MIAMI, April 22 (UPI) — Quarterback Fernando Mendoza sits atop UPI senior sports writer Alex Butler’s final first-round 2026 NFL mock draft, which features five trades.<\/p>\n
Unlike my two previous mock drafts, when Arvell Reese went No. 2 overall, I project David Bailey to land there with the New York Jets. Reese is my projected pick at No. 3 to the Arizona Cardinals.\n<\/p>\n
Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love and Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles round out the Top 5 picks of my final mock draft.<\/p>\n
My projected first round has seven offensive linemen, seven edge rushers, six wide receivers, three cornerbacks, three safeties, two quarterbacks, two linebackers, a running back and a tight end.\n<\/p>\n
The Jets, New York Giants, Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys own two picks apiece in the first round. The Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Green Bay Packers and Atlanta Falcons do not have first-round selections.<\/p>\n
My projections are based on combine and pro day performances, free agency movement and trades and injuries and off-the-field concerns.<\/p>\n
The 2026 NFL Draft will be held from Thursday through Saturday in Pittsburgh. First-round coverage will air at 8 p.m. EDT Thursday on ESPN, NFL Network, NFL+, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.\n<\/p>\n
Second- and third-round coverage will air at 7 p.m. Friday on those same networks. The final four rounds will air at noon Saturday.<\/p>\n
NFL Mock Draft<\/p>\n
1. Las Vegas Raiders<\/p>\n
Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana<\/p>\n
2. New York Jets<\/p>\n
David Bailey, Edge, Texas Tech<\/p>\n
3. Arizona Cardinals <\/p>\n
Arvell Reese, Edge, Ohio State\n<\/p>\n
4. Tennessee Titans <\/p>\n
Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame<\/p>\n
5. New York Giants <\/p>\n
Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State<\/p>\n
6. Cleveland Browns<\/p>\n
Francis Mauigoa, OT, Miami<\/p>\n
7. Washington Commanders <\/p>\n
Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State<\/p>\n
8. Dallas Cowboys (traded from New Orleans Saints)<\/p>\n
Rueben Bain Jr., Edge, Miami\n<\/p>\n
9. Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n
Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU<\/p>\n
10. Los Angeles Rams (traded from New York Giants) <\/p>\n
Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State<\/p>\n
11. Miami Dolphins <\/p>\n
Spencer Fano, OT, Utah<\/p>\n
12. New Orleans Saints (traded from Dallas Cowboys)<\/p>\n
Makai Lemon, WR, USC<\/p>\n
13. New York Giants (traded from Los Angeles Rams)<\/p>\n
Vega Ioane, IOL, Penn State<\/p>\n
14. Baltimore Ravens <\/p>\n
Jordyn Tyson, WR, Arizona State<\/p>\n
15. Tampa Bay Buccaneers <\/p>\n
Akheem Mesidor, Edge, Miami\n<\/p>\n
16. New York Jets<\/p>\n
Jermod McCoy, CB, Tennessee<\/p>\n
17. Detroit Lions <\/p>\n
Blake Miller, OT, Clemson\n<\/p>\n
18. Minnesota Vikings<\/p>\n
Dillon Thieneman, S, Oregon<\/p>\n
19. Carolina Panthers<\/p>\n
Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon\n<\/p>\n
20. Dallas Cowboys <\/p>\n
Colton Hood, CB, Tennessee<\/p>\n
21. Pittsburgh Steelers <\/p>\n
Monroe Freeling, OT, Georgia<\/p>\n
22. Los Angeles Chargers <\/p>\n
T.J. Parker, Edge, Clemson<\/p>\n
23. Buffalo Bills (traded from Philadelphia Eagles) <\/p>\n
C.J. Allen, LB, Georgia<\/p>\n
24. Cleveland Browns <\/p>\n
Omar Cooper Jr., WR, Indiana<\/p>\n
25. Houston Texans (traded from Chicago Bears)<\/p>\n
Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama<\/p>\n
26. Philadelphia Eagles (traded from Buffalo Bills) <\/p>\n
Caleb Lomu, OT, Utah\n<\/p>\n
27. San Francisco 49ers<\/p>\n
Cashius Howell, Edge, Texas A&M<\/p>\n
28. Chicago Bears (traded from Houston Texans)<\/p>\n
Keldric Faulk, Edge, Auburn\n<\/p>\n
29. Kansas City Chiefs<\/p>\n
K.C. Concepcion, WR, Texas A&M<\/p>\n
30. Arizona Cardinals (traded from Miami Dolphins)<\/p>\n
Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama<\/p>\n
31. New England Patriots <\/p>\n
Denzel Boston, WR, Washington\n<\/p>\n
32. Seattle Seahawks<\/p>\n
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, S, Toledo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI, April 22 (UPI) — Quarterback Fernando Mendoza sits atop UPI senior sports writer Alex Butler’s final first-round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":871785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[247,65743,65742,7,1806,65741,6,21109,266,526,394,2411,527,118140,65740,65744],"class_list":{"0":"post-871784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennessee-titans","8":"tag-american","9":"tag-baseball-news","10":"tag-basketball-news","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-football-news","13":"tag-latest-sports-results","14":"tag-nfl","15":"tag-sporting-events","16":"tag-sports-news","17":"tag-tennessee","18":"tag-tennessee-titans","19":"tag-tennesseetitans","20":"tag-titans","21":"tag-titans-love-giants-snag-styles-final-2026-nfl-mock-draft","22":"tag-united-press-international","23":"tag-upi"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116447753750310882","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871784","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=871784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}