It didn’t take long for some handwringing to pick up about the New Orleans Saints beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday — just think of what this does to their place in the 2026 NFL draft! Having been eliminated from playoff contention, the thinking goes, the Saints should have tanked the rest of their schedule to end up picking as early as possible. Upsetting a division rival on the road with some highlight reel moments from rookie quarterback Tyler Shough didn’t help that. Too bad. It was fun, and encouraging, and we’ll take it over yet another loss.
We shouldn’t be writing off the 2026 draft altogether, though. The Saints only moved down from the third spot in the draft order to fifth. Some very talented players are still going to be available if that’s when they go on the clock. But who could be there? To find out, we surveyed a dozen recent mock drafts from USA TODAY, Athlon Sports, CBS Sports, FanSided, Pro Football Focus, Saturday Blitz, NFL Spin Zone, Walter Football, Tankathon, and Mock Draft Database, which gave us a list of 19 different players who were picked at least once in the top 10. Then we narrowed the field by identifying which prospects went top-10 in at least 75% of these mock drafts. Here is that group of seven names:
LB/EDGE Arvell Reese, Ohio State (Average Draft Position: 2.2)QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (Average Draft Position: 3.3)EDGE Rueben Bain Jr., Miami (Average Draft Position: 3.5)WR Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State (Average Draft Position: 4.9)QB Dante Moore, Oregon (Average Draft Position: 4.9)OT Spencer Fano, Utah (Average Draft Position: 7.6)S Caleb Downs, Ohio State (Average Draft Position: 7.6)
A couple of near-consensus picks included Auburn edge rusher Keldric Faulk (7.5), Miami right tackle Francis Mauigoa (9.0), and Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson (5.4), whose stock has been declining over the last month after a string of rough performances. LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane (9.2) also has a lot of fans but he isn’t a lock for the top-10 just yet. But let’s keep focus on the Saints.
Right now, assuming the Saints stay at No. 5, the likeliest scenario would have Reese, Mendoza, and Moore going off the board in the first three picks. That would leave either Tyson or Bain for New Orleans after one of them is taken at No. 4. Alternatively, if the Saints are lower on each of those guys than media rankings — Tyson has a concerning injury history, while Bain doesn’t fit the athletic prototype they’ve valued in the past — they could be justified in going with someone like Downs or Fano. Of course there are other players to consider here, too.
Some of these mock drafts went with the latest projected order, others didn’t. But if you’re curious, here’s who the Saints were linked to:
EDGE Rueben Bain Jr., Miami (4 times)QB Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (2 times)QB Ty Simpson, Alabama (2 times)EDGE Keldrick Faulk, Auburn (1 time)QB Dante Moore, Oregon (1 time)LB/EDGE Arvell Reese, Ohio State (1 time)DT Peter Woods, Clemson (1 time)
Our point is this. While the Saints may have taken a step back with a late-season win, it’s far from the end of the world. Building confidence in your rookie quarterback and validating what your coaches are telling players every day in meetings matters more than picking third or fourth instead of fifth overall. They’re still going to have a good pick next April. What’s better is they’ll have a good pick and, maybe, an answer at the game’s most important position.