2026 NFL Mock Draft: Saints take Mendoza at No. 1, Ty Simpson to Browns, & Carnell Tate to Giants 👀

2026 NFL Mock Draft: Saints take Mendoza at No. 1, Ty Simpson to Browns, & Carnell Tate to Giants 👀

Welcome back to HQ Spotlight. Jaclyn D. Augustino here. And as we enter week 10 in the NFL, we’re starting to see that distinction between the teams that are good and the teams that are bad. Some have been bad since the jump, right? But it’s just becoming more and more clear where they’re going to be drafting come April. So, um, we are have our wheels turning. We’re really thinking right. So, insert mockdraft Monday as we are going to go through our very own Ryan Wilson’s latest mock with the current draft order as it stands heading into Monday Night Football. All right, let’s welcome in our NFL draft analysts, Ryan Wilson and Mike Rener. And as mentioned, going to go through Ryan’s latest mock. And currently, the Saints are picking number one overall. Ryan, it’s becoming more and more clear that they need a quarterback. And it’s interesting because with this quarterback class, there’s no clear-cut number one guy. There’s no Joe Burrow, if you will, right? So, what do you have them doing? Number one overall, as we do know that they need a quarterback. Yeah, you keep saying that, Jacqueline. And Tyler Shuck is doing his best. He just had his very first start, went up against a really good Rams defense, and it went about as you might expect it to go, uh, in a post Spencer Rattler world. Got to shout out my guy Spencer Rattler. And look, here’s the thing. Uh Tyler Shuck was the 40th overall pick in last draft. Uh there’s not a world unless something drastically changes where he’s going to be the quarterback if the Saints maintain this first overall pick. I have them going with uh Francis uh Fernando Mendoza, excuse me, uh who’s been absolutely balling out at Indiana. Uh he has taken his game to the next level. He’s one of these guys we talked about in the summer. Wanted to see him make those steps once he got uh to Indiana and playing Big 10 football. And he’s done that and then some. And a lot of times, almost every time, when you’re drafted first overall and you go into a terrible football team, guess what? Mendoza has some experience playing on a bad football team. Last year at Cal, that offensive line was horrendous. The offensive line will actually be a little bit improved in New Orleans. The playmakers around them will be in question in the defense. But I think that’s uh the Saints best plan of action right now. Kell Moore can get his quarterback. Uh and Tyler will still be there. He just won’t be the starter. Yeah, it’s kind of crazy. If we kind of go back into the off season, I don’t know if we would have thought that Indiana would be undefeated once again at this point, uh, Fernando Mendoza also the Heisman favorite and then potentially going number one overall. Still a lot of football left. Let’s go to number two where we already have a mock trade alert. It didn’t take us long and Mike, it’s the Browns. They make a mock trade with the Titans to get yet another quarterback in Tai Simpson. So, do you think Tai Simpson could be the quarterback that sticks around in Cleveland? because we haven’t really seen it in quite some time. I think he could for a couple of reasons. One is that he has passed every single test so far and he is going to be by the end of this season through the SEC gauntlet and more than likely through the playoffs now the way Alabama’s playing, he is going to face a lot of the top defense. So only one year as a starter, but he is going to see a slate that is pretty much on par with kind of what you’re going to see at the NFL. So he’s going to be battle tested. And two, I just am in awe of how refined this guy’s game is, how NFL ready he looks, for how little football he’s played. And I think for a fit-wise, he would be perfect for Kevin Stfansky’s offense. Now, Kevin Stfansky, will he make it to next year? It remains to be seen, but I do think he would be. To me, he reminds me of like a souped-up version of M. Jones. It’s like if you gave M. Jones a little more athleticism, a lot more arm strength, and put him on NFL football field. We’re seeing it kind of work out in San Francisco. I think this guy could be much much better. You’re already seeing in action. 20 touchdowns, only one interception. How he’s kind of progressed since that Florida State game at the beginning of the season has been wildly impressive. And I think after Mendoza, he probably feels like the second safest quarterback bet in my eyes at this point in time. Yeah, that FSU game it feels like years ago at this point. So much has changed since that first game, right? So, we have two quarterbacks going off the board, which brings us to the number three pick. for the Jets as we currently are seeing things stand are picking number three overall. And Ryan, we have our third straight quarterback going off the board here. Hey, Jaclyn. Mike, you know what’s funny? I actually tweeted two weeks ago that uh Ty Simpson I can’t say this without laughing. Is a souped-up version of M. Jones. And the responses varied from not great to terrible. So, I’m glad at least Mike agrees with me uh on the description of Tai who has a bigger arm as a better athlete. We’ll see how it plays out. Uh, of course, as Mike notes, uh, Mccoral’s balling out in San Francisco. Meanwhile, back to the Jets. Uh, by the way, Jacqueline Rick Spiel actually talked to me now that the Jets won a game. So, that was a good conversation to have after they finally got a win there. But the world is not long for Justin Fields at quarterback. And they need a quarterback uh, in the worst way. And Dante Moore, we talked about him. I think when I did this mock draft a month ago, I had him going first overall. Uh, he had a couple of rough patches, but he is also like Ty Simpson. uh he has not played a ton of football, but there’s a lot to love with the way he does play. Now, he’s not asked to throw it as often as Fernando or Tai is, but when he does, he’s usually on point. He throws with accuracy. He has a big arm. He’s a really good athlete. All those boxes that you want checked. He’s a little smaller than Fernando, probably around the size of Tai Simpson around 6’2. Uh but the Jets need someone who can play on time, throw with anticipation, and get the ball out quickly. And those are all things we haven’t seen Justin do and that we have seen Dante Moore do in a limited sample size. All right, so we have Fernando Mendoza going number one overall, then Ty Simpson, and then Dante Moore. It’s interesting because the order in which those quarterbacks are taken off the board and the mocks that we’ve seen so far, it has changed and I’m sure will continue to change as well. Let’s go to number four here. We where we have the Dolphins picking number four overall. And this has been kind of an interesting team because one minute we’re hearing, hey, we’re not trading guys like Bradley Chub or Wadd. And then the next minute it feels like it’s happening. So, it’s kind of unclear with what the messaging is with with Miami. Fire sale is what we keep hearing a lot, right? Um, and right now we have them taking a three-year starter under Kyle Whittingham at Utah and Spencer Fono. So, Mike, how do you like that fit there with Spencer Fono in Miami? If Mike McDaniel stays through the season, I love this fit. I think he is a tailor made guard for Mike McDaniel’s scheme and you would basically have four positions kind of all five positions actually set there in Miami if you do in an offensive line that you know would probably be much improved over what it’s been this year since they’ve been so banged up. But if it’s not if they go a different route it would be tough. I I’m not sure I would love this pick if you have a different guy at offensive coordinator. But assuming McDaniel stays, I think what FO what I love about his game is he is so athletic. Whether it’s on the move, whether it’s in the zone blocking game, he is as good a run blocking prospect in that regard as I’ve seen in my decade plus of doing this. And so that’s a great building block. Now, here’s the rub. He’s probably a guard at the next level. He has very short arms for the offensive tackle position. And unlike Will Campbell, I think you’ve already seen it have issues at the collegiate level. So number four overall pick on a guard. You may not love the value, but this is not the best class to have a top five pick. You really aren’t getting a blue chip guy more likely than not, but I think Beno is it’s just a blue chip guy and maybe a lesser value position at guard. All right, so that’s our first non-quarterback to be taken off the board. Now we have the Giants here who seemingly have their quarterback of the future, right? And they’re taking Carnell Tate at number five overall. Also, Ryan getting yet another weapon on offense for Jackson Dart. Yeah, th this is uh one of several uh if you want to get nuts, let’s get nuts moments in this match draft. They have a ton of needs, the Giants do. One of them is their inability to stay healthy and there’s nothing you can really do about that. But with Malik Neighbors coming back uh and you lean on another big play wide receiver in Carnell Tate, who has made huge strides this year over the summer, I I liked his 2024 tape. 2025 has been an absolute game changer. He has been one of the best recent Ohio State wide receivers uh in terms of his play his last year in Ohio State. And I think he translates immediately. He’ll be a number two in New York. He has a possibility an opportunity to be a number one elsewhere. But get Jackson Dart as many weapons as you can. They could certainly draft an offensive tackle here. No doubt about it. But I think Cardell Tate’s going to make a real case to be wide receiver one. And there going to be a couple other names in the mix here. But I surround your quarterback with players. Score 40 points a game like your Joe Burrow and hope it works out if you’re Jackson Dart. Hope ain’t a plan, but that’s where the Giants feel like they are uh at this point nine weeks into the NFL season. An Ohio State wide receiver making the case to be wide receiver number one. It feels like, you know, that’s something that we’ve heard before. He’s shared the field with Marvin Harrison Jr. Mecha Puka, Jeremiah Smith during those three seasons in Columbus, by the way. All right, number six, we have the Titans. So, this is the other half of that mock trade with the Browns. And Ryan, you mentioned that the Giants have a lot of needs and the Tennessee Titans certainly have a lot of needs as well. You have them going with Arll Reese and this has been a guy, Mike, who’s been climbing up draft boards. So, what do you think of him going off the board here at number six? I think this is the ideal scenario for the Titans, but trade down and still get a guy like Arll Reese because he’s listed as a linebacker here, but I think it’s time to just say this guy’s an edge rusher in the NFL. When you’re 6’4 with 34 inch arms and darn near 250 pounds and move the way he does, you are more valuable to an NFL defense on the line of scrimmage attacking opposing quarterbacks play after play after play rather than dropping him into coverage. So, he has 22 pressures on 71 pass rushing snaps this year. That is a guy you want in the modern NFL defenses because he can still drop into coverage, but I want him attacking opposing quarterbacks. He’s probably edge one or edge two if you were to consider him that. And for the Tennessee Titans, that’s where your biggest need lies. All right, next up we have the Raiders selecting number seven overall. And Ryan, they take Peter Woods, a three-year starter at Clemson. So, what is that experience going to look like at the next level in your eyes and tell us more about this potential fit? I’m laughing, Jacqueline, because uh hopefully it doesn’t look like it looked when your Jaguars face the Raiders on Sunday. Uh Travis ATN looked like Fred Taylor against that defense. Uh he went crazy. And I think Peter Woods in the middle of that defense with Max Crosby at least gives Max Crosby some help. They’ve struggled to find interior defensive lineman. Uh Peter Woods has played at an incredibly high level. The season has lost for for the Tigers, no doubt about it, but I think he has probably played better than the recognition that team has gotten as a whole and I think he’s going to still find his way into the top 10. All right, number eight, we have the Cardinals taking Francis Maui Noah out of Miami. So Mike, what could he bring to this Cardinals team that also seemingly needs a lot more so than they don’t? He can move defenders off the line of scrimmage. That’s what he brings to the table. He does that as well as anyone in the country. And to do that at as young as he is, he’s only a true junior who started since his true freshman year there at Miami. Feel pretty confident that’s going to then translate to the next level. Uh for the Arizona Cardinals, they’ve been so bad in the run game this season. It’s because of that because again Jonah Williams on the right side ain’t moving anyone off the ball at this point in his career. So big leap from last year on now we know his tape. He’s only allowed seven pressures all season long and really gives you a fortified tackle duo there with Paris Johnson on the left side, him on the right side for whoever’s starting at quarterback. All right, Ryan, Mike, we appreciate it. Hang tight, gentlemen. Just want to get a quick recap of picks one through eight from Ryan Wilson’s latest mock. Three quarterbacks going off the board there. One, two, three in Fernando Mendoza, Tai Simpson, Dante Moore, and then we also had a mock trade in the top eight with the Cleveland Browns training up to get said quarterback in Tai Simpson. And then Tennessee taking Arll Reese at number six overall. Mockdraft Monday continues and we are picking things up with the Bengals picking number nine overall where shocker they’re going to address the defensive side of the ball. We’ve seen this film before. Maybe not. They’re taking Caleb DS here, right Wilson? So, I’ve seen some mocks where he goes off the board five, seven. So, what makes you think he could potentially still be there at nine? Yeah, you know, Mike talked about some positions being undervalued like interior offensive line. Sometimes safety is as well. You get more value from an edge rusher and the Bengals need an edge rusher, too. Watching them play yesterday or not decide to play against the Bears down the stretch. The lasting memory for me is watching two of the Bengals safeties run into each other as Colton Love Moon walked his way into the end zone to basically win that game with seconds to go. If Caleb DS were out there, I can imagine that that would not have happened and at least they would have forced a field goal attempt uh down the stretch, but it it is getting harder and harder to justify uh in in real world non simulation that the Bengals are are a real defense. So, Caleb DS, who has been playing fantastic football, only overshadowed by Arbell Reese at Ohio State, is almost certainly going to be a top 10 pick and he could definitely go higher than this. Yeah, how crazy was that game yesterday? I hope you had the over in that one if you’re betting on it. All right, let’s go to the Commanders picking number 10 overall. As mentioned, some teams that really want to bolster up the pass rush. You know, I have seen some mocks with the Bengals taking Ruben Bane, but in this one, we’re talking about the Commanders doing it. So, Mike, how do you like that fit with the Commanders potentially? This would be a dream scenario for the Commanders in my eyes because they just need a winner in their front seven. You watch them play week in and week out and they have to bring five to even like sniff opposing quarterbacks. So getting a guy like Ruben Bane who if you flip on his tape he’s not only sniffing opposing quarterbacks he’s in their lap constantly 44 pressures this season 18 run stops to me I still think he goes higher we’re going to do the arm length conversation with him he has short arms Ryan’s brought that up on the pod or on this show before I almost said podcast on the show before to me if he just had hands attached to his shoulders and his tape was as good as he is I’d still draft him in the top five this this guy’s tape’s as good as it gets in college football so if you’re the commanders just draft him if he falls man, not the arm length conversation. That’s when, you know, we’re really getting into it and draft season is upon us. We still have a couple more months for that. Let’s go to the Ravens, uh, taking number 11 here, the number 11 pick, excuse me, taking Kendrick Faul out of Auburn, just 21 years old. So, Ryan, with him being so young, how much upside is there with this pick? Enormous. And again, it’s almost buyer beware when you talk about the Ravens because what have they done historically? They took David Ajabo out of Michigan who had actually torn his Achilles got him in the round two. He was in that first round conversation before that. Adafay prior to that out of Penn State who was as raw as raw comes. Uh and he never really quite found his form before the Ravens traded him. I think Kendrick Fog is better than both of those players. The question is how long will it take him to put it together? The Ravens need help on the edge. You would have loved to have gotten Ruben Bane Jr. had he still been there, but as Mike points out, he probably goes higher than 10. And I think Kendrick Faulk uh has unlimited upside. It’s just a matter of can you get it out of him and how quickly can you do that because he is the guy that gets off the bus first every single week uh to send a message to the opposing team. Okay, let’s go to the Rams selecting number 12 overall as of right now. Ryan has him taking Brian Parker the second out of Duke to address that center position. Mike, yeah, this guy’s been awesome this season. One of the bigger risers in this draft class. His tape has been really clean, truthfully. It’s why he’s PFF’s highest graded offensive lineman in all of college football. The one thing I worry and why this is probably the first pick where I’m a little skeptical if he actually goes this high is just the play strength. And when you’re projecting a guy from tackle to the interior and he has play strength issues, I do think that he maybe goes a little lower than this. But I think he’ll be a darn good player at the next level. It’s just you compare him uh to, you know, Graham Barton, who everyone’s going to make the comparison to a tackle turn center from Duke who goes in the first round. Barton was just stronger and more athletic than Parker was. But Parker is a darn good football player. Um and and if you’re the Rams and you have the need on the interior the way they do, maybe you do go reaching for it. But u I I do think Parker’s probably a little bit more of a day two guy. That’s just indicative of where this class is, though. We’ll see a lot of day two guys go round one. Yeah, to your point, Mike, when I was researching this guy, there were articles back from June talking about him emerging as a a higher draft pick. So, that really, you know, wasn’t that long ago. Let’s go to number 13 overall where the Texans are selecting. And Ryan, no surprise, Houston is going to address the O line here. Yeah, Penn State’s Vega Yon, who has had a fantastic season, and Mike actually had him in his mock draft two weeks ago. Uh, and he was a lot of fun to watch. He has some of the cleanest tape that I’ve seen. uh this fall from interior offensive lineman. He’s an absolute road grader in the run game. He is really solid and plays with solid base and pass protection. And those are all things that sound like the Texans could use. Uh we saw CJ Star leave the game with that concussion yesterday now because of a breakdown in pass protection. Uh but those have been recurring issues uh throughout CJ Stra’s two plus years in the league. And I think if you draft someone like Yona, it goes a long way in solving problems. And look, we say all the time that teams keep drafting the same position. Well, keep doing it until you get it right. And I think this will go a long way in helping them solve that problem, which to now they they it’s really confounded them. All right, so this is a name that we’re all going to have to collectively practice saying over the next couple of months. All right, let’s go to the Cowboys. As of right now, selecting number 14 overall. Ryan has them going with TJ Parker out of Clemson. So arguably one of the more productive pass rushers in the country over the last three season. It’s not as productive in the last season, but still, Mike, how much value does he bring to a Cowboys team that still has a giant Micah Parsonsized hole in their heart? Well, he’s a great run defender. That’s what he brings to the table. And you watch this Cowboys run defense. And there’s freeways for opposing running backs to get through. That ain’t going to be the case with Parker out there. He sets a hard edge. He’s a very powerful player. He’s been doing it since his true freshman year. This guy’s been starting for three years at Clemson. But to me, he is one of the more disappointing prospects. We talk about a few Clemson guys. I believe there’s three in this mockdraft on the defensive side of the ball. The other two I think have been playing up to snuff, but I had hopes that Parker could be a top five pick. I don’t see it anymore. Only 21 pressures on this season after over 50 a year ago. He has not taken that next step as a pass rusher, but he still is a day one NFL starter in the running game that still has value. Those guys still go in the first round and especially has value when your run defense is as bad as the Cowboys has been. All right, picks 9 through 14 in the books for this mock. Let’s quickly recap it for you. We have Cincinnati addressing the defense yet again, but this time at the safety position with Caleb DS, the Commanders getting Ruben Bane out of Miami. And then the Cowboys again just talked about it there getting TJ Parker. Mockdraft Monday rolls on and we are currently at pick number 15 for the Minnesota Vikings are on the clock. Ryan Wilson, what move do they make here in this latest mock draft? Yeah, I mean Cowboys fans might be angry at pick 14 that Jeremiah Love didn’t go there, but he does go at pick 15. Uh though you wouldn’t have known it to watch the way that running game worked yesterday for the Vikings uh against the no-show Lions. Look, get JJ McCarthy all the help he can, although he was absolutely slinging it. It was great to see that in his comeback playing his third game uh in a year plus, but you get him help in the back field. Jeremiah Love continues to have a fantastic season. Uh that running game in Notre Dame has been lights out with him and Jardian Price as well, but we know what he can do on the ground. He’s effective as a receiver. All options to help a young quarterback. He may be gone by pick 15. Uh but if he’s there, it will be certainly something that the Vikings have to think about. Aaron Jones was pretty good yesterday, but he’s battled injuries and he’s older. Uh Jordan Mason is is a good backup and I think Jeremiah Love gets you over the hump in the running back room. Yeah, that stat line at the bottom of the screen is absolutely insane and tells you all that you need to know right from his performance this season. Let’s go to the Panthers. They have the number 16 overall pick here, taking Mansour Delane, and who has been kind of a bright spot for this LSU’s defense this season. So, out of all the defensive backs in this class, Mike, how ready do you think he is to perform on Sundays? I I think he’s the most ready and and that’s why he’s going this high because mainly, you know, when you’re scouting prospects, you start with traits. And with Delane, he’s not particularly fast. He’s not particularly long. He’s not particularly big, but performance does still matter when evaluating positions. And no quarterback has performed as well as Dellay has this year. He’s allowed eight catches in eight games on 25 targets, getting allowing four yards per target in the SEC against some of the best offenses in college football. When you can do that the way he’s playing after transferring from Virginia Tech, yeah, we can start talking about you as a firstrounder. Even if you’re not going to run a 4-3 and you’re not 6’2 210, he is going to be a top 50 pick at this point in time. It’s just can he sneak to this high with this performance? It wouldn’t surprise me because again, he’s been that good this season. All right, let’s go to the Chiefs selecting number 17 overall. We’ve seen the Chiefs kind of get some steals in the draft before, but this is a different version of the Kansas City Chiefs that we’re seeing so far this season. So, Ryan, what position do you have them addressing here? offensive line would certainly be a consideration here, especially on the right side, but I had them going with another quarterback, Jerard McCoy, out of Tennessee, who hasn’t played this year because of an ACL injury he suffered in January. And if Manser Delane was physically built and ran like Jam McCoy, he would probably go higher than he has. We’re the juryy’s still out on who Jamar Jam McCoy is going to be. He had really good tape last season, but he’s also incredibly young and hasn’t played a ton of football. But physically, he certainly fits the mold of what these teams Spagnelo uh quarterbacks look like, and I would imagine we’ll see him work out, if not at any point this season during the pre-draft process and get a better sense of how he moves and what he looks like in person. Uh, but he had first round tape coming into this season. The question was, how quickly can he get back from that ACL? All right, so let’s move it along. going to the Bears who are picking number 18 overall. And Ryan has him taking Kaden Proctor, a guy who certainly has the physical tools, 67, 366, a rare size. But Mike, does maybe the week toe consistency for him give you a little bit of pause for what he can do in the NFL? It definitely does. And the most worrisome thing is just how many tackles at that size have been able to pass protect against what we’re seeing now in the NFL. You basically have to guard against guys who are 240 and run 44s if you’re going to play tackle. And I just don’t trust Proctor to do that based off his tape. You saw it in the FSU game early on where he allowed six pressures. But I love this pick because I’m playing him at right guard in this game. I’m putting him right next to Darnell Wright and I am forming the best double team combo in the NFL. And if you’ve you know Ben Johnson, know his offense, know what he likes to do in the ground game, he runs at those doubles. He runs when he was with Detroit it was behind Penny Su and here in Chicago it’s behind Darnell Wright. If you get that combo to be Kaden Proctor and Darnell Wright no three tech in the NFL is going to be a able to hold up against that power that’s going to be great in short yardage and so I think this is a weapon that Ben Johnson would love to have to complete that offense. All right, let’s go to the Browns. This is their second pick in the first round. Remember they picked number two overall Tai Simpson. That’s what Ryan had happening there at number two. Now at number 19, Ryan, you have them getting some weapons for Ty Simpson if he is their quarterback in the future. Yeah, Jordan Tyson, the wide receiver at Arizona State, who could very easily be wide receiver one. Uh, as we sit here, and this has virtually been the case since week one, the top two receivers on the Browns roster. One is rookie tight end Harold Fannon Jr., which is a great development for a third round pick, but also he plays tight end. And then David Ajoku, who may not be with the team after this year. Uh, and then a couple running backs before you get to Jerry Judy there who has, uh, I think it’s fair to say, not played like a number one, and there could be any number of reasons for that. Maybe the quarterback play, but you got Ty Simpson at the top of the draft. You traded up for him. Now you get him a playmaker and Jordan Tyson uh, who is a bigbodied uh, speedster. A lot of times you see these big bodied receivers who struggle to separate at the next level. He can separate and that’s going to be what differentiates him from every other wide receiver currently on this Browns roster. So, I think if you come out of this draft with a T a Tai Simpson who could start right away and a Jordan Tyson who could help him right away, that feels like a win uh after trading down last year from two to five to get Macy Graham in those draft picks. All right. Yeah, and uh shout out to the Jags for making this all possible, right? Uh just saying. All right, let’s go to uh the Steelers. We’re going to keep it in the AFC North to round out the top 20 here, picking 20th overall, taking Aven Terrell out of Clemson. And we know he’s got NFL in his DNA. So Mike, what makes him special and how do you like this fit here potentially? Yes, he’s the younger brother of AJ Terrell, the quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons, formerly of Clemson. He worked out pretty good as a firstrounder. And interestingly enough, he’s kind of like a different flavor of corner than his brother. His brother’s longer, leaner. This guy’s shorter, and stouter, 5’11, 180. And you kind of b at the 180. You worry about that size at the quarterback position. But he reminds me of like Devon Witherspoon who came out at 180 pounds coming out of Illinois because they just never give an inch to anyone. They are always the aggressors. And and the thing I love and why I love with the fit with the Pittsburgh Steelers is he has playmaking traits. He has six forced fumbles the past two seasons at the cornerback position. And that’s obviously if you just watched the Steelers this past weekend, that’s something they do great, especially on the defensive line. So, it would be like getting the TJ Watt to the JJ Watt, but just at the quarterback position here. All right, we love that analogy, Ryan. Mike, hang tight. Want to recap picks 15 through 20 for you. Sorry Cowboys fans, you don’t get Jeremiah Love in this mock. That goes to the Minnesota Vikings taking him number 15 overall. Then, of course, Jordan Tyson. That was again with that uh pick or the the trade via Jacksonville, the Travis Hunter trade, picking 19th overall. their second pick in the first round. Of course, Ryan having them take Ty Simpson with the number two overall pick in this mock. We’re picking things up here where the Lions are on the clock with the number 21 overall pick. Ryan, what’s the move here for Detroit? I may be higher on Quincy Rhodess Jr. than than most folks, but I I just love his game and he certainly feels like the type of fit uh that would make sense on this Dan Campbell team now that AG is gone with Kelvin Shepard to book in Aiden Hutchinson. Uh they have guys that are typically 65 265ish uh add about five to 10 pounds for Quincy Rhodess. They’re going to lose Josh Pascal to free agency. Marcus Davenport is also going to be a free agent. He’s been banged up. I love the motor with which he plays. He can certainly set the edge in the run game and he’s a little bit more explosive than you might think uh given his size. So the idea of him being the opposite side of Aiden Hutcherson where he’s going to see zero double teams to get a lot of one-on-one chances intrigues me on a team that’s been looking for an edge rusher for a while now. All right, so we have Detroit addressing the edge position. Let’s go to the NerSh selecting number 22 overall as it stands right now. And Ryan has the Niners taking Amari Washington out of Oregon. Spoiler alert, there’s a lot of Oregon players we’re going to be talking about coming up here. I’ve heard him described as powerful, athletic, all the things. So Mike, what are your expectations for him at the next level? Yeah, I think he’s the perfect nose tackle for Robert Solo coach defense because he can get up the football field. This guy is a penetrator through and through and they just need help along that defensive line. You’ve seen it at the trade deadline. You saw it in last year’s draft. I don’t think it’s enough. They still need more bodies there. And while Washington’s a bit of a project, you watch his tape and especially as a pass rusher, you still see a lot of meat left on the bone. If I’m going to draft a project, I want him to be young, only a third-year guy, and I want him to be a freak athlete. And Washington is 36 in vertical at 330 lbs. That probably that guy could probably windmill dunk a basketball. That’s pretty impressive stuff. And that’s what again you want to develop on the interior there with Chris Koser. Oh yeah, certainly impressive. All right, we’re gonna keep it moving with the Oregon guys as the Chargers are picking number 23 overall. So Ryan, who goes off the board here? They cannot catch and break the Chargers when it comes to their offensive line staying healthy. So again, we’re going to keep drafting offensive linemen because when they are healthy, it’s a really good unit. Emanuel Pregnon out of uh Oregon, by way of USC, by way of Wyoming, he has played a ton of football and it looks like he’s played a ton of football. Well, I think Mike had him in his mont draft a few weeks ago. He might be have the best anchor of any interior offensive lineman in this draft class. He is a mer in the run game. He’s incredibly nimble and stout of the point in pass protection and that feels like a guy that immediately inserts into the starting lineup at the next level. That would be the case for a Chargers team whether it’s a right tackle should Mai not be there uh or you want to replace him either way. And then if you get everyone else healthy, Joe Al on the right side, Rhawn Slater on the left side, uh then you have something you can work with and get that run game going a little bit more consistently, which we know Jim Harbaugh likes to do. All right. And we have reached the Micah Parsons trade, right? The Cowboys picking number 24 overall. They’re going to draft two edge rushers in the first round here and taking Matteo UA. We’ve heard that name before. He’s just 20 years old. So Mike, what are your expectations for him in the NFL? Yeah, he’s super young. I think that’s the biggest thing that jumps out is he doesn’t turn 21 until July. So, he is definitely still developing and unlike his brother DJ, he keeps taking next steps. He keeps getting better every single year. Former five-star, 31 pressures as a sophomore, already has 25 and he’s 65, 272. I I think that, you know, you’re looking at the edge position, obviously with Michael Parson’s gone, but the way the NFL game’s going, I think this guy could develop into an interior presence. And with the, again, how young he is, I think he could be a guy that they’re missing on the interior there because they don’t have interior pass rushers either. Even though, you know, Mike Parsons is an edge player, that interior pass rush has struggled for the Cowboys this season. So, two guys in the first round to really sort of make up for the one big one you lost early on this season. Yeah, Lord knows they need it, right? Okay, let’s go to the Seahawks. Number 25 overall, that is where they’re picking. Ryan, you have them going with Colton Hood, who has emerged as arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the country after transferring to Knoxville from Colorado in the offseason. So, tell us a little bit more about the thought process behind this pairing here. Yeah, and I would have loved to seen Jeram McCoy out there and have those two out there together because that would have been two of the best, if not the best quarterback duos in college football, but he is big, he’s physical, uh he plays fast on tape, he is consistently in phase on uh vertical routes and and always puts himself in position for either turnovers or for PBUS. And he will come downhill and smack you uh in run and run support as well. and all those things are what you want to see when you’re evaluating uh quarterbacks in college and what it might look like at the next level. So, I love the idea of Seattle who has a ton of guys coming up uh contracts expiring in the defensive back field including Tariq Woolen who they apparently keep trying to move on from and I think this is the next progression in terms of restocking that defensive back room. All right, next up we have the Bills where it looks like things are finally starting to click there picking number 26 overall. Ryan has them going with CJ Allen, a real reliable guy there for Kirby Smart in company out in Athens, Georgia. So Mike, how big of a need is he going to be for a team like Buffalo? Yeah, I think the biggest weakness right now for the Bills is just kind of how light they are up the middle of the football field. A lot of teams that play heavier personnel, have jumbo, bigger offensive lines, they can kind of just lean on this front seven for the Buffalo Bills. Ain’t nobody leaning on CJ. You watch his tape. If you try to climb to the second level and block CJ Allen, he’s sending you right back the other way. He is a monster coming downhill against the run, an immediate value ad in that regard. He has PFS third highest graded run defender at the position in college football this year. And he brings some speed, some juice, some tenacity to the second level as well. That’s much needed there on that Bills defense. Yeah, juice, tenacity on defense coming out of Georgia. We’ve seen this film before, right guys? Okay, let’s go to the Rams. Number 27 overall, Ryan, you have him taking Chris Johnson out of San Diego State. So, what makes him such a special prospect? Yeah, let’s get nuts part five or six on this Mox draft. I look, Chris Johnson is probably probably going to be a day two pick, but I remember watching this tape about a month ago for a hit we did on HQ to preview a San Diego State game, and I was it was I’ve never had so much fun watching San Diego State football in the last 10 years and watching Chris Johnson. Uh Mike talked about it earlier with Avon Terrell. He’s probably 6 feet about 180. He plays like he’s 6’1 215. He does not care when it comes down to run support coming downhill. Uh he is incredibly aggressive uh in pass when he’s uh covering wide receivers down the field and not to the point where he’s getting flagged for penalties. He is always at the catch point. He is always in in position to get PBUS without getting flagged. And he has ball skills. So he could be a top 50 pick. Maybe he goes top 32, but I wanted to give him a little shout out just because he’s been so much fun to watch this season uh and a bright spot uh for some West Coast football that we don’t get a lot of chance to see. Well, there you have it. Picks 21 through 27 in Ryan Wilson’s latest mock. Ryan, Mike, hang tight. We have more to come. In the meantime, want to give you a quick recap. We have the Lions taking Quincy Rhodess Jr. 21 overall. The Cowboys Matteo UAL. They’re addressing the edge position once again, doubling down on edge rushers there at pick number 24. That was the Michael Parsons trade. And then the Rams taking Chris Johnson out of San Diego State. We are getting to the home stretch. Getting to picks 28 through 32. Ryan has the Broncos taking Caleb Banks out of the University of Florida at number 28 overall. Win healthy can be an absolute game wrecker, but there is some risk here. So Mike, is the upside worth the risk in your eyes? Yeah, I think this pick is very indicative of this class because he’s only played one game this year and probably is only going to play one game this year with a foot injury that he had preseason, then reinjured, then had to have surgery on. He was already kind of considered a project coming into this year. That’s why he came back for his fifth season. And all that being said, I don’t think it’s a crazy pick because there’s just not a lot of other guys who have his sort of upside at 6’6, 330 lbs. If you go watch the LSU game last year and LSU had a couple guys drafted in the top 100 from that offensive line, he kind of dominated. It was elite tape. And if you can capture that guy, if you can do it once, NFL coach think he could do it every single time. If you can capture that guy, you got a player at the next level and he would be a piece to the puzzle there in Denver where they got a lot of guys to take pressure off of him. All right, let’s go to the number 29 overall pick where so far the Bucks are picking in this spot. And Ryan, we’re getting another Oregon player off the board here for Tampa Bay. So, what direction do you have them going with this pick? Yeah, I think this is five Oregon guys, Jacqueline. Uh, Kenyan Sadi, the tight end. Uh, and last year, Kenan flashed consistently because Terence Ferguson was getting most of the work at tight end. He was drafted on day two by the Rams back in April. And the thing with Kinan, he hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations so far this season, but you’ve seen it in glimpses and he I think he’s a fantastic blocking tight end in line. He plays in the slot. They move him all over. Uh the Buccaneers only target their tight ends 14% of the time, but you would imagine that would change with someone like Kenyan Sadik on the field in addition to all the injuries they’ve suffered at the wide receiver position. So I I like the fit if you get the most out of Kenyan Sadik. And I I do think he’s going to continue to improve. uh and this year isn’t necessarily indicative of him hitting his ceiling. Uh it’s just a another step in in the process of him growing from one year to the next. So if he’s here at the bottom of the first round, this feels about the range he’ll go off the board and I think the Tampa Buccaneers would love to have him. All right, so we’ve reached the final three picks in the first round. We have the Patriots picking number 30 overall. Ryan, you have him taking Caleb Lomu out of uh Utah. So Mike, what makes him a first round pick to you? To me, he’s probably the best pass protecting tackle in this draft class. Now, he does struggle in the running game. He is a little lighter. He needs to get stronger. There’s a reason he’s falling to 30 here, but I think it would be a dream scenario for the Patriots because, not to say you don’t care about the running game, but you got Drake May. What you care about is keeping him healthy. And LMU would be the best guy in this class again to do that. Now, he’d have to flip sides. He’s a left tackle at Utah. You’re obviously not moving Will Campbell after how good he’s been there on the left side. He’s going to the right side, but I think he can do it. You see his footwork, you see his hand usage, it’s advanced, it’s a coordinated. It shows me that he’s a guy that is going to be able to succeed at the NFL level. So, if he were to fall to this sort of range in the draft, to me, that’s a dream scenario for the New England Patriots. All right, next up we have the Eagles at number 31 overall. And High Roseman is always, you know, showing us what it’s like giving us a masterclass and how to draft, right? And in this mock, Philly is taking a big physical wide receiver Ryan and Denzel Boston. Yeah, again, I might be hiring Denzel than than some other people. I know Ryan and I talked about him on the podcast and Ryan doesn’t think he’s a first round pick. Doesn’t think he runs that well. I don’t know, man. He returned a punt uh for over 100 yards and it looked like he was running pretty well and moving like someone uh who wasn’t 6’4 but was 5’10 and 185. Uh he is thick. I think he runs extremely well. I think he has short area quickness and he has fantastic hands uh no matter where the ball is thrown, huge catch radius, contested catch guy, all the things we like to say about these bigger wide receivers in Philadelphia. Yes, they have AJ Brown and yes, they have Devonte Smith and Dallas Goddard and Saquon Barkley. After that, there’s not really much in the wide receiver room and who knows what AJ AJ Brown’s future is going to be uh in Philadelphia. So, if you’re going to move on from AJ, replace AJ with an AJ in Denzel Boston. Uh so, bottom of the first round feels about right to me. I like him a little bit more than Keon Coleman a few years ago in terms of his upside. So, this feels like a range he might come off the board. Brian, I have to say I think I agree with Ran here a little more. I I don’t think he’s quite a firstrounder. And if I’m the Eagles here, the guy I’d actually target is Tennessee’s Chris Brazzle because if you have Jaylen Herz at quarterback, and as we’ve seen the Jaylen Herz offense through four different offensive coordinators now, it’s a go ball heavy offense. And to me, Brazle is the best go ball receiver in this draft class. So, if you are parting ways with AJ Brown, that’s the guy I would want to replace him. All right. Who would have thought to start the season that we would be talking about the Colts picking here at number 32 in the first round, but here we are. They’re taking David Bailey out of Texas Tech for Ryan’s latest mock, a guy who’s already put up, you know, double digit sack numbers. What are your expectations for him on Sundays, Mike? Yeah, the Colts just need some juice. Latu Latu can’t really do it all on his own. Quitty Pay has not developed into that guy. a lot of their, you know, second round, day two picks that they’ve used on the edge have not turned out to be productive guys. Bailey would be. This guy can rush the passer. I know that because his first step is elite and he’s doing it at the collegiate level at a really, really high level. Leads college football with 11 and a half sacks, leads college football with 55 pressures. You put him and Lu on the same defensive line in the next two to three years, you will have a high-end pass rush. All right, there you have it. Ryan Wilson’s complete first round mock as we head into week 10 of the NFL season. Let’s recap picks 28 through 32 for you. Ryan has the Broncos taking Caleb Banks out of Florida. Talked about Denzel Boston um there out of Washington at the wide receiver position for the Philadelphia Eagles and then the Colts taking David Bailey with the number 32 overall pick. We have full takeaways from both the guys coming up on the other side. You’re watching HQ Spotlight. We just went through Ryan Wilson’s entire first round mock, the latest one. So Ryan, we want to give you the floor here. Give us your takeaways. What stood out the most from you for that mock that you just put together? Uh my favorite pick was probably the tit the Titans straighten down to get Narville Reese, the linebacker edge, as Mike talked about. The versatility is what makes him so incredibly uh interesting uh given the way he played this year. The other thing we saw three teams that had two first round picks. Uh, Cleveland Browns got Ty Simpson, their quarterback, and Jordan Tyson, the wide receiver. Dallas got two edge rushers. You could argue those edge rushers weren’t nearly as good on paper as the edge rushers that the Falcons got a year ago. And the Rams get offensive line help, and they get cornerback help. So, all situations where players or teams are helping themselves with players, but I think the Browns probably got the most bang for their buck and trying to write a franchise that has struggled uh pretty much since coming back in 1999. All right, Mike, what about you? Any comments, concerns, anything that stood out to you? I think it’s interesting this interior offensive line class because depending on how you want to call some of these tackles, I I think we actually might see more interior offensive linemen go in the first round than pure tackles and maybe indicative of just how NFL teams want to spend their picks in the draft. The first round guards were usually guard centers were kind of considered luxury picks. You’d wait to day two because you could find them there. I think a lot of teams are going to be running the card in for a lot of these guards and centers in this year’s draft class because you want all five positions. All five positions are very valuable now in the NFL. So, I think that is an interesting storyline to me in this year’s class. Want to circle back to the quarterbacks, right? Because we had three quarterbacks go off the board, one, two, three, and Fernando Mendoza, Tai Simpson, and then Dante Moore. You see it here. So Ryan, are there any other quarterbacks that you can think of that could be taken within the first round that stick out to you that have some potential to maybe have their draft stock rise as the college football season rolls on? I love USC’s Jade Mayaba and Mike and I have talked about him. Mike was at the Notre Dame game. I think he is going back and talking to some people out there. Garrett Nusmeer that has not been a good situation for Garrett Nusmeire or LSU. I think he falls to day two. Carson Beck continues to look less like early season Carson Beck and more like last season Carson Beck. And after that, I think you’re going to be hardressed to find find a quarterback that finds its way into round one unless John Matier starts balling out after having that surgery on his throwing hand a few weeks ago that has affected the way he’s played. I’m just going to say it. There is not another quarterback that’s going in the first round this year. Unless like Arch Manning surprised the world and comes out, Lenora Celler surprised everyone comes out. I think everyone’s just coming back to school. These three guys really feel like Simpson, Moore, and Mendoza feel like the only guys who are going to have high enough grades to justify making that leap to come out early. Everyone else who has eligibility left, whether it’s guys like John Matier, whether it’s guys like Brendan Sorsby of Cincinnati, whether it’s guys who like have played good football, but they have more years to play. I think they’re exhausted eligibility to make sure that their draft stock is firm by the time they go and they’re still getting paid at the collegiate level. But all the guys who have to come out, Clubnik, Aller, Beck, Nusmeer, they just haven’t played well enough. And I don’t see with how much bad they put on tape already, them being able to recover that draft stock. All right, Ryan Wilson, Mike Rener, we certainly appreciate it. My first mock draft of the season, it’s been a time. I appreciate you letting me hop on and it certainly won’t be the last. We have many, many more mocks that we’ll be talking about between now and April. And again, we’ll have it on cbsports.com, that full mock as well. Um, for more mock draft talk or just draft talk in general, make sure you check out the with the first pick podcast. You can watch right now by scanning that QR code on your screen. Thanks so much for hanging out with us here on HQ Spotlight. We’ll see you next time.

Mike Renner and Ryan Wilson join CBS Sports HQ Spotlight to breakdown the latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft.

(0:00) Saints select QB Fernando Mendoza
(2:19) Browns select QB Ty Simpson
(3:56) Jets select QB Dante Moore
(5:36) Dolphins select OT Spencer Fano
(7:17) Giants select WR Carnell Tate
(8:41) Titans select LB Arvell Reese
(9:43) Raiders select DL Peter Woods
(10:25) Cardinals select OT Francis Mauigoa
(11:42) Bengals select S Caleb Downs
(12:50) Commanders select EDGE Ruben Bain Jr.
(13:55) Ravens select EDGE Keldric Faulk
(14:53) Rams select OT Brian Parker II
(16:08) Texans select OG Olaivavega Ioane
(17:08) Cowboys select EDGE T.J. Parker
(18:36) Vikings select RB Jeremiyah Love
(19:42) Panthers select CB Mansoor Delane
(20:46) Chiefs select CB Jermod McCoy
(21:46) Bears select OT Kadyn Proctor
(23:01) Browns select WR Jordyn Tyson
(24:19) Steelers select CB Avieon Terrell
(25:54) Lions select EDGE Quincy Rhodes Jr.
(26:44) 49ers select DL A’Mauri Washington
(27:46) Chargers select OG Emmanuel Pregnon
(28:42) Cowboys select EDGE Matayo Uiagalelei
(29:50) Seahawks select CB Colton Hood
(30:53) Bills select LB CJ Allen
(31:54) Rams select CB Chris Johnson
(33:27) Broncos select DL Caleb Banks
(34:34) Buccaneers select TE Kenyon Sadiq
(35:42) Patriots select OT Caleb Lomu
(36:37) Eagles select WR Denzel Boston
(38:15) Colts select EDGE David Bailey
(39:34) Mock Draft Takeaways

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