Penn State has historically been one of the top college football programs, sending talent off through the NFL draft. The early indications for the 2026 NFL draft suggest the Nittany Lions will be prominent in the draft next spring as well, and a couple of players are projected to be first-round draft picks. ESPN’s Matt Miller includes two Penn State players in his first mock draft for 2026 this far out.

The first Penn State player off the board, according to Miller would be cornerback A.J. Harris, perhaps a slightly surprising pick off the Nittany Lions’ roster. But Harris has the kind of skills NFL teams are searching for in defensive backs, and a good year in the secondary could give Harris a good first-round boost at the right time. Miller has Harris projected to go to the Washington Commanders with the 25th overall pick in the 2026 draft.

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Penn State has developed a nice reputation for players in the defensive secondary in recent years, and that may have been one of the reasons Harris opted to transfer to Penn State from the SEC when he did. Expect more hype for Harris moving forward.

The next Penn State player off the board is one more mock drafts seem to have a little bit higher. That would be quarterback Drew Allar, who some have projected as one for the top quarterbacks off the board. Miller is a tad less optimistic about that being the case with a few passers going ahead of Allar, but a 27th overall pick by the Los Angeles Rams seems like a decent landing spot for Allar. Could Allar end up being the heir apparent to Super Bowl-winning quarterback Matthew Stafford? That seems like a good situation for Allar to be in if that ends up being the case.

We will be watching the mock draft progress now until the 2026 draft to see where Allar and Harris (and others) end up being projected by some of the biggest names in the NFL draft community. There is a long way to go, so there could be many changes along the way.

You can check out Miller’s full mid-summer mock draft for 2026 via ESPN.

This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: ESPN mock NFL draft has multiple Penn State players in the first round