2026 NFL Draft: Rating the ten Greatest Prospects within the CFP Nationwide Championship

[ad_1] Like one thing straight out of a Hollywood script, the No. 10 seed Miami Hurricanes shall be taking part in for the nationwide title of their dwelling stadium Monday towards Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza (a Miami native) and the No. 1 ranked Indiana Hoosiers. As if these storylines weren’t sufficient, the 2 applications are led by Mario Cristobal and Curt Cignetti — two Nick Saban disciples at powerhouse Alabama.

For NFL scouts, the larger story is the budding expertise on each rosters. There shall be no scarcity of angles explored within the buildup to the title sport, however we’ve received you coated in case your curiosity lies within the professional futures of those prospects.

We’ve ranked the ten greatest amongst these anticipated to be eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft.

Few defensive backs on this class can match Scott’s mixture of measurement, pace, physicality, instincts and flexibility. He’s performed in 46 video games over the previous 4 seasons at Miami (2025) and Auburn (2022-24), after starting his faculty profession at Snow Faculty in Utah, the place he was a two-time junior faculty All-American. The six-foot, 194-pounder has primarily performed nickel, however he’s additionally lined up at security, linebacker, exterior cornerback and even punt returner over the previous 4 seasons, taking one again 74 yards for a landing towards Arkansas throughout his time within the SEC.

Regardless of lacking the ultimate three video games of the 2025 season with a turf toe damage, Scott posted profession highs in tackles (61), tackles for loss (13), sacks (5), interceptions (two) and compelled fumbles (2). Scott returned each of his interceptions for touchdowns. His tape is plagued by missed tackles — however a lot of these are explosive hits that pressure ballcarriers into the ready arms of teammates. Scott will flip 25 years outdated earlier than his first NFL regular-season sport and that reality will possible push him into Day 3 of the draft, however his maturity and talent to play a number of roles shall be valued by NFL coaches.

Present projection: Fourth/fifth roundNFL comparability: Coby Bryant, Seattle Seahawks

DB Keionte Scott runs the ball after an interception in the course of the Faculty Soccer Playoff Quarterfinal on the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Traditional between the Miami Hurricanes and the Ohio State Buckeyes on December 31, 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. (Picture by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures)

Indiana and Miami every boast a number of draft-worthy defensive backs and, frankly, all of them supply higher measurement than the diminutive Ponds, a Miami native himself who's listed at 5-foot-9, 173 kilos. Ponds, nonetheless, personifies the gritty Hoosiers, taking part in far larger and extra tenacious than his body suggests. The third-year junior is instinctive and cat-quick, one thing that Oregon’s Dante Moore discovered the onerous approach on the primary play from scrimmage in final week’s Peach Bowl rout of the Geese.

Ponds’ stature suggests a attainable transfer inside to nickel cornerback on the subsequent stage. He possesses the notice, agility and toughness to deal with this transition, however he deserves an opportunity to stay exterior, the place he’s allowed simply 52% of the passes thrown in his route to be accomplished over the previous two seasons. Ponds has truly scored extra touchdowns throughout that point than he’s given up, taking again an interception in every of the previous two seasons and surrendering only one TD seize (to Maryland in September 2024) in his previous 27 video games.

Present projection: Center roundNFL comparability: D.J. Reed, Detroit Lions

In measurement, model and background, Moten couldn’t be a lot totally different than the aforementioned Ponds, checking in at a sturdy 6-foot-3, 300 kilos, in keeping with Miami’s official roster. The redshirt junior seems a minimum of 20 kilos heavier on tape, nonetheless, and whereas surprisingly fast for a person of his measurement, Moten’s sport is energy. He surges off the snap with spectacular leg drive and bench presses would-be blockers apart on his strategy to the ball-carrier. He isn’t the sort to chase down runners from behind, however he enhances his higher physique power with good core flexibility to "get skinny" to penetrate gaps, registering a powerful eight tackles for loss in 13 video games this season, together with 4.5 sacks. Critics will argue that Moten’s manufacturing is perhaps inflated by all the eye that Miami’s edge rushers obtain, however he’s a stellar run-plugger, if nothing else, and worthy of top-100 consideration. Moten’s availability for the title sport is in query, as he appeared to irritate a nagging proper ankle damage within the Hurricanes' Fiesta Bowl victory over Ole Miss.

Present projection: Center roundNFL comparability: Dalvin Tomlinson, Arizona Cardinals

Indiana broad receiver Omar Cooper Jr. (3) catches a landing go as Oregon defensive again Aaron Flowers (21) defends in the course of the Faculty Soccer Playoff Semifinal on the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on January ninth, 2026, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Picture by Wealthy von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures)

There isn't a denying that the important thing to the Hoosiers’ passing assault is their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, however Cooper is the type of dynamic athlete that makes life simpler for any signal-caller. Boasting a compact construct (6-0, 204 kilos), the redshirt junior is a pure playmaker with extra touchdowns scored (21) than video games began (17). Although he’s averaged 15.7 yards gained over his 110 profession receptions, Cooper is maybe simplest on beneath routes, comparable to quick-screens and drags, the place his imaginative and prescient, shiftiness and comparatively low heart of gravity assist create yards after the catch. Due to his suddenness, Cooper is an efficient combo-route runner, and he has a knack for making massive performs in massive moments, as evidenced by his 75-yard dashing landing towards Ohio State in 2024 in addition to his game-winning, toe-tapping rating behind the top zone towards Penn State from earlier this season.

Present projection: Center roundNFL comparability: Christian Kirk, Houston Texans

Boasting prototypical measurement, loads of arm power and an 87:31 touchdown-to-interception ratio over a six-year faculty profession spent at blue-blood applications Georgia (2020-24) and Miami, Beck is among the most intriguing quarterbacks of this draft class. He's a gifted passer who's at his greatest feathering the ball over defenders and main his receivers on the intermediate and deep passes so valued in immediately’s NFL. And with Monday’s sport being the fifty fifth contest of his faculty profession — all towards elite competitors — Beck is definitely battle-tested.

His critics are fast to level out that when Beck runs chilly, he may be completely frigid — as was the case in a four-interception meltdown this 12 months at Louisville — however evaluating within the NFL is commonly about recognizing what a participant may be at their greatest, fairly than bemoaning their worst moments, particularly given the way in which that Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones and Geno Smith have resurrected their careers in new places in recent times. Ought to Beck play effectively towards Indiana, it might set off the identical type of late leap up draft boards because the one Tyler Shough loved on the Senior Bowl and Mix a 12 months in the past.

Present projection: Day 2NFL comparability: Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders

Miami's Carson Beck (11) passes versus Ole Miss within the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Glendale, AZ. (Picture by Erick W. Rasco/Sports activities Illustrated by way of Getty Pictures) (Set Quantity: X164814 TK1)

One of many greatest errors skeptics of Curt Cignetti and his Indiana program have made all 12 months lengthy is the assumption that this workforce lacks difference-makers alongside the road of scrimmage. That couldn’t be farther from the reality, and in Smith, an athletic 6-foot-5, 313-pounder, the Hoosiers boast one of many nation’s elite go protectors and a possible top-50 choice.

Although he’s simply 21 years outdated, Smith truly joined the Hoosiers a 12 months earlier than Cignetti arrived from James Madison, redshirting his first 12 months on campus earlier than beginning the previous 36 consecutive video games at left sort out. He didn't give up a single sack in 2025, in keeping with PFF, and solely 4 whole over the earlier two seasons on the blind facet. Smith is extra highly effective and decided than the finesse go blocker some have typecast him as. He's fast off the snap and performs with correct knee bend and a robust preliminary punch to jar opponents, although he seems to have simply common arm size. Efficient out of the 2 and three-point stance, Smith has the look of a longtime NFL starter with tackle-guard flexibility.

Present projection: High 50NFL comparability: Troy Fautanu, Pittsburgh Steelers

The aforementioned Smith and the Hoosiers could have their hardest matchup of the 12 months with the Hurricanes’ gauntlet of future NFL defensive linemen, together with Mesidor, a 6-foot-3, 280-pounder who led the ACC with 10.5 sacks in 2025. The 24-year-old Mesidor proved to be actually a person amongst boys on the collegiate stage this 12 months, with the sixth-year collegian additionally producing profession highs in tackles (60), tackles for loss (15.5) and compelled fumbles (4), alongside along with his QB takedowns.

Mesidor’s stumpy body and superior age might push him down the board a bit, however he’s among the best pass-rushers of this class, profitable with burst, energy and refined hand play, in addition to a relentless motor. Equally efficient out of the two- and three-point stance, he's the kind of disruptive presence that's going to in the future be thought-about a steal if he slips out of the primary spherical.

Present projection: High 50NFL comparability: Frank Clark (retired)

Defensive finish Rueben Bain Jr. (#4) runs up subject in the course of the CFP Quarterfinal Cotton Bowl Traditional soccer sport between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Miami Hurricanes on December 31, 2025 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. (Picture by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures)

Although his battery-mate Mesidor topped him in sacks, tackles for loss and compelled fumbles in 2025, Bain ranks as the highest defensive lineman on this contest (and maybe the nation) for a quite simple motive: He’s an absolute battering ram. It's becoming that his final identify rhymes with ache, because the 21-year-old performs with a level of violence that sometimes leads to success on the subsequent stage. He instances the snap effectively and has a brief, powerfully constructed body that enables him to dip his shoulder and slip by would-be blockers effectively or just bulldoze by way of contact with equal effectiveness. His manufacturing in 2025 (46 tackles, together with 13 for loss and eight.5 sacks in 15 video games), his true junior season, don't precisely replicate how disruptive Bain was for a lot of the season. Merely put, he was probably the most dominant defensive lineman in faculty soccer this season.

And but Bain is a polarizing prospect within the scouting group as he seems even shorter (in peak and arm size) on tape than the 6-foot-3, 270 kilos that Miami lists him at. Whereas he has excelled as a hand-in-the-dirt and stand-up edge rusher for the Hurricanes, some consider he shall be relegated inside to defensive sort out within the NFL. When it comes to taking part in model, Bain jogs my memory of longtime Dallas Cowboys (and present Seattle) edge rusher, DeMarcus Lawrence, although the latter’s 33 3/4-inch arms may show considerably longer than the precocious Hurricane, making one other longtime NFC East standout maybe the cleaner comp.

Present projection: First roundNFL comparability: Brandon Graham, Philadelphia Eagles

With the proliferation of unfold offenses all through highschool, faculty and even the NFL, a lot of immediately’s offensive tackles have developed to be go protectors at the start, sacrificing bulk and physicality for quickness and agility. Mauigoa (and to a lesser extent the aforementioned Carter Smith) is a throwback — one who is sort of efficient at defending the quarterback, however does so with brute power and positioning fairly than elite athleticism.

In some methods, Mauigoa is just like the nice Penei Sewell, a perennial All-Professional proper sort out for the Detroit Lions, who, after all, performed his faculty ball beneath Mario Cristobal at Oregon. Mauigoa signed with Miami out of the distinguished IMG Academy as a consensus five-star recruit and has greater than lived as much as his hype, beginning all 41 faculty video games of his profession. Simply 20 years outdated, Mauigoa won't be fairly at Sewell’s stage, however the 6-foot-6, 335-pounder is a digital wall of granite who initiatives as a direct difference-maker within the NFL and is the perfect blocker on this 12 months’s draft class.

Present projection: First roundNFL comparability: Darnell Wright, Chicago Bears

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) drops again to go towards the Oregon Geese within the Faculty Soccer Playoff Semifinal on the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Picture by Wealthy von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire by way of Getty Pictures)

Whereas Mendoza entered the season as a possible first-round decide, he’s climbed to the highest of draft boards because the 12 months progressed, displaying off not solely the bodily traits groups anticipate out of a future franchise quarterback however intangibles comparable to management, poise and intelligence. The advances he’s made this season have been really outstanding, illustrated partially by evaluating his 2025 completion price (73%) and TD-INT ratio (41:6) to his pre-2025 figures (66.5%, 30:16). That manufacturing — and, after all, Indiana’s rise to No. 1 general — earned him the Heisman Trophy. An underlying think about Mendoza presently monitoring because the No. 1 general decide this spring, nonetheless, is his lethal effectivity within the crimson zone, the place he is thrown 37 touchdowns with out an interception over the previous two seasons (whereas additionally dashing for eight scores).

The lanky, 6-foot-5, 225-pound junior has typically been requested to make comparatively easy throws, however there are many respectable NFL-type passes on tape. He reads defenses effectively, not often placing the ball in danger towards tight protection, and throws a really catchable ball that enables his receivers alternatives to run after the catch. With Oregon’s Dante Moore opting to return to varsity, Mendoza is the plain high candidate to be the primary decide of the 2026 NFL draft.

Present projection: No. 1 general pickNFL comparability: Jared Goff, Detroit Lions

Rob Rang is an NFL Draft analyst for FOX Sports activities. He has been overlaying the NFL Draft for greater than 25 years. He additionally works as a scout with the BC Lions of the Canadian Soccer League. Comply with him on X @RobRang.

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