2026 NFL 1st Round Draft Picks
1) Las Vegas Raiders: Fernando Mendoza (QB, Indiana)
2) New York Jets: David Bailey (EDGE, Texas Tech)
3) Arizona Cardinals: Jeremiyah Love (RB, Notre Dame)
4) Tennessee Titans: Carnell Tate (WR, Ohio State)
5) New York Giants: Arvell Reese (LB/EDGE, Ohio State)
6) Kansas City Chiefs (from Browns): Mansoor Delane (CB, LSU)
7) Washington Commanders: Sonny Styles (LB, Ohio State)
8) New Orleans Saints: Jordyn Tyson (WR, Arizona State)
9) Cleveland Browns (from Chiefs): Spencer Fano (T, Utah)
10) New York Giants (from Bengals): Francis Mauigoa (T, Miami)
11) Dallas Cowboys (from Dolphins): Caleb Downs, (S, Ohio State)
12) Miami Dolphins (from Cowboys): Kadyn Proctor (T, Alabama)
13) Los Angeles Rams (from Falcons): Ty Simpson (QB, Alabama)
14) Baltimore Ravens: Vega Ioane (G, Penn State)
15) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Rueben Bain Jr. (EDGE, Miami)
16) New York Jets (from Colts): Kenyon Sadiq (TE, Oregon)
17) Detroit Lions: Blake Miller (T, Clemson)
18) Minnesota Vikings: Caleb Banks (DT, Florida)
19) Carolina Panthers: Monroe Freeling (T, Georgia)
20) Philadelphia Eagles (from Packers via Cowboys): Makai Lemon (WR, USC)
21) Pittsburgh Steelers: Max Iheanachor (T, Arizona State)
22) Los Angeles Chargers: Akheem Mesidor (EDGE, Miami)
23) Dallas Cowboys (from Eagles): Malachi Lawrence (EDGE, Central Florida)
24) Cleveland Browns (from Jaguars): KC Concepcion (WR, Texas A&M)
25) Chicago Bears: Dillon Thieneman (S, Oregon)
26) Houston Texans (from Bills): Keylan Rutledge (G, Georgia Tech)
27) Miami Dolphins (from 49ers): Chris Johnson (CB, San Diego State)
28) New England Patriots (from Texans via Bills): Caleb Lomu (T, Utah)
29) Kansas City Chiefs (from Rams): Peter Woods (DT, Clemson)
30) New York Jets (from Broncos via Dolphins and 49ers): Omar Cooper Jr. (WR, Indiana)
31) Tennessee Titans (from Patriots via Bills): Keldric Faulk (DE, Auburn)
32) Seattle Seahawks: Jadarian Price (RB, Notre Dame)
Storylines From Night 1
The 2026 NFL Draft lacked some of the drama of year’s passed, as the number 1 pick was a foregone conclusion for months, and there weren’t any true reaches that shocked the world. That being said, there were still several interesting developments which few could have predicted that took place which will have long term ramifications on the franchises involved.
Here are the top takeaways after night 1 of the NFL Draft:
NFC East Teams Make Statements
One round in and all 4 NFC East teams are already much improved clubs on paper than they were 24 hours ago. Some of that was by luck, as players seemed to fall into the Giants, Commanders and Cowboys laps, while other was by design like the Eagles taking matters into their own hands and trading up to land a top WR.
However you want to chalk it up, each team and their fanbases have to be happy with how night 1 went. For New York, landing Arvell Reese at number 5 was a happy surprise. Many scouts had the EDGE rusher as their top player in the entire draft class. Then being able to double down with tackle Francis Mauigoa from Miami at number 10 addresses two of the team’s biggest needs immediately.
Likewise for Washington, Sonny Styles is the kind of blue chip prospect you insert into your lineup on Day 1 and hope to be able to retain for the duration of his NFL career. While they still have several holes on their roster to address, Styles is likely to become a future captain on their team, and could have several Pro Bowls ahead of him.
Dallas had to be licking their lips that Caleb Downs, who was projected as a potential top 3 pick before the 2025 Collegiate season, was available at 11th overall. And clearly they were so happy to land the Ohio State safety that they even agreed to put their blood feud with the Eagles aside to swing a deal later that night.
Speaking of which, USC wide receiver Makai Lemon was up there with Carnell Tate and Jordyn Tyson as part of the top tier of pass catchers in the draft. Depending on which scouting report you were reading, he was even labelled the top option of the 3 by some pre-draft analysts. But the real question here is now that they’ve spent a 1st rounder on a WR, while also adding Hollywood Brown and Dontayvion Wicks in the offseason, does this mean that A.J. Brown should be looking for a real estate agent?
Los Angeles Gets Their QB….Of the Future
The first “shock” of the night, if it can be called that, came at pick 13 when the Rams selected Alabama QB Ty Simpson. The surprise here has less to do with the player, Mendoza was gone, and just about everyone had Simpson as their QB2 on their draft boards, and more to do with where he was picked.
If LA didn’t pick him here, who were they worried about swooping in to make that selection? The Jets? Perhaps, but just about every other move they’ve made for the last 365 days seems to indicate they’re content to add pieces this year in anticipation of going all in on the QB heavy 2027 draft class.
As far as landing spots go, there’s perhaps no better situation Simpson could have found himself in. Head to LA, sit for a year with zero expectations to be a franchise saviour, learn from one of the best coaches in Sean McVay and the reigning NFL MVP in Matthew Stafford, and then take over starting duties when Stafford retires (possibly at season’s end). All while making first round pick level money.
It’s a massive win for the player, and positions LA well to remain competitive in a post-Stafford era. But for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations in 2026, a trade back to acquire additional assets seemed like a more prudent move.
Akheem Mesidor Makes History
The Los Angeles Chargers selected Miami’s Akheem Mesidor 22nd overall on Thursday, making him the first Canadian defensive player to be selected in the 1st round of the NFL Draft. The Ottawa native also keeps a streak alive of ensuring that a Canadian player has been selected every year going all the way back to 2011.
Mesidor was an All-ACC first team selection, and likely would have been taken higher if not for the fact that he’s on the “older” side of prospects at age 25. But with 12.5 sacks and 4 forced fumbles in 2025, the 6’3″ pass rusher will undoubtedly have an impact on a Chargers defensive line that’s likely to be looking for a Khalil Mack replacement after this season.
Cardinals Make Jeremiyah Love A Top 3 Pick
Love to Arizona is a great pick on the surface and a fun one for fantasy football purposes. He’ll likely assume a workhorse role in the desert from Day 1, and be steadily creeping up fantasy draft boards for much of the summer.
However, from a practical purpose, it also probably tips Arizona’s hand as to what they SHOULD be focusing on throughout Day 2 and 3 of the draft process. Simply put, they need to reinforce their offensive line in a big way, otherwise their shiny new toy on offence will be running into a brick wall all season long.
If nothing else changes, they’ll be relying on a line of Paris Johnson Jr (LT), Isaac Seumalo (LG), Hjalte Froholdt (C), Isaiah Adams (RG), and Elijah Wilkinson (RT) to try to keep some combination of Jacoby Brissett and Gardner Minshew upright this season.
Even if that unit stays healthy all season long, it’s still probably a bottom half of the league offensive line as a whole. So if your ceiling is “middle of the pack if everything breaks our way”, you’d probably be well served to use some additional draft capital on some of the big fellas in the trenches.
Jets Make THREE First Round Picks
Already armed with two first round picks, the Jets decided that they needed one more and traded back into the first round at the end of the night to make a 3rd selection. When all was said and done the team walked away with pass rusher David Bailey (Texas Tech), tight end Kenyon Sadiq (Oregon), and wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. (Indiana).
All three are perfectly serviceable prospects, each worthy of a first round grade, so there’s not much to quibble about in terms of the selections themselves. What the perpetually tormented Jets fanbase will need to keep in mind however is that even if Gang Green continues to add blue chippers to the roster throughout the weekend, it’s unlikely to move their win total much for the upcoming season.
As mentioned previously, this is a multi-year rebuild, with 2027 shaping up to be the draft in which the franchise figures to move from bottom dweller into their early stages of competing once again. So while Cooper will be a great compliment to Garrett Wilson, and Sadiq and Bailey both look like plug and play starters, there’s still a LOT of work to do on this Jets roster before they’ll be challenging the Patriots or Bills for any division titles.
A small subplot to keep an eye on will be the Bailey vs. Arvell Reese development arcs. The two pass rushers were 1A and 1B at their position on most people’s boards. But with Reese getting selected by the Giants, the two will now be perpetually linked and compared throughout their NFL careers. That’s fine if your comparable gets selected to a West Coast team you might see once every few years, but when you live in the hyper sensitive New York media market, and share a stadium with the other player, that kind of tit-for-tat comparison is likely going to be a part of your weekly life.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Marine Corps New York. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.