The NFL has passed the halfway point of the season in now entering Week 10. With that, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. and Field Yates have come together to conduct their first live, joint mock going into the 2026 NFL Draft.
Kiper and Yates went through that process on ‘First Draft’ on Wednesday, with the mock hosted by Mike Greenberg. With a projected order, the two draft experts alternated picks with Yates making the odd-numbered selections while Kiper made the even ones.
Here were the results of that draft completed by Kiper and Yates:
The Saints selected a quarterback just a year ago in the second round in Tyler Shough, and also still have another quarterback they’ve drafted in Spencer Rattler. However, Yates had New Orleans going with another one with the No. 1 pick in 2026, choosing Mendoza, having a career-best season at IU with 72.3% completion for 236 passing yards per game, 25 touchdowns, and only four picks, at first overall.
“I have some conviction on this pick being a quarterback. My top-graded quarterback, so far, at this juncture of the college football season, remains Fernando Mendoza, quarterback from the University of Indiana,” said Yates. “We have talked at length about the skill set that he brings to the table – superior accuracy, excellent arm strength, has some mobility as well…A quarterback race that I think was three players, that I thought about as the number one overall pick in the draft? Fernando Mendoza emerges
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Kiper then had what he felt was a simple decision for the Titans. If they choose to not trade the pick, Reese, with 54 tackles, nine being for loss, with 6.5 sacks and two deflections as one of the top defenders on an elite defense for the Buckeyes, would be the pick by Tennessee for him at No. 2.
“I’m going to say this. The name is easy. The player is easy. This is where, if you’re Tennessee, you’re hoping the Jets at three or Cleveland at six, or the Vegas Raiders – that somebody wants to jump up…Either way, Tennessee is getting one player,” said Kiper. “He’s the best defensive player in this draft. He can wear a lot of hats. He can be edge, he can be off ball. He is a 6’4”, 245-pounder from the number one team in the country…His name is Arvell Reese
It’s been a long time since a quarterback worked out for the Jets, with Yates taking another one here for them at No. 3. That was Simpson, who has impressed this season as the starter for the Crimson Tide at 67.8% completion for 273 passing yards per game, 20 touchdown throws, and just a lone pick, as maybe the one who could work out in New York.
“The Jets are taking Ty Simpson, quarterback from Alabama. Now, last week on this show, I expressed that there are some people that are not convinced he is even going to declare for this upcoming draft. But, with every week that this passes by this season, the door has cracked open a little bit further, and he has the attention of evaluators all over the NFL. He has been remarkable for Alabama this season…He has been as clean as you could possibly expect,” Yates said. “Again, he could totally return to Alabama for one more year in this scenario. But, if he does not, then the Jets get – and I’m knocking on wood right now because it hasn’t always worked out this way with recent quarterback investments – we hope, their quarterback of the future.”
Kiper had no idea where to go for the Dolphins, with the franchise having already parted with the general manager, their head coach and quarterback having uncertain futures, and the team in general not being good whatsoever. So, Downs, another defender out of Columbus with 39 tackles, three being for loss, with three picks, was the best defensive player for him, and was his pick by Miami at No. 4.
“Miami is tricky…This is a dilemma of all dilemmas for Miami, and really in a tricky spot, for me, to say, okay, how am I going to make this mock look right and figure out what Miami will do, knowing everything is going to be changing, right?” Kiper said. “So, I’m going to do, for the sake of this, knowing this defense is so bad, knowing what we know? I’m going to go Caleb Downs here, the safety from Ohio State…I’ll just go, because that defense is so bad, and Caleb Downs is a solid player? I’ll take Caleb Downs at four.”
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Tate is not even the best receiver on his team, but may end up being the best receiver in this draft class as he’s having a breakout season with 39 receptions for 711 yards, averaging 88.9 per game and 18.2 per catch, and seven touchdowns. Now, Ohio State has a third player off the board in the top-five, with Yates making him the No. 5 overall pick by the New York Giants.
“Every single week? And, I understand that he is the second-best receiver on his own team. Carnell Tate is something that is slightly lower, or lesser than, an alien,” said Yates. “He is exceptional. He looks so pro-ready to me – his route-running, his strength, his hands, the contested-catch ability. All of it is so good…I absolutely love everything that Carnell Tate brings to the table.
For another franchise that hasn’t gotten quarterback right, Kiper had Cleveland going back for another one in 2026. With that, he went here with Moore, posting 71.4% completion for 221.5 passing yards per game with 19 touchdowns and four picks, as the No. 6 overall pick for the Browns, with the hope being that one of those names works out after, last spring, they used a third-round pick on Dillon Gabriel and a fifth-round selection on Shedeur Sanders.
“This is really nuanced. This is tough…We also have Dante Moore, and this is where Dante Moore, for me? I still have him number one on the board. Love the kid,” said Kiper. “The Cleveland Browns, in a division with Burrow, and Lamar? They’ve got to get it right. You got to get the quarterback. You’ve got to get that guy…It’s all about the quarterback in the NFL. It’s the most important position in the world, in all sports. That’s the position, right? I’ve got to go Dante Moore here.”
Yates considered several positions here, eventually landing on offensive line, Las Vegas. That made Fano, with his size, mobility, and positional versatility as either tackle or even to a guard, as the eventual selection here for the Raiders at No. 7 overall.
“The offensive line hasn’t been much better (for Vegas),” Yates said. “Fano, who’s been a right tackle, played some left tackle as well? Has outstanding movement skills. He’s a premier athlete for the position. Very good in the running game. Now, there are some questions just based on his bulk – 305 pounds, 306 pounds is, in any other walk of life, a gigantic human. Amongst NFL offensive tackles, it may not be anything more than just about below average in terms of size, so there are some who think that Fano could end up becoming a better guard than tackle in the NFL, but I would like to exhaust all offensive tackle reps before I move him inside to guard.”
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Despite the down year in Death Valley, Woods remains the top-projected defensive lineman in the class, with 25 tackles, 2.5 being for loss, along with two sacks and a deflection this season for the Tigers’ defense. That made him a value selection here for the Arizona Cardinals by Kiper towards the back of the top-ten here at No. 8.
“Peter Woods, defensive lineman from Clemson. It’s just, you look at a kid and you can move him around, but I really think three technique. I just think he can be so disruptive along the interior. He’s so athletic. He’s coming on now,” Kiper said. “He had a super high grade coming into this year, and he is certainly more than worthy of being a pick at this stage for Arizona…A guy like Peter Woods, I think, would be a really nice addition to this football team.”
McCoy is a difficult evaluation as he has, due to injury, yet to take the field this season on Rocky Top. However, with the defensive production he has had in college, posting 44 tackles, nine deflections, and four interceptions last season in the Volunteers’ secondary, and the general need for any kind of help on that side of the football in Cincinnati, Yates went with him at No. 9 as the pick by the Bengals.
“They are going to take Jermod McCoy, cornerback – Tennessee. Who, if you don’t know that name because you haven’t seen him this year, you’re not alone. He has played since tearing his ACL back in January…Jermod McCoy, based on 2024 tape, was a top-ten player in the draft, in my opinion, for this upcoming draft class. This is a pure, man-cover corner. He has excellent size. He has great cover skills. He has outstanding ball skills as well. This guy just finds the football and makes plays on the ball,” said Yates. “They need, need, need more though (on defense)…They need everything. I am going to roll the dice, because the Bengals have shown themselves more than willing to roll the dice.”
In rounding out the top-ten, Kiper did something he doesn’t normally do with a running back at this point of the draft. However, Love, at 141 carries for 894 yards, averaging 111.8 per game and 6.3 per carry, and 11 rushing touchdowns to be at 1,121 total yards, posting 140.1 per game, with 14 total touchdowns for the Fighting Irish, is the second-best player in the draft to him, which would make him an obvious pick for the Commanders at No. 10.
“I have a philosophy against this…But you draft on grading, you draft on value and you don’t draft on philosophy,” said Kiper. “You think about the running back position, you think about the versatility of Jeremiyah Love as a receiver and as a game-breaking running back? I think this is a great spot…Running backs to drop because most teams have them, most teams have two, right. And then running backs do drop because people have bought into that crazy philosophy of mine. But, at pick number ten? Washington takes Jeremiyah Love, running back from Notre Dame.”