In 2025, the Jacksonville Jaguars made a major move to select Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter No. 2 overall. A year earlier, the Minnesota Vikings made multiple moves up the first round to select quarterback J.J. McCarthy No. 10 overall.
Some of the surprises don't involve team trade-ups, though. Sometimes it's a highly-touted player falling far further in the draft than expected.
The story of the 2025 NFL Draft was quarterback Shedeur Sanders' fall from an expected first-round pick to the top of the fifth round. That's the highest-profile fall in recent memory; a generation ago, saw potential No. 1 overall pick Aaron Rodgers fall to No. 24 overall in the 2005 NFL Draft.
Players can fall for myriad reasons, some more legitimate than others. Draft fallers often have some similar characteristics, though. Injury history can play a role, as teams may not want to spend a first-round pick on a player who missed significant time during their college career. Others may fall due to physical limitations. Teams may opt for specific body types at certain positions, limiting the number of potential landing spots for outlier players. Off-field concerns can also play a role.
The 2026 NFL Draft could see some surprise fallers among the top prospects in the class. Here are eight names that could hear their names called much later than their big board ranking would project:
Tyson is firmly in contention for the No. 1 receiver in this class. It’s often a debate between him and Ohio State’s Carnell Tate for the top option. He’s in the top 10 of our big board but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him fall in Round 1 due to injury history.
Tyson transferred from Colorado to Arizona State ahead of the 2023 season. He tore his ACL, MCL and PCL in 2022 with the Buffaloes and that cut into his time in 2023 with Arizona State. In 2024, he had a fractured clavicle and dealt with a hamstring injury in 2025. Of 38 possible games he could have played with Arizona State, Tyson was on the field for 24 of them.
There’s no denying Tyson’s ability on the outside. In those 24 games in Tempe, he found the end zone 19 times. It’d be a shock to see him fall outside of Round 1, but he could end up going outside of the first dozen picks.
McCoy is an enigma in this draft class. His 2024 tape from Tennessee made him look like one of the best players in the 2026 NFL Draft class. But he missed the entire 2025 college football season after tearing his ACL.
When healthy, McCoy offers prototypical size at the position with the athleticism to fit multiple schemes and demands. That kind of profile usually translates to top-15 draft status. If he had multiple years of tape before that injury, it’d be less of a concern, but he had just the 2024 season at Tennessee to show scouts and evaluators what he could do. NFL teams may opt for a more sure thing in Round 1 despite the obvious talent.
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There’s little doubt that Allen has the talent to be a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. It may just be a confluence of other factors that causes him to slide into the second round.
Off-ball linebacker as a whole is devalued in the draft process. In the last four NFL drafts combined, only four off-ball linebackers have been drafted in the first round: Jihaad Campbell (2025), Jack Campbell (2023), Quay Walker (2022) and Devin Lloyd (2022). It could also hurt Allen’s draft stock, as this is one of the best and deepest off-ball linebacker classes in years. Teams could opt to wait and get a player at that position on Day 2 or early Day 3.
Banks is a standout in a defensive tackle class that lacks top-end talent. At 6-foot-6 and 327 pounds, he was one of the most explosive performers at the NFL Combine with elite length and power for the position.
His broken foot suffered at the combine could be the reason he drops out of the top 15 and even the first round. It’d be one thing if this were a standalone injury, but Banks played in just two games in 2025 due to a foot injury sustained during training camp. That could be a sign of a more chronic issue for a player of his size that may make teams wary of spending a first-round selection on him.
Unlike many of the others ahead of him on this list, Proctor could fall not because of injuries. He’s been healthy in his career with the Crimson Tide. Proctor is an outlier in size at 6-foot-7 and 352 pounds, with equally outlandish athleticism. Alabama even used him as a receiver on screens during the 2025 season.
He could fall due to concerns over his impressive size. He’s struggled at times against faster edge rushers and overall consistency in pass protection. Teams could look at Proctor and see the tools for an elite left tackle or they could see visions of Mekhi Becton, a similarly elite size-athleticism athlete at the position who ultimately had to move inside to guard.
Outside of Fernando Mendoza, this quarterback class is underwhelming compared to what we expected a year ago. Garrett Nussmeier and Drew Allar both dropped in draft stock due to injuries and many other top prospects returned to school.
Simpson emerged as the No. 2 quarterback for much of the 2025 college football season as Mendoza earned a Heisman Trophy. Simpson has a slightly smaller frame at 6-foot-2 and 211 pounds and relies more on his timing and accuracy than on a powerful arm. He has one year of starting experience at Alabama which could scare teams off. The promise of the 2027 NFL Draft class could play a role as well, with teams planning ahead to get their quarterback of the future in that class. With that in mind, they’d instead focus on building around the rest of the roster, causing Simpson to potentially fall out of the top 50.
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