veteran leader Zaire Franklin. Also ripped straight from the ESPN scout lines apparently the Colts have no true secondary safety to go along Cam Bynum so your 3rd round pick had to hit or this weak secondary will have glaring weak point

Jacksonville Jags (D+)

• The star of this weird ass draft was taking TE Boerkircher who had 19 catches last season at the top end of the second 100+ picks above his draft grade. What I don’t give them credit for is their strong third round grade getting Regis and Pregnon to strengthen their trenches. I don't give them credit because theres a good chance both players sit their first year as the Jags have several key players on contract till the end of 2027 in these positions. Also no RB drafted when lots of teams let the RB class slide, your starting RB is probably Tank Bigsby with new sign on Chris Rodriguez from the commanders. 

Kansas City Chiefs (A-)

• It sucks to say but the Chiefs have perfectly replaced Chris Jones and Trent McDuffie and even more annoying they still have Chris Jones for a year or two to train Peter Woods. Mansoor Delane is this years Witherspoon but with outside coverage speed. So the chiefs will be the same great D first team with Patrick Mahomes and now K Walk in the backfield. Going to really need that DJ Moore trade to the bills to save us from them being in the superbowl.

Los Angeles Chargers (B-)

• You might be tired of hearing about building in the trenches but this was kinda the 2026 draft. Akheem Mesidor is a genuine stud on Edge and his age shouldn’t be as much of a worry for a team that can win now or within the next few years. In Free Agency the chargers were mostly silent except for the additions of Keaton Mitchell and FB Alec Ingold. With having two of the best Tackles in the league and two speedster RBs and a great lead blocking Ingold expect lots of outside toss plays. 4th round pick Brenen Thoompson will be used for cardio and field stretching to allow over the middle McConkey and TE stud Gadsen to thrive and less outside tackle threat for sweeping run plays. But this is still Harbaugh so expect them to run dumbly into their new Centers for the first half of the game for mediocre gain before doing 3 outside sweep plays for 20 yard avg and then abandon that part of the game. Is what I would have said tell I remembered mid way through writing this that Dolphins coach Mcdonald is now the OC and loves him some speed back plays. Hampton and Keaton to the moon.

Los Angeles Rams (C-)

• I like the Simpson pick in theory this a team with an aging all pro QB and he needs an heir apparent but it seems clear that from McVays reaction he’s retiring with Stafford. So with that in mind do you really want a Jimmy G level player in the first when you lack the best Offensive minded coach in the building. They did more future proofing with TE Max Klare in the second for a team with 3 highly used TEs. I don’t know man will any of this help with the Seahawks or is the hope that signing the Chiefs stellar CB duo enough to contain a Seahawks team whose own star secondary got picked at by the league this offseason.

Las Vegas Raiders (A+)

• I don't think I’ve seen a worse QB than last years raiders Geno. So even if Mendoza hits 50% of his potential he will be a mark improvement in the position. The big signing of Linderbaum to go along with one of my favorite rookies from last year in Powers Johnson should make a crazy good interior line and the Raiders seem to agree by drafting only one o-line men in the draft. Alright here’s the juicy bit the Raiders got my second best RB in the class of Mike Washington Jr who is a pure power up the gut player. Klint Kubiak is the new HC and former OC for the Seahawks who loved their Charb and K-Walk split backfield. I think with this O-line improving greatly but still needing some work on the outside a hardnosed small yardage back is a great find and I think Washington has the skill set and opportunity to do a lot more than just be a needed relief back for Jeanty. In addition to the terrible QB play last year the biggest weak point was the secondary and the Raiders get two big falling stars in Treydan Stukes and 2nd position rank CB McCoy in the 4th round to be great coverage and ball hawking CBs for the raiders. And in FA add some leadership in stud LBs Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker from the Eagles and Packers. If there wasn't the stink of the overpay of Cousins and the weird Crosby trade situation the Raiders would be everyone’s darkhorse from worst to play off contending team. Unfortunately they are in a stacked division and without a true counterbalance to Bowers in the pass catching role I don’t know how far Mendoza can improve this offense unless this RB tandem goes crazy.

Miami Dolphins (N/A)

• The dolphins roster is so bad that they cant fail at filling holes only bright side is Jacob Rodriguez but they literally traded back from 11 to 12 and provided Dallas with
  Caleb Downs. I understand there was injury concerns with McCoy but why pick all the way down to CB 6 Chris Johnson.

Minnesota Vikings (B-)

• Outside of the Kyler Murray signing the Vikings have only really fixated on their D-Line. Caleb Banks only real concern from being a top 15 pick was healthy concerns and him being picked over some notable names shows the Vikings trust in him.

New England Patriot (B+)

• Patriots did some marginal improvement in all areas and never pushed for anything rookie Caleb Lomu should be an instant improvement over will campbell and Alijah Vera Tucker being signed in FA should hopefully make Drake Maye’s life easier. Romeo Dobbs still is slated to be WR 1 with no meaningful draft capitol spent at the position. Hopefully this team was the real deal last year and not just riding on an easy schedule and cheating their way into a deep playoff schedule.

New Orleans Saints (B-)

• Jordan Tyson is by far my favorite WR prospect in this draft class but he has an injury prone history luckily he’s being paired with the always healthy Olave. If Shough is the real deal, an offense of Olave, Tyson, Ettiene, Juwan Johnson, and the depth of old man Kamara, Devin Neal and Kendre Miller at RB could make this offense click into top 10 fantasy viable talent. The rest of the draft and FA was poor depth pick ups so this team is riding on this offense to take the next level to compete at a playoff level.

New York Giants (A-)

• This draft went exactly as Harbaugh wanted taking 2 young and positionably flexible on both sides of the line. The Giants have the ceiling to compete next year for division winners but also are such a young squad that they could find themselves contending for the next 5 years. Nothing impressive to go aside Nabers in the receiving core from the draft but Darnell Mooney and Isiah Likely could have career years if the scrap volume goes there way. No Scattebo competition and another Ravens star of Patrick Ricard joins with Harbaugh to take a little bit of the CTE away from Scattebo as he leads the way. Rookie Colton Hood and Tremaine Edmunds from Chicago should be good pieces to a mid secondary to aid this top 5 D-Line of Burns, Reese, and Abdul Carter.

New York Jets (B-)

• Pros and Cons of this draft. Pro your new offensive weapons consist of Garret Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, Omar Cooper Jr, Breece Hall and Kenyon Sadiq. Con their qb is Geno Smith or Cade Klubnik. A potential pro or con is that this team will have to have a great offense mind to blend in Omar Cooper and Kenyon Sadiq as either one will sit in situations with great sophomore TE Mason Taylor. Pro for their Defense is the best pass rusher David Bailey joins the team from the draft as well as older veteran stars in Minkah Fitzpatrick and Demario Davis. Con do the Jets have the talent to preform in the shorter window they’ve built by getting an older rookie and much older veteran star talent, unless Geno goes crazy I think they’ve bungled this draft with good talent bad future planning.

Philadelphia Eagles (C+)

• Kind of the opposite of the Jets the Eagles seem to have drafted poor talent in positions to push out their vets and plan too far for the future potentially ruining their current talent pool. I’d really like to see a world where Devonta Smith becomes the lead receiver in a JSN model of play and a talent like Maki Lemon to be the opposite field stretcher matches that but what are we doing with AJ Brown. Eagles draft a good TE in Stowers but then resign all 3 of their older TE room. At least Defensively their FA pick ups seem insane Tariq Woolen joining this CB room and Jonathan Greenard as a new big addition to this D-Line lead by the resigned Jordan Davis and Jalen Carter.

Pittsburgh Steelers (9-8)

• I’m tired and the steelers are boring only interesting thing will be the QB situation but I’ll let mainstream media yap to you about rodgers for the next few months

Seattle Seahawks (C+)

• The tax of the superbow is how much the rest of the league rips you apart in FA. lots of secondary talent is missing but all but K-Walk on offense are back. To go alongside Charb since he's a bum and can only be a goal line vulture they pick up Jermiah Love’s partner in crime Jadarian Price. 3 CBs taken in the draft shows the worry of the superbowl tax.

San Francisco 49ers (C-)

• It seems like the 49ers didn't love the WR class and kept trying to trade down for value but this is not the draft class to trade down as no one is willing to give up next year picks. So they stick and pick there guy in Stribling just to be a speed big body stretcher to help out Slick Rick and Mike Evans preform even better in the middle of the field.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (B-)

• No mike evans no problem the buccs don't take any big swings for receiving talent and stick and pick great Defense talent in Rueben Bain and Mizzou’s Trotter.

Tennessee Titans (B+)

• I like Carnell Tate a lot and Quandale Dingle coming over from New York can be a great volume target for Ward. A shit ton of D-Line FA signings to go along with Kendrick Faulk in the first could make for a nasty line being taught under Salah. Also voice of the Defense Tony Adams brought along with Salah from New York will transform this D. Kinda feels like the Titans are the new Raiders where if they hit on next years draft on some star O-line and another offense talent they can quickly become the NFL offseason darlings. For now though this team will have a strong floor and should pick about 8th next year.

Washington Commanders (C+)

• Honestly, here's my terrible pick of the first round. I don't doubt Sonny Style will perform but the only really strength the commanders had on D was the line and linebackers so building a strength on a strength is cool but this team is terrible at corner and lacks any pass catching talent alongside Scary Terry. So can Jayden Daniels work his magic with only Scarry Terry, Chig Okwonkwo and about 5 rbs lead by Rachaad White and Bill.