The most intriguing teams and players of the 2026 NFL Draft's first round

The 2026 NFL Draft begins at 8 p.m. ET with the Las Vegas Raiders picking Fernando Mendoza to be their new franchise quarterback, but the intrigue doesn’t actually start until after that first pick is history.

That’s how this draft will play out. The first pick will go down as the draft's signature moment, but the fireworks won't be lit until later.

The maneuvering, complications, and curiosity, all of it, begin beyond the first selection.

The reason is this draft lacks the allure of multiple quarterbacks competing to go higher than the others. Only one QB beyond Mendoza has even a small chance of getting picked in the first round and that would likely require some of that maneuvering you just read about.

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This draft also lacks the draw of polarizing players such as Randy Moss back in 1998 or Shedeur Sanders a year ago, so finding heroes and villians will be difficult.

But this draft does offer touch points of high interest that will keep folks engaged. It offers drama about some teams and some individual prospects.

Let’s begin with the teams:

This draft actually begins when the New York Jets are on the clock at No. 2 and pick a player whose identity only three people in the organization – coach Aaron Glenn, general manager Darren Mougey and owner Woody Johnson -- know with certainty.

That’s important, folks. Remember the Jets used to leak like century-old Bronx tenement pipes during the Robert Saleh regime. No more. The Jets are locked up tight, so even insiders aren’t sure if they’re going to pick Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey or Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese.

Or somebody else.

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The Arizona Cardinals are scheduled to pick at No. 3. And they might pick any number of players – running back Jeremiyah Love (if they’re smart), a right tackle, or a pass rusher.

But here’s the truth: The Cardinals want to trade down. Badly.

They want more picks and need more talent and the rumor league-wide is they’ve been leaking interest in Love so that a team that covets the dynamic running back offers them a trade.

Are you getting the drift here? This stuff is kind of interesting.

The fact is the Cardinals, Eagles, Chiefs, Saints, Browns, Bills, Titans Commanders and Seahawks have all been tied to trade-up or trade-down scenarios.

We can only hope for such mass chaos to punctuate this draft.

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And why are teams so willing to move around? Because there are players that come with great ability but also questionable reliability – a combination that makes teams want to trade down to hedge their bets.

Consider:

Miami offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa is probably the draft’s top offensive tackle prospect. He’s big, strong, tough, everything an NFL team wants in a bookend tackle.

He also comes into this draft with a herniated disc in his back.

Mauigoa was reportedly asymptomatic throughout the 2025 season and remains so now, but teams are aware that if his back acts up, he could require surgery. So, yeah, a significant potential risk.

Arizona State receiver Jordyn Tyson is a human injury list. He had a multi-ligament (ACL, MCL, PCL) knee tear in 2022, a broken collarbone in 2024, and hamstring issues much of last season.

Tyson is also a human highlight reel.

And those two traits make teams love him. And hate him. And not sure where to draft him in the first round.

Injury concerns are not the only reason some players will be fascinating to monitor during Thursday’s first round.

You can bet that if ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky gets any air time during the draft he’ll be advocating for Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson to be selected because there’s a bromance going on there.

Simpson is the other quarterback who might go in the first round. But he might not.

The Cardinals, of all teams, could be interested in him later in the first round. Simpson’s not a value pick at No. 3 because he only started 15 college games and even Nick Saban, who recruited him to Alabama, doesn’t think he’s ready for the NFL.

"He needs to go someplace where he has a chance to develop and not play right away," Saban said on the Pat McAfee Show this week.

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There are rumors the Pittsburgh Steelers initially saw Simpson as player to park on their bench and let him learn behind Aaron Rodgers. It’s unclear where that thinking is now within an organization that doesn’t enjoy 100 percent certainty Rodgers will be playing in 2026.

Call that another chance for intrigue in the first round of this draft.