There's no way to know which NFL Draft prospects will exceed their potential and which will fall short. The jump from college to the NFL is one of the most difficult in sports. Players who look like sure things will fail. Overlooked late round picks and undrafted free agents will rise above their station to become heroes.
This is all to say judgments on draft classes take years to formulate -- but we've got at least a decent idea of how they might work out after months of film study and analyzing team needs. Thus, it's time to drop some way-too-early grades on the class of 2026.
We've analyzed all 32 teams' draft hauls, breaking out the best picks, potential sleepers and possible reaches that could define their impact this fall and beyond. Keep in mind those are all relative terms; some reaches are perfectly fine selections in a solid draft class. Some top picks are underwhelming shrugs in a confusing crop of prospects. And, of course, everyone one of these players has the opportunity to make our praise or criticism look utterly foolish.
Round 2, 56th overall: TE Nate Boerkircher, Texas A&M
Round 3, 81st overall: DT Albert Regis, Texas A&M
Best pick: Pregnon. The Jags got an interior lineman with first round talent toward the end of Day 2.
Sleeper pick: EDGE Wesley Williams, Duke. The fourth round pick does a little bit of everything, but his greatest skill may be the intangible quality of getting to the ball -- especially on special teams.
Potential reach: Boerkircher. It was a weird draft for tight ends, but Boerkircher was largely considered a fourth round talent or later. The Jags draft, however, was full of similarly head-scratching picks.
Round 1, third overall: RB Jeremiyah Love, Notre Dame
Round 2, 34th overall: G Chase Bisontis, Texas A&M
Best pick: Love. The Cardinals have a logjam at running back right now, but Love could quickly emerge as the team's best player.
Sleeper pick: DT Kaleb Proctor, SE Louisiana. He's a bit undersized, but he's got the tenacity to immediately crack the defensive rotation.
Potential reach: Beck. We don't get the Beck hype; the Cardinals could have gone for another developmental QB later.
Round 2, 33rd overall: WR De'Zhaun Stribling, Ole Miss
Round 3, 70th overall: EDGE Romello Height, Texas Tech
Best pick: Height. He can bring immediate third-down heat as an explosive edge rusher while filling out his game.
Sleeper pick: DT Gracen Halton. The 107th pick brought a pass-rushing interior presence who can reload the deep, quarterback-harassing front that the best Niners teams of the past decade-plus have all had.
Potential reach: Stribling. Rumors suggest the 49ers were interested in trading back even more after exiting the first round altogether. Stribling feels like a player they expected to take at pick 50, not with a borderline Day 1 selection. But, uh, there was plenty of competition for biggest reach here, because the Niners had a weird draft.
Best pick: Klare. He's... fine. Look, it was a weird draft from a general manager that's crushed them lately, so Les Snead deserves at least a little benefit of the doubt.
Sleeper pick: WR CJ Daniels, Miami. Miami's big body and ability to create separation late in routes could make him the red zone successor once Davante Adams hangs up his cleats.