{"id":862471,"date":"2026-04-09T17:36:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/862471\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T17:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T17:36:21","slug":"beast-guide-released-espns-status-check-2-weeks-from-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/862471\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Beast\u2019 Guide Released; ESPN\u2019s Status Check 2 Weeks from 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>There are many checkpoints on the way to the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>A few include college all-star showcases, the combine in Indianapolis and pro days across the country. Another, which seemingly heeds more attention every cycle, is the unleashing of Dane Brugler&#8217;s draft guide &#8220;The Beast.&#8221; Produced by The Athletic, it&#8217;s touted as &#8220;The world&#8217;s most detailed NFL Draft guide.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>That claim is very likely true. Brugler&#8217;s handbook to the league&#8217;s incoming players features 402 profiles, 2,700 rankings, 45,000 verified measurements and a writer&#8217;s most proud stat \u2014 almost 300,000 words.<\/p>\n<p>Brugler warns that the printable version is over 600 pages. The online one is available right <a class=\"nfl-o-cta--link nfl-o-cta--underline\" style=\"word-break: break-word\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/interactive\/the-beast-2026\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While there are countless media members who do a fine job assessing NFL prospects and contextualizing information for fans, we think Brugler&#8217;s annual manual lives up to its moniker and gives readers the most comprehensive look at who might develop into stars and starters and valuable backups and role players; with exhaustive position rankings and detailed reports, it&#8217;s easier to grasp what the 2026 class is offering.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe you&#8217;re curious what Brugler sees in Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman, who has been the most popular pick in mock drafts for Minnesota at No. 18. Brugler&#8217;s &#8220;one-liner&#8221; on Thieneman, who began at Purdue, is he&#8217;s &#8220;A durable, versatile safety who could start in almost any coach&#8217;s defensive scheme.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are many checkpoints on the way to the NFL Draft. A few include college all-star showcases, the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":862472,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[7,8387,233,259,2529,270,1025,8388,6,234],"class_list":{"0":"post-862471","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-vikings","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-lunch-break","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-vikings","12":"tag-minnesotavikings","13":"tag-news-draft","14":"tag-news-index","15":"tag-news-lunch-break","16":"tag-nfl","17":"tag-vikings"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116375963795029085","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862471","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=862471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/862471\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/862472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=862471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=862471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=862471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}