2026 NFL Draft begins at 8:00 PM ET with the Las Vegas Raiders selecting Fernando Mendoza to be their new franchise quarterback, but the intrigue doesn’t really start until after the first pick is history.
Here’s how this draft is going to play out. The first pick will go down as the draft’s signature moment, but the fireworks won’t be lit until later.
The maneuvering, the complications and the curiosity, all of it, begins after the first selection.
An advertisement for the 2026 NFL Draft is displayed on a video board outside Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa., on March 25, 2026. (Images)
The reason is that this draft lacks the appeal of several quarterbacks competing to reach higher than the others. Only one QB besides Mendoza has even a slight chance of being picked in the first round, and it would probably take some of the maneuvering you just read about.
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This draft also lacks the appeal of polarizing players like Randy Moss back in 1998 or Shedeur Sanders a year ago, so it will be hard to find heroes and villains.
But this draft offers high-interest touchpoints that will keep people engaged. It offers drama about some teams and some individual prospects.
Let’s start with the teams:
New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn reacts during the first quarter against the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey on December 28, 2025. (Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images)
This draft actually begins when the New York Jets are on the clock at No. 2 and select a player whose identity only three people in the organization — coach Aaron Glenn, general manager Darren Mougey and owner Woody Johnson — know for sure.
This is important, folks. Remember the Jets used to leak like century-old Bronx tenancy pipes during the Robert Saleh regime. No more. The Jets are locked in, so even insiders aren’t sure if they’ll select Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey or Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese.
Or someone else.
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Notre Dame running back Jeremiah Love runs the ball into the end zone for a touchdown in the first half against Syracuse at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend on Nov. 22, 2025. (Michael Clubb/South Bend Tribune/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
The Arizona Cardinals are slated to pick No. 3. And they could pick any number of players — running back Jeremiah Love (if they’re smart), a right tackle or a pass rusher.
But here’s the truth: The Cardinals want to trade down. Bad.
They want more picks and need more talent, and rumor around the league is that they have leaked interest in Love, so a team that covets the dynamic running back is offering them a trade.
Can you get a handle on this? This is something interesting.
The fact is, the Cardinals, Eagles, Chiefs, Saints, Browns, Bills, Titans Commanders and Seahawks have all been tied to trade-up or trade-down scenarios.
We can only hope that such mass chaos will characterize this draft.
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And why are teams so willing to move around? Because there are players who come with great ability but also questionable reliability—a combination that makes teams want to trade down to hedge their bets.
Consider:
Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa is probably the best offensive tackle in the draft. He’s big, strong, tough, everything an NFL team wants in a bookend tackle.
He also comes into this draft with a herniated disc in his back.
Mauigoa was reportedly asymptomatic throughout the 2025 season and remains so now, but teams are aware that if his back acts up, he could require surgery. So yes, a significant potential risk.
Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson is a human injury list. He had a multi-ligament (ACL, MCL, PCL) knee tear in 2022, a broken collarbone in 2024, and hamstring problems much of last season.
Tyson is also a human highlight.
And those two qualities make teams love him. And hate him. And not sure where to draft him in the first round.
Injury concerns aren’t the only reason some players will be fascinating to watch during Thursday’s first round.
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You can bet that if ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky gets any airtime during the draft, he’ll be in favor of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson being selected because there’s a bromance going on there.
Simpson is other quarterback who might go in the first round. But maybe not.
Ty Simpson of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs with the football against the Indiana Hoosiers in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1, 2026. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
The Cardinals, of all teams, could be interested in him later in the first round. Simpson isn’t a valuable pick at No. 3 because he only started 15 college games, and even Nick Saban, who recruited him to Alabama, doesn’t think he’s ready for the NFL.
“He needs to go somewhere where he has a chance to develop and not play right away,” Saban said on the Pat McAfee Show this week.
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Rumor has it that the Pittsburgh Steelers initially saw Simpson as a player to park on their bench and let him learn behind Aaron Rodgers. It’s unclear where that mindset is now in an organization that doesn’t enjoy 100 percent certainty Rodgers will play in 2026.
Call it another chance for intrigue in the first round of this draft.
