Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The 2026 NFL Draft features an unusually shallow class at quarterback, with only one prospect projected as a first-round talent.
- Running back lacks significant depth this year, with one standout prospect dominating the class while the next best option served primarily as his backup.
- Despite historical concerns about safety longevity, this year's draft offers an unusually high number of first-round caliber safeties.
The worst part of the NFL draft is watching everyone else pick. Partially because it’s boring and you don’t care about them, but also because all the talk is about how good those other picks are. And then you feel like you missed out on the good players.
Let’s alleviate that stress. Sure, the Raiders are going to draft a quarterback first overall … But does that mean that they won’t be able to upgrade their wildly uninspiring wide receiver room with some very solid talent? No, because (spoiler:) there's a whole buttload of wide receivers.
This is a power ranking of the position groups in the 2026 draft. This is about letting you know that everything isn’t terrible, and just because your guys went with a running back fourth overall, it doesn’t mean that you’re not going to be able to get a wide receiver who is worth a hoot.
For reference, I counted how many players at each position were in the top 150 on the consensus big board. The draft, in itself, is a crapshoot. Teams can do all the work they want on a prospect to make sure that he's a good fit, and then he can just... not.
So when I'm thinking about depth for a draft class, the most important thing is the sheer number of available players. In this ranking, a position having one first-round caliber guy and five third-rounders is the same amount of depth as having five first-rounders and only one third-rounder.
11. Quarterback: 6 prospects in the top 150
It’s not unusual for drafts to have really weak depth at quarterback. In most seasons, there’s one or two guys at the top, and then there isn’t much available after that. This season, it’s Fernando Mendoza (Indiana) at the top, then Ty Simpson (Bama) and Garrett Nussmeier (LSU) way down the line.
Every once in a while, you’ll see a 2024 draft with Caleb Williams, Jalen Daniels, Drake Maye, Michael Penix, and Bo Nix all being top-tier prospects and draft picks… But this year isn’t that year.
10. Running back: 8 prospects in the top 150
Running backs are weird in this draft because the most talented and best guy in the entire draft is a running back, but behind him, it’s a whole bunch of nothing. We’re undoubtedly going to be seeing Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame) go in the top-10 … but then the next best running back is Jadarian Price (Notre Dame).
Price is still a good ball player, but if there was any way to describe the running backs this year, it’s that the second-best running back was the best running back’s backup, and no one else really comes close as a prospect. It’s a pretty gross year, and it’s why those free agent running backs went so quickly.
9. Tight End: 9 prospects in the top 150
Kenyon Sadiq (Oregon) is the best tight end that you draft this year, and he’s the best by a decent amount. Luckily, if you’re a team picking in the back half of the first round who desperately needs a young tight end, but Sadiq has already been picked, there will be at least one other tight end who’s good enough to draft in the second, third, and fourth rounds.
Eli Stowers (Vanderbilt) is a better receiving threat than he is a blocker, so he’s a bit of a project. Oscar Delp (Georgia) is a physical pass catcher who has shown that he’s willing to block, so that’s a really good start. Max Klare (Ohio State), on the other hand, is a very solid pass catcher who shouldn’t be asked to block with any consistency.
The point is that there are options, but they’re not anywhere close to what Sadiq is offering … but that makes sense when you’re comparing a sure-fire first-rounder to guys who could land anywhere else.
8. Safety: 10 prospects in the top 150
The good news is that there are a lot of good safeties in the draft. The better news is that there are three great ones who will be going in the first round.
Unfortunately, there’s some pretty brutal bad news: Over the past 15 years, there have been three drafts with three safeties drafted in the first round, and there’s never been more than two that have real smash hits.
In 2017, Jamal Adams was a hit, while Malik Hooker and Jabrill Peppers weren’t. In 2018, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Derwin James were hits, but Terrell Edmunds wasn’t. In 2022, Kyle Hamilton was a hit, but Dax Hill and Lewis Cine weren’t.
So it’s good that there are a lot of options for teams who want to get a young safety … but whoever decides to draft Dillon Thieneman (Oregon) or Emmanuel McNiel-Warren (Toledo) is making a hell of a gamble, historically, with a premium pick. It might be better to wait until the second or third round to get A.J. Haulcy (LSU) or Jason Kilgore (South Carolina).
You know … or that’s all dumb, and the teams that drafted the safeties who weren’t/aren’t great were total ding-dongs.
7. Linebacker: 13 prospects in the top 150
It doesn’t feel like it’s very often when two linebackers are going to go in the top-10 picks, and then there (probably) won’t be another one until the second round, but that’s where we’re at.
Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles (both from Ohio State) are absolute studs. Reese is a hybrid linebacker/edge type guy, and barring anything catastrophically terrible, he’ll go no later than fourth overall.
After those two, the second and third round is going to be chock full of playmakers; there are seven or eight dudes who will be available on day two. Chances are, you’ve already succumbed to the fact that your team isn’t going to get one of those Ohio State guys … but in case you’re delusional enough that you haven’t, you should know that you’ll have plenty of opportunities to add on Friday.
6. Interior Offensive Line: 14 prospects in the top 150
It gets a little hairy when you’re lumping offensive linemen into groups because guys have specific skillsets, experience, and preferences for the position they play… But the draft industry does it like this, and I’m not about to try to buck a trend.
The reality of the interior guys is that there’s really just Olaivavega “Vega” Ioane who should be drafted in the first round… But that leaves 13 other excitement-worthy guys who will be available in the next four rounds.
Even though there’s not a lot of that high-tier talent, this is still really good. There have been a handful of bad-linemen drafts in the past decade, and it makes those bad teams who need to rebuild their O-Line even worse because resources aren’t available.
5. Defensive Line: 15 prospects in the top 150
You can say a lot of the same things about the defensive tackles in this draft as you can about the interior offensive linemen: Different player playstyles and preferences, and a couple of elite players with a lot of day-two depth.
Peter Woods (Clemson), Caleb Banks (Florida), and Kayden McDonald (Ohio State) are the big three. Woods is a smaller guy (for the position), but he offers the most when you’re looking at getting pressure. Banks will give you the most juice against both the run and the pass. And McDonald won’t give you anything pressure-wise, but he’s the best run defender.
All three of those guys could go in the first round, or none of them could go in the first round. It depends on what teams are looking for. If they do start to slip, there might be a mondo-sized run of DTs on Friday.
4. EDGE: 16 prospects in the top 150
Here’s where we start getting juicy: There are a whole lot of good edge rushers. That's great news, because the most important player on the field is the quarterback, and the second most important player on the field is the guy who has the best chance to stop the quarterback.
You’re looking at certified studs like David Bailey (Texas Tech), the short-armed Rueben Bain (Miami), and the massive Keldric Faulk in the first round. The run-stopping Zion Young, the shifty and fast R Mason Thomas (Oklahoma), and the versatile Derrick Moore in the second round. And then there are five or six cats who would make sense in the third round.
The reason this position group isn’t higher is that there’s a pretty big fall-off after that. To be fair, there’s a pretty big fall off after the first rounders, but that’s more of a compliment to them rather than an insult to the other guys.
3. Offensive Tackle: 18 prospects in the top 150
You love to see that there are a lot of tackles in the draft. I imagine that there are going to be more tackles drafted in the first round than any other position. That’s not a hot take or anything like that because this is a premier position… It’s just great that there’s a lot of depth at a premier position
And yeah, there’s obviously a big benefit of getting one of those top-tier guys, but if your team opts to go with Kenyon Sadiq over a tackle, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be up a creek.
There are plenty of guys like Max Iheanachor (Arizona State) and Caleb Tiernan (Northwestern) who will be there in the second, and maybe even the third round.
2. Wide Receiver: 20 prospects in the top 150
Do you want a wide receiver? I got good news for you, pal: you’ll get a wide receiver.
Do you want an offensive lineman or a linebacker in the first round, and also want a wide receiver who’s got good upside? You’re in luck, buddy.
Do you want a safety in the first round, a tight end in the second round, and also a starting-caliber wide receiver? You’re never going to believe this, but we got you.
There are so many wide receivers that teams will be able to get during the top half of the draft. The only thing they have to think about is the kind of wide receiver. Sure, Carnell Tate offers just about everything that you want, but he’s going in the top 15.
But you got huge guys like Denzel Boston (Washington), scheme-fiends like Makai Lemon (South Carolina), versatile ball-magnets like Chis Bell (Louisville), guys with a gravitational catch radius like Malachi Fields (Notre Dame), and Freedom Tower-esque vertical threats like Bryce Lance (North Dakota).
If you want a guy who can play a role in your offense, then he’ll be there. It’s just up to the teams to go out and get them. Honestly, it’ll be criminal if every team doesn’t upgrade at least one of their receiver positions during the draft.
1. Cornerback: 21 prospects in the top 150
Quinyon Mitchell set the rookie-season bar insanely high for cornerbacks across the board. Cooper DeJean and Nick Emmanwori did the exact same thing for guys drafted in the second round. If there’s a draft with players who can reset that bar, purely because of the number of metaphorical bullets it has in its metaphorical chamber, it would be this year.
Avieon Terell (Clemson), Jermond McCoy (Tennessee), and Mansoor Delane (LSU) are all going to go in the first round… but guys like Brandon Hood (Tennessee) and Brandon Cisse (South Carolina) will drop to the (maybe rightfully) second round.
That starts a domino effect of cornerbacks slipping further down, and then teams will start seeing a bunch of value with players on day two and three.
Not all of these guys are going to be high-end talent, but there are a disgusting number of cornerbacks who will get drafted this year because, frankly, teams need them. A lot of them are going to be developmental guys, and some of them might end up being on a faux-roster bubble by the end of training camp… but there is an enormous amount of cornerbacks who are going to get drafted.
Remember that lukewarm offensive tackle take I had earlier? My other take (that’s moderately hotter) is that in five years, there will be more starting cornerbacks than any other position group from this draft class.