{"id":822682,"date":"2026-03-20T07:31:41","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T07:31:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/822682\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T07:31:41","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T07:31:41","slug":"2026-nfl-draft-mel-kiper-unveils-new-top-25-big-board-player-rankings-with-significant-changes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/822682\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Draft: Mel Kiper unveils new Top 25 Big Board player rankings with significant changes"},"content":{"rendered":"

35 days separate us from the start of the 2026 NFL Draft. The NFL Draft combine and many Pro Days have already passed and in response, ESPN\u2019s Mel Kiper overhauled his top 25 Big Board<\/a> with just over a month remaining. <\/p>\n

Notably, Kiper\u2019s top 25 Big Board should not be considered a mock draft or a prediction of where players will be drafted. Think of it as the best players available to begin draft night.<\/p>\n

Kiper\u2019s top three remain the same from his last rankings. Below you can find the full list of 25 from the longtime NFL Draft analyst.<\/p>\n

Fernando Mendoza is the consensus No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft next month. This comes after a Heisman Trophy-worthy season that led to an undefeated, national championship-winning season for Indiana.<\/p>\n

On the field, Mendoza passed for 3,535 yards, 41 passing TD (48 overall) and six interceptions. He finished the season with a 72.0% completion percentage, which stands out regarding his NFL potential.<\/p>\n

\"notreNotre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. (Photo by Mike Miller\/BGI)<\/p>\n

Kiper reiterated the fact that Jeremiyah Love reminds him of Reggie Bush. His vision, ability to burst outside and break tackles, speed \u2014 all are reasons why he considers Love RB1 this cycle.<\/p>\n

He proved that on the field this past season. In 12 games, Love was tasked with 199 carries, where he rushed for 1,372 yards and 18 rushing touchdowns. He added 27 catches for 280 receiving yards and three touchdowns through the air as well.<\/p>\n

Kiper called Reese a \u201ccomplete football player\u201d who immediately jumps out to him on tape. He pointed toward Reese\u2019s production on the field over the past two seasons is an indication of that.<\/p>\n

Since 2024, Reese has combined for 112 tackles for the Buckeyes. He finished 2025 with 69 combined tackles, 10 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. As a result, he earned All-American status in 2025 and was also a key piece to the Buckeyes\u2019 national championship squad the year before.<\/p>\n

Sonny Styles is the moved up two spots from Kiper\u2019s last rankings, coming in at No. 6. He broke into Kiper\u2019s top five after a stellar performance at the NFL combine last month. <\/p>\n

Styles turned in a blazing 4.46 40-yard-dash time. He also impressed scouts with a freakish 43.5-inch vertical jump, not to mention recording an 11-foot-2 broad jump. On the field, Styles has logged 183 tackles in the last two seasons.<\/p>\n

\"David\u00a9 Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

David Bailey is being projected as high as No. 2 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft in some mock projections. This comes after a superstar-making season at Texas Tech in 2025.<\/p>\n

Bailey transferred to TTU from Stanford as a part of the Red Raiders\u2019 stellar portal class last offseason. He played three seasons for the Cardinal, where he amassed 14.5 sacks over that span. Bailey matched that total in his lone season in Lubbock.<\/p>\n

Caleb Downs had the opportunity to learn under both Nick Saban and Ryan Day in college, and has looked every bit the five-star prospect he was the whole time. Now, that\u2019s translated into him becoming the top-rated defensive back in the 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

This past season, Downs finished the 2025 season with 68 combined tackles, a PBU, one sack and a pair of interceptions. He likely would have had more if opposing QBs wanted to throw over the top against him. <\/p>\n

The fourth and final Buckeye in Kiper\u2019s top seven (five in total), Carnell Tate is the only offensive member from Ohio State that made his top 25 Big Board. And for good reason.<\/p>\n

He finished the season having caught 51 passes for 875 yards and nine receiving touchdowns. His 17.2 yards per catch gained him the reputation as an explosive playmaker downfield, and many \u2014 including Kiper \u2014 expect that to continue in the NFL<\/p>\n

\"MiamiMiami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa (Neil Gershman, Zooba Images)<\/p>\n

Francis Mauigoa most recently helped block for a Miami Hurricanes offense that made it all the way to the national championship game. They then, ultimately, fell to Fernando Mendoza and the Indiana Hoosiers.<\/p>\n

Mauigoa finished the 2025 season with 826 offensive snaps. He allowed just two sacks and 10 pressures across 440 pass block snaps. He played 814 snaps at right tackle in 16 games. Kiper called him a \u201ctrue mauler.\u201d<\/p>\n

This past season, Jordyn Tyson caught 61 passes for 711 yards and eight touchdowns for the Sun Devils.\u00a0On his career, Tyson caught 158 passes for 2,282 yards and 22 touchdowns. <\/p>\n

Tyson spent two seasons at Arizona State. He began his career playing for Deion Sanders at\u00a0Colorado<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Across 822 snaps in 2025, Fano didn\u2019t allow a single sack or hit on his quarterback. Notably, only 382 of those were pass block snaps. He also finished fifth among offensive tackles with just five pressures allowed on the year.<\/p>\n

He started 12 games at left tackle in 2023 before starting 24 games at the right tackle position over the next two seasons. The 6-foot-6, 311-pounder also ran at 4.91 40-yard-dash, so he can shed a block and move into the second level of the defense if necessary.<\/p>\n

Mel Kiper Big Board No. 11-25<\/p>\n

11. USC<\/a> WR Makai Lemon<\/a>
12. Oregon<\/a> TE Kenyon Sadiq<\/a>
13. Georgia<\/a> OT Monroe Freeling<\/a>
14. Penn State<\/a> OT Vega Ioane<\/a>
15. Miami DE Rueben Bain Jr.<\/a>
16. Tennessee<\/a> CB Jermod McCoy<\/a>
17. LSU<\/a> CB Mansoor Delane<\/a>
18. Alabama<\/a> OT Kadyn Proctor<\/a>
19. Clemson<\/a> DT Peter Woods<\/a>
20. Missouri<\/a> DE Zion Young<\/a>
21. Ohio State DT Kayden McDonald<\/a>
22. Oregon S Dillon Thieneman<\/a>
23. Auburn<\/a> DE Keldric Faulk<\/a>
24. Clemson OT Blake Miller<\/a>
25. Alabama QB Ty Simpson<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"35 days separate us from the start of the 2026 NFL Draft. The NFL Draft combine and many…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":788781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[40956,11868,5782,5784,9387,5791,26735,7,5795,9391,5798,20645,5799,84482,5800,26737,11876,32679,99465,6,15,5806,5808,34445,5809,15529,34447,105269],"class_list":["post-822682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl-draft","tag-arvell-reese-23-glenville","tag-blake-miller-22-strongsville","tag-caleb-downs-23-mill-creek","tag-carnell-tate-23-img-academy","tag-david-bailey-22-mater-dei","tag-dillon-thieneman-23-westfield","tag-fernando-mendoza-22-columbus","tag-football","tag-francis-mauigoa-23-img-academy","tag-jeremiyah-love-23-christian-brothers-college","tag-jermod-mccoy-23-whitehouse","tag-jordyn-tyson-22-independence","tag-kadyn-proctor-23-southeast-polk","tag-kayden-mcdonald-23-north-gwinnett","tag-keldric-faulk-23-highland-home","tag-kenyon-sadiq-23-skyline-senior","tag-makai-lemon-23-los-alamitos","tag-mansoor-delane-22-archbishop-spalding","tag-monroe-freeling-23-oceanside-collegiate-academy","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-draft","tag-peter-woods-23-thompson","tag-rueben-bain-23-miami-central","tag-sonny-styles-22-pickerington-central","tag-spencer-fano-23-timpview","tag-ty-simpson-22-westview","tag-vega-ioane-22-graham-kapowsin","tag-zion-young-22-westlake"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822682","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822682"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822682\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/788781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}