Nate Tice·Charles McDonaldTue, April 21, 2026 at 2:39 PM UTC·18 min readThe 2026 NFL Draft is nearly here! Months of scouting evaluations, testing numbers, pro days, team visits, trades and more all come down to Thursday through Saturday in Pittsburgh, when 257 players will hear their names called as draft picks.
Here’s our final mock draft of this cycle, and we hope the most accurate yet. We’ll find out soon enough.
In this mock draft, Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice makes the odd-numbered picks, and Charles McDonald makes the even.
Big Boards: Consensus Top 75 • Nate Tice • Charles McDonald | Draft guide
Set it and forget it. Mendoza has reportedly already been working to acclimate himself to the Raiders’ offense, and he is a great fit with Klint Kubiak’s preferred attack. Mendoza’s size and mental makeup will help him acclimate quickly to the next level, but the Raiders have done a nice job of insulating Mendoza with a veteran center in Tyler Linderbaum and adding quarterback Kirk Cousins to hold the fort down for when Mendoza is ready.
There’s been a lot of smoke recently linking the Jets and Bailey, so let’s follow suit and start the draft here. This might be a bit rich for Bailey considering the Jets have their pick of the litter, but one thing he has over the Ohio State trio is conventional positional value helping his cause. Bailey’s appeal is all about his upside as a pass rusher, which is sky high. He has the athleticism, tenacity and a growing set of techniques to use to be a factor early in his career. He has a lot of room to grow as a run defender, but he’s shown upside there as well, albeit inconsistently. The addition of 365-pound nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat makes this pick more palatable and will let Bailey be aggressive without killing the structure of the Jets’ defense.
We’re sending the ninth and 40th picks to Arizona for this one, and the Chiefs might need a little more to sweeten the pot for a move up like this. But the Cardinals (and Titans after them) feel like the pivot points of this year’s draft. The Cardinals could just sit and take whomever they want, or move back some to bet they can snag their preferred offensive lineman, all while getting more to work with on Day 2, the sweet spot of this year’s draft.
A trade up makes sense for the Chiefs as they haven’t held a top-10 pick in the draft since they moved up for Patrick Mahomes in 2017. And you know what’s cooler than a top-10 pick? A top-three pick. I consider Reese the best non-quarterback in this year’s draft, and this ability to impact the game, both presently and what he can become in the future, on the line of scrimmage or from off-ball spots makes him an incredible fit for Steve Spagnuolo’s Bolo punch defense. All while keeping the 29th pick, too.
This is very high for a player who is projected to be an off-ball linebacker in the NFL, but Styles is a rare talent. At 6-foot-5 and 244 pounds, he has elite size and still manages to play with consistent leverage when attacking downhill. He seemed to get better every week and has come a long way from 2024 when he was making the transition from safety to linebacker. Here, he ends up with Robert Saleh, who knows the value of a steady presence in the middle of the field. Not only did he coach Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw at the peak of their powers, he also spent a few years with C.J. Mosley with the Jets toward the end of his career. While off-ball linebackers normally don’t go this high, there may be something to be said about having an elite player at that position in a league that doesn’t have many. It would be a weapon essentially no other team has right now.
The Giants are locked and loaded with two of the top 10 selections in this year’s draft after trading star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals. Now they wield 16 minutes’ worth of picks Thursday night, opening up all kinds of possibilities to attack their roster.
Downs would be the highest selected safety in over a decade. His game, a steadiness he brings every play from some part of the center of the defense, would help solidify the back end of a Giants unit that has yielded big play after big play over the past few seasons.
Tate brings a raised level of competence to the Browns’ wide receiver room they sorely need. The execution on every level of their passing game needs major improvement and Tate would provide a high floor starter to pair with tight end Harold Fannin Jr. and running back Quinshon Judkins as the core young offensive talent. Tate might not have the profile of a dominant No. 1 wide receiver, but he can undoubtedly be a heavily targeted option.
There simply aren’t many offenses that can unleash a quarterback and running back that can both run a sub-4.4 40 on every snap. I like how the Commanders addressed the running back room already this offseason, and they have other positions and needs on their roster they could easily go after. But with so many defensive players going early, and the Commanders perhaps feeling like they can address offensive needs later, they instead go with perhaps the best skill player in this year’s draft class to boost their offense with first time play-caller David Blough.
The Saints need to add juice off the edge to a defense that ranked 22nd in pressure rate last season. Rueben Bain Jr. comes in an NFL-ready body (short arms and all) and has the density requirement the Saints have preferred out of their defensive ends. Bain and Chase Young could be a nice duo as the Saints continue to turn the page into the next chapter of their post-Drew Brees era.
The Cardinals address their offensive line with the first player in that position group off the board while adding pick No. 40 to their quiver. I almost went with Monroe Freeling here, but instead selected perhaps a cleaner fit in Mauigoa; a strong and technically proficient right tackle who could kick inside, both spots where the Cardinals would love to have any type of long-term solution.
Out goes Dexter Lawrence, in comes Faulk. He is a monster against the run and has a ton of upside to grow as a player who doesn’t turn 21 until September. He’s raw as a pass rusher, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. His role in Auburn’s defense didn’t allow for many clean pass rushing reps, so he’s a bit of a blank slate there. He’s right at the “tweener” range now, but his ability to stand strong against the run and eat double teams is rare for someone with his frame. He probably has the best run defending tape in the class.
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The Dolphins could go offensive line or pass catcher here (I mean look at who Malik Willis is throwing to right now). Instead let’s give their new head coach the first cornerback off the board. Delane is smart, and has a knack for baiting quarterbacks in zone coverage and making plays on the football. He’s a great fit for Jeff Hafley at a position group that’s been getting by with some *waves hand* names lately.
Dallas needs to continue to upgrade its defense. Here, the Cowboys take a big hack at a potentially great cornerback in McCoy. He didn’t play last season while recovering from an ACL tear, but his tape shows some high-end traits in man coverage and has the length and athleticism teams emphasize at the position. It’s a risk, but that word doesn’t even compute to Jerry Jones.
At first I wanted to give the Rams a different type of flavor at wide receiver than what they trot out. Instead I go with a burly pass catcher with blocking chops to bridge their present and future. Boston is a smooth athlete with size and ball skills to mix and match with Puka Nacua and Davante Adams (who is 34 and entering the last year of his contract). He is a valid threat working on the ball, and has some upside as a power slot player the Rams feature heavily in their offense.