r/NFL_Draft

I have already seen plenty of buzz surrounding the 2027 quarterback class. Arch Manning and Dante Moore headline a class that many are projecting will have five or six QBs taken in the first round. I wanted to ask whether you believe this early hype will stick or fade as it did with the 2026 class? While I am impressed with the talent at the position, I am cautiously optimistic. Several prospects were viewed as slam-dunk first-rounders in 2026, but either fell down the board or returned to school.

Hey community! Who are some of the best GROUP OF SIX football players going into this season? It’s crazy with how many of these elite group of six players leave to go play in the P4 conferences.

Looking to watch some film on some of these guys so if you guys know of any Please let me know!

They also don’t have to be older players, if there are any underclassmen I would love to watch them also.

Thanks

Have a bold prediction that you want to state proudly but will most likely look very stupid in short time? Have at it! Maybe you’ll nail it and look like a genius in the future

Please don’t downvote a user for a stupid bold prediction; it’s all just for fun!

One of the first-round picks from this past draft that I still don't really get is Miami taking Kadyn Proctor over various other prospects with the 12th pick. For starters, I don't get trading back one pick when they could have just picked Caleb Downs, a much safer prospect at a position of need. Even after trading back, I felt there were several better options available, and considering how many needs the Dolphins have, they could have gone in so many different directions. I get Proctor's upside and his incredible measurables, but I've seen a lot of talk that he'll play guard at the next level. His technique is very raw, and his floor is much lower than that of other top prospects. It's not that I can't see him being a good player, but I felt there were so many better options for Miami, even after moving back and letting Dallas get Downs.

The 2025-26 Season

Tiger's Claw meets Monkey's Paw.

The Bengals had started the season 0-2 for the last three years, and Zac Taylor was catching heat from it. The team and the fans wanted to turn this around, and finally get out the gate with a 2-0 start. It felt like it was all coming together. Burrow, Chase, and Higgins had all signed long-term extensions, the offensive line felt like it was finally coming together, Cam Taylor-Britt looked to be taking the step toward becoming a lockdown CB1, their back-to-back 17.5 sack menace Trey Hendrickson would be paired alongside a new first-round EDGE rusher, and Burrow made it through the preseason without injury. This year would be different. This year the team would start fast & finish strong.

They succeeded, in what may be two of the worst victories you've ever seen. In the opener against the Browns, the team cobbled together 141 yards of total offense, but the team limped to victory over Joe Flacco's Browns. The following game, they beat the Jaguars after Burrow suffered a turf toe injury that was expected to land him on IR for nearly the remainder of the season.

Jake Browning, the dependable backup QB from years prior, proved less dependable than the Bengals had hoped. After three straight losses, the team surprised everyone by making an in-division trade for Joe Flacco. Over the remainder of the season, Flacco proved he still had some Elite Dragon in him despite his 40 years of age, and he defeated Aaron Rodgers of the Steelers in the Icy Hot Bowl (alternatively named, The Unc Bowl).

It was a feel-good game for a season that was effectively over, though. The team would end up losing 5 of its first 6 games with Flacco due a historically bad defense, cursed by injuries and marred by both inexperienced rookies & uninspiring veterans, that regularly gave up over 30 points and allowed over 500 yards of offense three times. Burrow returned from injury quicker than expected, but no QB was going to save the team from this defense.

There were two major takeaways from the season. One was that the oft-maligned offensive line had actually become objectively decent, and was no longer the team's main issue. Two, the defense didn't need change, the defense needed a full-on reset.

2026 Free Agency

Defense, defense, defense. They let Trey Hendrickson and Joseph Ossai walk, a heavily-argued decision as they were two of the few bright spots on the defense for the past couple years, but Trey's years-long contract disputes, ageing, and recent injuries couldn't be overlooked. The Bengals didn't sit around idly, though. They picked up a solid mix of high-end defensive starters (Bryan Cook, Boye Mafe) plus some solid depth pieces (Jonathan Allen, Kyle Dugger). A lot of fans felt the defense was already feeling better, but they still needed to attack it in the draft.

The 10th pick overall was looking shaky, mocks would sometimes have an amazing player fall to the Bengals, but too often every top tier defensive player was gone by 10. There were discussions about both trading up and trading back, the mix of excitement and anxiety was intense. Adding to this was another complication -- the biggest hole left to fill was interior pass rush. There were hints that the team was looking at Peter Woods, Kayden McDonald, or Caleb Banks. But taking any of them at 10 felt rich, waiting for them later was a risk, and the odds of them being immediate gamewreckers was questionable.

A week before the draft, the team made its first round selection by trading the pick for Giants' star Dexter Lawrence, in what has been widely described as a win-win trade for both teams. The Bengals, accordingly, would enter the draft without a first round pick, but would otherwise be free to pick BPA instead of trying to force a pick at any particular position.

2026 Draft

2.41 Cashius Howell (EDGE, Texas A&M)

Pick 1.10 was looking rough for Cincinnati. Too many scenarios where the kind of playmakers they needed just might not be available. Pick 2.41 was the opposite. After filling the DT/NT need with Dexter Lawrence, their early Round 2 pick was wide open for however they wanted to use it. Nobody really knew what direction they'd go with the pick, with the only consensus prediction being that it would likely be defense.

For the third time in four years, the Bengals used their first draft pick on an EDGE rusher, grabbing Shemar Stewart's old teammate Cashius Howell. There have been comments, sometimes jokingly and sometimes not, that this pick is about replacing Shemar with the better EDGE from the same college, but that was missing the point. The team had lost half of its EDGEs this offseason -- Trey Hendrickson, Joseph Ossai, and Cam Sample -- and Howell had a play-style that complemented, not replaced, Stewart's.

Howell was scouted as a speed rusher, unlikely to bullrush much with his lighter frame and short arms, but more than capable of using his insane bend & agility to get around defenders. His speed & agility also hope to serve him in coverage. Linebacker was a pain point for the Bengals in 2025, as their two rookies played startlingly like two rookies, but the team has not shown any indication that they want to replace either of them. Instead, the team spent this offseason surrounding the LBs with significantly more talent, and Cashius projects to be a big part of that. Whether it's dropping into coverage to help them directly, or pressuring the passer, or just presenting as a threat that the offense must compensate for, the Bengals will be hoping that Howell's versatility can elevate the linebackers as well as the entire defense.

3.72 Tacario "Bobo" Davis (CB, Washington)

One of the few bright spots on the Bengals defense in 2025 was at cornerback. It came at a cost of a significant setback -- their promising young CB Cam Taylor-Britt regressed massively, right as he entered his contract year, and would end up benched the majority of the season before culminating in a season-ending injury and setting off to Indianapolis in free agency. But in his place, DJ Turner II and Dax Hill stepped up and became a solid CB1/CB2 duo. That left a gap at CB3; the team made do with a few late-round draft selections they had from the past couple years, but no one proved themselves as long-term solutions for the role, and the defense was consistently dismantled by opposing tight ends.

Tacario Davis is a 6'4" CB with great speed. He's not the best at mirroring, and has a reputation for being grabby, but there's hope that with coaching he'll clean this up, and the team will be left with a CB with very rare combination of size, speed, and ball skills who can be truly disruptive in the pass game. While generally projected as an outside corner, analysts have also noted his potential to cover tight ends or even play some free safety.

Cincinnati's CB1 will be DJ Turner, but the exact configuration of the rest of the DB corp is yet to be determined, and the team will be trying to determine the correct fits for Dax, Bobo, Jalen Davis, Josh Newton, and Ja'Sir Taylor. He should be a solid contributor regardless, and as Al Golden enters his second year as the team's DC, Davis should be a versatile tool to help this defense find what it was missing in 2025.

4.128 Connor Lew (C, Auburn)

Cincinnati originally had 4.110, but when the Jets wanted to move up for a QB, they made a deal to swap 4.110 & 6.199 for 4.128 & 4.140.

Offensive line was a depth & developmental need for Cincinnati. LG and RT seem set for the future, but Orlando Brown Jr. and Ted Karras are both getting up there in age, and Dalton Risner -- while a great stopgap at RG -- is still just a stopgap as the team looks for a long-term solution there. The Bengals took shots on centers in both 2024 and 2025, grabbing Matt Lee in the 7th and Seth McClaughlin as a UDFA, but neither developed as hoped and both have departed the team.

Enter Connor Lew. Lew was one of the highest-graded pure-center prospects of the draft, lauded for his pass protections skills, especially technique & instinct. He was a team captain at Auburn, a commendation highly valued by the Bengals staff, and his presumed mentor, Karras, is also a team captain. He still has development ahead of him, everything from continued improvement of his technique, to potentially adding some mass & strength, and of course recovering from his injury. This all fits perfectly well with the Bengals, though, being a pass-heavy offense that doesn't need a new starter right away. His good fundamentals and young age put him in an excellent position to develop behind Ted Karras without needing to be rushed into a starter role, or rushed through his injury recovery.

4.140 Colbie Young (WR, Georgia)

WR is an unexpected need for a team with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, but ever since Tyler Boyd left years ago, the Bengals have had a rocky experience finding a solid WR3 option who can also pose as a legitimate threat if either Chase or Higgins are out. Charlie Jones ended up being a solid returner, but didn't pan out as a WR. Jermaine Burton didn't pan out in any sense. Andrei Iosivas has exceeded expectations as a 6th round pick, but inconsistencies and lack of elite upside have kept him in the hot seat. The Bengals have made do the past couple years with Iosivas, their receiving TE Mike Gesicki, and newcomer Mitchell Tinsley, but they never stopped looking for a true threat to add to the WR room.

Colbie Young should be entering into a good situation. He'll be the presumptive WR3, he'll be catching passes from Joe Burrow (or potentially Joe Flacco), and his primary goal is not to be elite and carve up the opposing secondary on his own, but to simply exploit the weaknesses that Chase & Higgins open up for him. He's a large receiver, measuring 6'4", and has all the tools needed to beat out defenders for contested catches. And these are tools he'll need to make use of, as his top-end speed and lack of separation are often criticized. Ideally, Chase & Higgins will help create mismatches for Young to exploit, and his size should make him dangerous anywhere on the field -- difficult to cover in the redzone and difficult to tackle in the open field.

Controversy immediately surrounded his pick, as Young has a legal history with a domestic violence accusation. Upon the victim retracting her accusation, he accepted a plea deal on much lower charges. The Bengals have had mixed success with character concern players in the past, and will be hoping for a Joe Mixon situation and not an Adam Jones situation.

6.189 Brian Parker II (OL, Duke)

As discussed above, the OL needs were not limited to just center. The team was looking for pretty much any role, depth for now but with opportunities at future starter if anyone so impressed. This is where Brian Parker fits perfectly. What position is Brian Parker? He's "offensive line." He played both LT and RT at times at Duke, at the Shrine Bowl he played C, and scouts also projected a fit at G. Most likely, he doesn't become a starting tackle due to his frame, however anything is a possibility. Barring sudden injuries, he'll have time to sit behind vets at OT, G, and C, and see where he fits best. He might develop into a starter at any position, but he could just as easily become a versatile backup option like the Bengals have with Cody Ford.

Some physical limitations will hinder his potential, at least for the moment. He's on the smaller end, at 6'5" and below 310 pounds, with some concern for his arm length as well. However, good fundamentals, good instincts, and proven performance in college make him well worth the pick. Often mocked as early as Round 4, picking him up in Round 6 is solid value for Cincinnati.

7.221 Jack Endries (TE, Texas)

The Bengals rostered five TEs in 2025, not including Erick All Jr. who spent the season on IR. There's no Kelce or Gronk in the group, but they get the job done by committee, led by Gesicki (described, sometimes jokingly and sometimes not, as their actual WR3) and Drew Sample (their dedicated blocking TE).

Jack Endries is a solid receiving TE with uninspiring blocking upside. He'll likely be trying to fill the roster spot vacated by Noah Fant, or even steal Tanner Hudson's spot as a rotational pass catcher. He's in one of the tougher spots out of the Bengals draft class, though. The team loaded up on offensive line, adding four players as draft picks and UDFAs, not to mention loading up on defensive line, and they may look to slim down their TE corp to accommodate. Combined with Erick All's return from IR, Endries will be thrown into an arena and forced to prove himself early. But with Sample, Gesicki, and Hudson all in their 30s, and All with his significant injury history, Endries has a real opportunity to not only win a spot but to make an impact.

7.226 Landon Robinson (DT, Navy)

Sometimes the pieces come together, and you just can't pass it up. Landon Robinson, an Ohio native, talked in the past about how his father is a big Bengals fan and how cool it would be if his father could watch him play for the team. As the 2026 draft came to a close, and the Bengals looked to put the finishing touches on their defensive rebuild and trench fortification, Robinson simply made too much sense. A DT for the Naval Academy, he was scouted for his strong interior pass rush. Despite being undersized for the role, he's consistently disruptive in the pocket and put up extremely impressive testing numbers at his Pro Day.

In 2025, the Bengals allowed the 3rd most points per game, 7th most passing yards per game, and recorded the 7th fewest sacks in the league. Robinson will join a defensive line rebuilt to attack the QB relentlessly. Robinson, of course, won't be expected to shred the opposing IOL on his own, he's not expected to be a Dexter Lawrence per se. But he has the opportunity to find a home as a rotational or depth piece, with a couple guys on the roster he's favored to beat out for that spot. Cincinnati will likely try him out at NT, 3T, and special teams before deciding on his long-term role.

2026 UDFAs

The Bengals signed 11 UDFAs. A few of these guys have legitimate shots at making the team, but I'm only going to discuss one in any kind of depth.

Last year, the Bengals' LB corp was arguably the worst in the NFL. This was not directly addressed in free agency nor the draft, as the hope was that the team's two young LBs (now entering their second year) will benefit from a year of experience and far better play from every position around them. Out of all the UDFAs, the fanbase is most intrigued by Eric Gentry. He's a super tall & lanky player at 6'6" and 221 pounds with long arms and solid athleticism. He struggles with physicality, a feature you'd think is necessary to play linebacker in the NFL, but his rare size and athleticism are worth taking a look at.

Cincinnati's RB1 isn't locked in long-term, but there's no debate that Chase Brown is the presumptive. However, Perine is set to be a free agent next year, and Tahj Brooks is yet unproven, so there's potential for either Bullock or Haynes to make a name for themself.

The offensive linemen also have a reasonable shot at finding a deep depth role, or at least a practice squad spot.

2027 Projected Needs

This year's moves included many elements of preparing for the future. Offensive line in particular should have several players competing to take over positions in '27 or '28, the majority of the team's key players are under contract at least through 2029, and the team has a lot of hope that some underperforming young players (especially the linebackers) develop into quality starters. However, there are definitely positions that are likely to be points of emphasis in 2027.

• CB. DJ Turner and Dax Hill will both be free agents, and there's uncertainty whether the team will keep both. The team will likely be looking for a new CB.
• RB. Everyone expects a Chase Brown extension, but finding a long-term power back will become a bigger priority.
• QB. Well, backup QB. Flacco returning for a third year seems unlikely, the team's previous QB2 Jake Browning left in free agency, and the team was unable to secure the QB they were likely targeting in this year's draft.
• TE. Many of the team's tight ends will be well into their 30s by next offseason, and the options for their replacements are currently a 7th round rookie, a rookie UDFA, and a player who's missed the majority of his past three seasons with injury (dating back to college). The Bengals have traditionally not put much emphasis on signing premiere tight ends, but this could become an opportunity to look for a solid all-around TE.
• And of course, any position where the team has high hopes for a player who doesn't develop as expected, or a player who regresses faster than expected. The highest likeliest situations here would be LB and LT.

Final Thoughts

The Bengals have been on a rollercoaster. From the lows of the Marvin Lewis -> Zac Taylor transition, the highs of the SB/AFCN appearances, and now the lows of whatever's happened to the team the past three years. The doomers have been feasting lately, eviscerating the team's ownership and front office at every opportunity. This offseason feels different, though. The haters are, by and large, content. The Bengals made some big moves and they addressed nearly every immediate need. They broke tradition by trading our away their first round pick, they signed quality free agents, and were opportunistic in the draft itself.

Even relatively small moves were applauded. It's hard to imagine any fanbase as excited as the Bengals' was for re-signing a 41 year old backup QB and a 30 year old guard for one season each. There's still some anxiety, around various players' performance, around Burrow's injury curses, and around how everything will come together, but the Bengals have put themselves in a solid position.

It's impossible to accurately predict the team's improvement, there are too many moving parts. But that's what the team needed. The Cincinnati offense will look mostly the same as last season, but the defense will be a whole new thing. It remains to be seen if things will be better, but the standards are low for the defense and it's very difficult for things to be worse. The fans are excited, the team is excited, and the expectations are high.

Hi all,

I created a new way to score combine performances. I call it Athlete Combine Testing Score (ACTS) for short. This takes the percentile of each individual drill and adds them together. It is then displayed as number 100-0 to give them a "grade" for their combine testing.

This score differs from existing scores in two ways:

1. Doing a combine drill is always beneficial. Since every drill gets added into a total score, even scoring a 1 in drill is helpful to your final score. So a player doing 4 drills and scoring a 25 in all of them will give them a higher score than a guy doing 1 drill and getting a 99.

2. The score only takes into account players that are currently active in the NFL. WRs will not be eternally compared to Calvin Johnson causing everyone to always be in 2nd place. The score tell you where they rank in the NFL right now. So a guy who has a score of 100 is more athletic than the guys playing the same position today. Likewise, Calvin Johnson would still scores a 100 because he beats everyone playing today, but he is not the benchmark every other player is compared to.

For some example, here are the guys who had a ACTS >=90 is the most recent draft:

100 club: Parker Brailford and Taylen Green

99: Sonny Styles

98: Eli Stowers, Dani Dennis-Sutton, and Seth McGowan

97: Kenyon Sadiq, Ted Hurst, and Julian Neal

96: Malachi Lawrence, Bryce Lance, and Kyke Louis

95: Chris McClendon

94: David Bailey and Sam Roush

93: Mike Washington and Skyler Bell

92: Enrique Cruz Jr.

91: Albert Regis and Deion Burks

90: Will Lee III and Charles Demmings

Downsides/Cons: Since this is a composite score some guys who are atheltic but didn't preform many drills will have a lower score. This score isn't good at showing who did poorly at the combine.

If you want to check out anymore players, I have all their scores on my site! On the draft history screen If you toggle the combine view the ACTS is included with all other combine data in the grid. Let me know what you think and I am open to all feedback! Thanks!

Quick link to draft history page: https://shadowdrafters.com/draft/history

Hi everyone,

I’m a college student right now and next semester, I’m going to be a ”scouting intern” for my school’s football team. I’ll be trained on watching film to some extent there, and I’ve done some on my own in the past, but how can I prepare over the summer so that I’m ahead when I actually start working? In the past, when I’ve watched film, I’ve never really felt like I knew what to look for, especially when it comes to evaluating high school/college film with such varying competition levels.

Ideally looking for YouTubers or resources I can look at on my own (I’ve watched some Brett Kollmann and QB School, but anyone else?)

Also sorry if this isn’t the best subreddit for this, I know this is mainly for NFL but I thought you guys would know some resources that could help.

2025 Season Recap

Well. That didn’t go great.

After getting our shit rocked against the Eagles in Super Bowl LIV, many Chiefs fans thought it couldn’t get much worse than that. The 2025 season said hold my beer and watch this.

Luck finally ran out in KC. The injury bug came for the Chiefs with a vengeance. Rashee Rice missed the first 6 games of the season after leaving the scene of a mass accident he caused( Side note, fuck Rashee Rice). Xavier Worthy separated his shoulder 3 snaps into the season after colliding with Kelce. He managed to play most of the rest of the season, although he was clearly gritting through the pain. Our rookie LT Josh Simmons, who was looking like an absolute stud, missed 4 weeks mid season due to a mysterious personal issue, and then missed the last 5 weeks with a broken wrist. We made Trey Smith the highest paid guard in the NFL, only for him to battle through an ankle injury the latter half of the season, missing 3 games. Our rookie DT Omar Norman-Lott tore his ACL week 7.

Then, the worst of it. Dying moments against the Chargers. Make or break game to keep our playoff hopes alive. Mahomes goes down with a knee injury. Torn ACL and LCL. Given the timing of it in mid December, it looked like something that would linger into 2026. Absolute worst case scenario for the franchise. Astoundingly, Mahomes had his surgery less than 24 hours later in a new, innovative procedure by Dr. Dan Cooper, Cowboys team doctor and essentially the Michael Jordan of knee surgery. Still, despair. For the first time in the Mahomes era, the Chiefs were not going to play meaningful football in January.

In the wake of Mahomes’ injury, the team buckled in and accepted its fate. Backup QB Gardner Minshew also suffered a knee injury that ruled him out the rest of the season, which brought Chris Oladokun into the fray. We proceeded to lose by 17 to the hopeless Titans. The next week against the surging Broncos was gonna be a rough watch. Shockingly, we kept the Broncos to a 1 score game and were a Chris Jones offsides away from making it even closer. We lost a week 18 game against the Raiders featuring mostly our 3rd stringers 14-12 to cap off the season from hell. Now, it was time to get to work figuring out what went wrong.

---

The Autopsy

In the wake of the season and through our offseason activities, it became very evident that there were two issues that the front office, ownership, and coaching staff pointed at for what led us here.

The first branch was the issues with coaching, particularly on the offensive side of the ball. The Chiefs finished 9th in total penalties, 9th in offensive penalties, 7th in offensive penalty yardage, while being 20th in defensive penalties and 25th in defensive penalty yards. Additionally, our young WR room was not developing in a way that was hoped, with frequent drops, running the wrong routes, and just general sloppiness when running those routes being prominent issues throughout the season. Our defense was poised and disciplined for the most part, our offense was sloppy and careless.

The second branch was personnel based, particularly in the run game and on the defensive line. Our running game was an absolute atrocity. Kareem Hunt, who likely will not make a single team's 53 this season, was our leading rusher with 611 yards at 3.7 YPC. Pacheco had 40 more yards than Mahomes despite having twice the carries, while also only scoring one rushing touchdown. Somehow, our pass rush might have been just as bad as our running game. KC tied with 4 other teams for 7th fewest sacks with 35. The Chiefs managed to get a sack on 6% of our 3rd and longs (29th in the league), while allowing teams to convert on 3rd and long 44% of the time (also 29th in the league). This is all in spite of the Chiefs blitzing at the 3rd highest rate in the league. We simply could not get pressure when it mattered, even when blitzing. Against top tier OLs and QBs in the AFC, you just can’t win when you can’t get to the QB.

---

Offseason Moves

Coaching

Mercifully for Chiefs fans, former Bears HC and noted football terrorist Matt Nagy’s contract was allowed to expire and now he is the OC of the New York Giants, where he is now in charge of aiding the development of Jaxson Dart. Giants fans, I am so sorry. As mentioned before, the team was sloppy on offense when it came to penalties, but we also tied for 3rd in drops this season with 30. Our execution across the board was nightmarish on the offensive side of the ball. Who better to right the ship than notoriously detail oriented hardass Eric Bieniemy? Bieniemy left in order to get a playcalling role in Washington to hopefully elevate his HC resume, which didn’t go according to plan. In comparing their stints during their times as OC, Nagy (17, 23-25) averaged roughly 338 yards of offense a game, while Bieniemy (18-22) averaged roughly 392 yards of offense a game. The numbers speak for themselves. Bieniemy will bring a level of competence and focus our offense has been sorely missing since his departure. In addition to adding Bienemy to aid the run game, the Chiefs also signed former NFL RB DeMarco Murray to serve as our RB coach. Hopefully his experience in the league will help both in the development and implementation of our run game.

Additionally, Connor Embree was fired. His resume is insanely impressive, most notably as a punt returner at the famously high caliber football school Kansas in 2011, before becoming OC at Blue Valley West High School, then a grad assistant at Kansas, and then WRs coach at Fairview High School in Colorado, where he got his only experience as a WRs coach before assuming the role for the Chiefs. Let that sink in. If you are wondering how he made it to the NFL level despite his bafflingly unqualified resume. Nepotism. Jon Embree, his father, is very close friends with Eric Bieniemy and took a significant pay cut to get Bieniemy to be his OC at Colorado in 2011-2012. Bienemy was promoted to OC in 2018. Connor Embree was hired by the Chiefs in 2019. See what I’m getting at?

During his time as WRs coach, we frequently struggled to draft and develop young WRs, with Rashee Rice really being the only guy we drafted who didn’t struggle immensely on the field. In fact, Rice and Worthy joked on IG live about how now they don’t have free time since the WR meetings are going to last more than 10 minutes. They have also said that Travis Kelce and Deandre Hopkins were bigger pieces in coaching the younger WRs than Embree. His replacement Chad O’Shea is known for his very involved approach to coaching and development, and has been around the league serving as a WRs coach for 20 years. He will bring a level of professionalism and polish that has been severely lacking.

Notable Players Acquired

• Kenneth Walker (RB, SEA) - 3 year, $43.05 million
• Alohi Gilman (S, LAC) - 3 year, $24 million
• Khyris Tonga (DT, NE) - 3 year, $21 million
• Travis Kelce (TE, KC) - 1 year, $12 million
• Tyquan Thornton (WR, KC) - 2 year, $11 million
• Kaiir Elam (CB, TEN) - 1 year, $1.8 million
• Kader Kohou (CB, MIA) - 1 year, $1.8 million
• Mike Caliendo (IOL, KC) - 1 year, $1.35 million
• Emari Demarcado (RB, ARI) - 1 year, $1.25 million
• Justin Fields (QB, NYJ) - acquired for a 2027 6th round pick

Notable Players Leaving

• Trent McDuffie (CB, LAR) - sent for 1.29, 5.169, 6.210, and 2027 3rd. Signed for 4 year, $124 million
• Jaylen Watson (CB, LAR) - 3 year, $51 million
• Bryan Cook (S, CIN) - 3 year, $40.25 million
• Leo Chenal (LB, WAS) - 3 year, $24.75 million
• Gardner Minshew (QB, ARI) - 1 year, $5.75 million
• Hollywood Brown (WR, PHI) 1 year, $5 million
• Jawaan Taylor (OT, ATL) - 1 year, $5 million
• Charles Omenihu (DE, WAS) - 1 year. $4 million
• Joshua Williams (CB, TEN) - 2 year, $8 million
• Isiah Pacheco (RB, DET) - 1 year, $1.8 million
• Derrick Nnadi (DT, IND) - 1 year, $1.4875 million

The biggest piece of speculation for our roster was what the Chiefs were gonna do with All Pro CB Trent McDuffie. McDuffie has been a pivotal piece for our last 3 Super Bowl runs, but there were certainly questions to be asked. Firstly, he is really good at every facet of being a corner, but he isn’t a true shutdown corner kind of guy like Surtain or Stingley. He is more of a chess piece that can be used in many spots at a high level. Secondly, he really is best utilized on the inside. While he can definitely play boundary corner, it just isn’t his best spot. Given the top tier CB market and the current state of our salary cap commitments, is it worth it to give up $30+ million a year for McDuffie?

The Chiefs answered this when they traded McDuffie to the Rams for the 29th, 169th, and 210th picks in 2026, as well as a 3rd in 2027. The Rams then signed McDuffie to a 4 year, $124 million dollar extension. The Rams obviously see themselves as a Super Bowl favorite, given that they were a weird ass 2 point conversion play away from playing the hopelessly outgunned Patriots in the Super Bowl. Much like the Tyreek Hill trade that brought McDuffie to KC, this trade allows the Chiefs to retool with young assets, utilize the money that would have gone to McDuffie to shore up multiple spots, and gives the Rams a 25 year old top tier corner who will be a top tier chess piece on the field. He will reunite with Jaylen Watson, who signed with the Rams on a $17 million AAV contract. Both these pieces are big upgrades for a Rams secondary that was their weakness last year. They will both be sorely missed in KC.

Signing Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III was a major move that many Chiefs fans did not see coming. Early on, we were practically written in sharpie in mock drafts as a Jeremiyah Love landing spot. Signing Walker is indicative of the staff viewing the issues with the run game being primarily a personnel driven issue. Last year, our running back duo of Pacheco and Hunt had a combined 1 run of 20+ yards all season. Walker had more than that on one drive during the Super Bowl. When you can’t get explosive plays on the ground and are reliant on them solely through the air, you become a one dimensional offense and it becomes much easier to hold you to 3 instead of 7. That just isn’t winning football at the top end of the league. KWIII will easily get the majority of the carries and figures to help elevate the passing game as well with his presence. At roughly $14.5 million AAV with an easy out 2 years in, I am thoroughly cool with this pickup.

The signing of Alohi Gilman and Khyris Tonga give us capable starters at positions where we just didn’t have depth but aren’t world beaters that would prevent us from drafting a younger player at their position up high. They will both feature heavily in the rotation at their positions. Kelce re-signed on what was reported to be a 3 year, $57.735 million dollar deal. In all actuality, this is a 1 year, $12 million dollar deal that spreads the signing bonus across 3 years. It really never felt like Kelce was at risk of leaving KC. He was either gonna retire or re-sign. Tyquan Thornton was quietly probably our most consistent WR last year. With the way WR contracts have been, signing him for $6 million AAV to be our WR3/WR4 feels great. Justin Fields figures to be our backup QB for this year, while also adding a unique wrinkle to our offense as a rushing threat. He may get a couple games starting in case Mahomes is not ready week 1, and given that the Chiefs have not used Mahomes on QB sneaks since he dislocated his kneecap on one in 2019, Fields will probably be prominently featured there. Kaiir Elam figures to be a kick the tires kind of guy as a former high pick at a position we lost a lot of guys at in FA.

Bryan Cook was a solid albeit unspectacular safety for the majority of his career who finished 2025 as the 4th best safety per PFF after hovering around 50th the previous three years. He received a nice paycheck to return to his hometown of Cincinnati, where he will provide at least a solid floor with nice upside. Losing Leo Chenal broke my heart a bit. A true athletic freak, I felt like we never really utilized him properly, but when he was on the field he just always made the clutch play. I genuinely believe he could transition to being an edge rusher and be a 6-10 sack a year kind of guy. Thankfully, Dan Quinn has some experience with those kind of guys and will get the best out of Leo. Treat him well Commie bros. Jawaan Taylor was one of the more frustrating players on the Chiefs the last few years, as he just always seemed to be a penalty magnet at the worst possible time. A pretty decent pass blocker, he will be tasked with protecting the blindside of either Tua or Penix in Atlanta. Gardner Minshew will be terrorizing the husbands of the MILFs of Glendale. With all of the players we lost either in FA or trades, George Karlaftis is the only remaining player from our 2022 class. That’s the tough part of having a really good draft class. You simply cannot pay everyone.

Post FA, our biggest needs to be addressed in no particular order were CB, S, WR, EDGE, RT, and DT.

---

The Draft

With the 6th pick, the Kansas City Chiefs select Mansoor Delane, CB, LSU

6002/187lbs/22.3 years old/RAS:NA/4.38s 40/90.5 2025 PFF Grade/Also played at Virginia Tech/Pro Comparison: Quinyon Mitchell/Consensus Big Board Ranking: 8

I have to be absolutely honest here. When the news that we traded up came through, I could not contain my excitement. We did it, we finally did it. We got our pass rusher to elevate our defense. This is perfect. When the Delane pick came through, the first thing I thought was “What the fuck???” I was personally so far in the Rueben Bain camp that I couldn’t fathom the pick. It wasn’t until I had slept on it a bit and did some more research on Delane that I came around to loving the pick.

A unanimous All American in 2025, Mansoor Delane combines elite athleticism with top notch technique in coverage. In his first year at LSU he allowed a passer rating of 31.3 and QBR of 3.9 in 2025, allowing just 14 receptions for 165 yards and no TDs on 35 targets. He also had 2 picks and 13 passes defended while committing 0 penalties. Teams would have been better off spiking the ball than throwing his way. He just has a way of getting in the hip pocket of the WR, taking them for a joy ride, and not letting them get even an inch of breathing room. Dude is just sticky. He is a high football IQ guy who does well reading and reacting to both the WR he is covering and reading the eyes of the QB, although he does have times he gets a little antsy trying to make a play and gives the QB a window to make him pay for it that could get taken advantage of at the pro level. During the course of his college career he lined up all over the defensive backfield, taking snaps at boundary corner, slot corner, box safety, and free safety. He is a very willing tackler and has shown promise as a blitzer. Additionally, just from interviews with him, former teammates, and former coaches, this dude is an absolute dawg and has the mindset of a lockdown corner.

Delane does have a couple issues that are a little worrisome coming into the pros. At a shade over 6’ and 187lbs, I am a little worried that bigger X receivers will be able to physically bully him off the line. His arms are also only 30 inches long and his hands are 8 ⅞ inches, both pretty small for NFL CBs. Additionally, he does get a little too grabby at times at the top of his routes. While he was never really punished for it in 2025, he might see some flags at the pro level. A 4 year player, Delane has started 40 games and has over 4000 snaps to his name. While this kind of experience is phenomenal for his prospects as a day one starter, you do have to wonder about some of the wear and tear, although he doesn’t have major medical red flags. The only injury issues I could find were one game he was assessed for a concussion in 2024 before being cleared, and a persistent core muscle injury he played through for a good chunk of the 2025 season, which only makes his performance last year all that more impressive.

Mansoor Delane is pretty polished, very experienced, and an exceptional athlete at the cornerback position. He is a true shutdown type of cornerback that will excel in erasing the opposing teams WR1 from the equation. In a league with an absurd amount of talent at WR, the value of this cannot be overstated. He will immediately slot in as our CB1, where he will probably be put in a lot more off man or zone coverage to try to make up for his issues with length.

---

With the 29th pick, the Kansas City Chiefs select Peter Woods, DT, Clemson

6024/298lbs/21.2 years old/RAS:7.45/1.67 10 yard split/72.5 2025 PFF Grade/Pro Comp: Javon Hargrave/ Consensus Big Board Ranking: 25

Man, what was in the water at Clemson last year? Entering the season, they was seen as a favorite to make a deep playoff run on the back of a top notch defense and a promising offense headed by Cade Klubnik, who many projected to be a first round pick this season. Obviously, this did not happen. Everyone just kind of looked asleep at the wheel. Blake Miller and Antonio Williams were the probably only Clemson players to raise their draft stock with their performance in 2025. Peter Woods, seen as a top 5 talent coming into the year, fell all the way to the end of the first round. Thankfully for both sides, the Chiefs stopped his slide.

Woods is a slightly undersized 3 tech gap shooter with lots of twitch and a high motor to create hell in the defensive backfield. A first team All-ACC player in 2025, Woods finished the year with 2.5 sacks, 3.5 TFLs, 14 pressures, and 30 total tackles. Over the course of his 3 year career, Woods racked up 84 tackles, 14.5 TFLs, 5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles. His stats are definitely not gaudy, but he frequently faced double and even triple teams from opposing offensive lines who made shutting him down a priority. Even more wildly, in 2024 Woods featured prominently as an edge rusher, aligning at 5 tech or wider 31% of the time and looking plenty comfortable in the spot, although he certainly looks better at 3 tech. Woods possesses an explosive first step and has an impressive ability to convert speed to power in order to get through his lane and create problems for opposing offenses. Funnily enough, Woods was used at fullback several times and recorded two rushing touchdowns in 2025. Andy Reid got his Dontari Poe 2.0.

Woods has always been one of those guys who looks more impressive on tape than he does on the box score. For someone with all the quickness and power he has, I would have liked him to load up the stat sheet more than he did. Getting double teamed and triple teamed a lot definitely affected his stats, but also even when left alone he wasn’t producing at a rate his tools would allow. His pass rush arsenal is still somewhat basic, but he has room and skill to add to that. He does not have ample length, with 31 ¼th inch arms. Coupled with his slightly small frame at 298lbs, I am worried he might get stifled on run downs and he may be relegated to more of a 3rd down role to start. However, he did play closer to 315lbs his last year at Clemson and cited that as an issue with his performance. Finding a good spot for him size wise and letting him add and maintain good weight might be a big part of his development plan. He has some struggles in the middle of the rep, where if he can’t outquick the guard immediately or outpower them late, he can get lost in the flow.

Overall, I really liked this pick. After Chris Jones and Khyris Tonga, our defensive tackle depth for 2026 is a ghost town. 2025 2nd round pick Omar Norman-Lott tore his ACL in October and likely will be eased back in this season. Behind him, we have virtually nothing else. I figure Jones and Tonga will probably be our primary two DTs, with Woods spelling both out depending on down, distance, and the playcall. I think the most important thing for Woods this year will be to soak up as much as he possibly can from Chris Jones. If not for Aaron Donald, Chris Jones has a legitimate argument as the best pass rushing DT of the last decade. He is going into the twilight of his career, and fills a similar pass rushing role to what Woods is projected to do. Year 1 might not be a “stuff the stat sheet” type of year for Woods, but it will be a learning year to have a great year 2 and beyond.

---

With the 40th pick, the Kansas City Chiefs select R Mason Thomas, DE, Oklahoma

6022/241lbs/21.8 years old/RAS:7.23/4.67s 40 yard dash/1.6s3 10 yard split/85.3 2025 PFF Grade/Pro Comparison: Nolan Smith/Consensus Big Board Ranking: 48

I love George Karlaftis. Furious George has been a huge part of our success these past few years, and has been a stabilizing presence for our defensive line. His ability to collapse the pocket on a QB is underrated. However, he might be the least bendy edge rusher in the league. He just turns like an aircraft carrier. Pass rushing is much like pass catching, in that you need a wide group of archetypes and skill sets in order to form a cohesive and capable group. Having a club in your bag for any matchup and situation is key to success in this league. Unfortunately for KC, whiffing on the Felix Anuduike-Uzomah pick has really deprived us of having a speed rusher in our arsenal, which is hopefully where R Mason Thomas fills in.

R Mason Thomas (The R does not stand for anything) is an undersized pass rusher who plays like he has rockets up his ass. He has an explosive first step that allows him to get going at the tackle before they can even get ready. He has unique bend that, when coupled with his speed and great understanding of leverage, gives taller offensive lineman absolute fits. If you put a lumbering mountain of a man against RMT, your QB is gonna need some OxiClean for his laundry later. He does a really good job of converting speed to power, almost baiting tackles to take a step back and set for the speed rush before he comes in like a bullet.

While he certainly has quickness for days, his other physical attributes leave a lot to be desired. His arms are only 31 5/8th inches long, which are well below average for pass rushers. Coupled with his 6022 and 241lbs frame, he just doesn’t have the size to engage a tackle straight up. If he cannot out quick the tackle and actually gets engaged by them, the rep is over far more often than you would want from a top 50 pick.Texas’ offensive line, particularly Trevor Goosby who will likely be a top 10 pick next year, put RMT in a blender and made his day hell in the run game. I would like to see a little more grace in pursuit in his game. He is less a heat seeking missile and more of a drone strike kinda guy, where he loses the QB/RB too often and just goes to the spot he assumes the QB/RB will be instead of where they actually are. Virtually all OCs will directly target him in the run game until he can prove he can physically hold up against the run, so he will likely be a DPR only to start. Health will be a bit of a concern for RMT, as he has had two ankle sprains in each ankle requiring surgery early in his career, and dealt with a hamstring injury during a large chunk of his senior year at Oklahoma and in the predraft process.

With the huge selection of defensive ends that were projected to go late 1/early 2, there were plenty of players to pick from. While I like RMT plenty and I see the vision for what Spags wants from our pass rushers, and more importantly what we’ve been missing, there were definitely other guys I had graded higher at this spot. In a vacuum, I liked Zion Young a lot more than RMT. However, Zion Young is closer to Karlaftis than RMT in terms of bend and burst, and with the lack of speed in our pass rushers, I don’t think Zion Young would have addressed that problem. Cashius Howell, who went to Cincy with the next pick and is a KC kid, would have also been a speed option but has significantly shorter arms and only a slightly larger frame. I think RMT is going to be more of a situational pass rusher year one while Karlaftis and Ashton Gillotte are going to get early down work. RMT will be brought in as a fire and brimstone type of pass rusher meant to get quick pressure on the QB in the blitz.

---

With the 109th pick, the Kansas City Chiefs select Jadon Canady, DB, Oregon

5102/181lbs/23.1 years old/RAS:6.58/4.47s 40 yard dash/84.7 2025 PFF Grade/Also played at Tulane and Ole Miss/Pro Comparison: Mike Hilton/Consensus Big Board Ranking: 206

In 2025, the slot was our kryptonite in the passing game early on in the season. With L’Jarius Sneed long gone, Kristian Fulton dealing with injuries the majority of the year, Joshua Williams being phased out as a defensive player (only logged 17 coverage snaps in 2025) and Nohl Williams needing time to adjust to the NFL level, we were painfully low on outside corners. Because of this, we moved Trent McDuffie from the slot where he is arguably the best at his craft to the outside where he is just pretty good. As a result, we were abused in the slot. Chamarri Conner is more of a true safety than a slot defender, Drue Tranquill had a bit of a down year in coverage, and Nick Bolton is whatever the opposite of an eraser is whenever it comes to covering TEs. We needed a true dedicated slot corner.

Jadon Canady seems to fit that role very well. Dude is just annoying on film. You can see the frustration on slot WRs faces when going against him. He is sticky, instinctual, and knows how to be physical in pass defense without going overboard and drawing flags. His motor and mentality might be my favorite part of his game. Dan Lanning said Canady was the most competitive player on the Oregon roster, both in practice and in actual games, and his work ethic and motor are second to none. Most importantly, Canady has experience playing boundary corner, slot corner, and safety at 3 different schools with different defensive philosophies and schemes. Canady had success at all locations. That kind of versatility, work ethic, and experience is incredibly desirable, especially on day 3.

It’s kind of becoming a theme in this draft class at this point, but Canady’s biggest issue is probably his size and length. 5102, 181lbs, and 30 inch arms is not the most ideal combination when it comes to guys you want to be doing the dirty work in the slot, particularly when he is going against bigger guys. He handled more traditional slot WRs very well, but there were times where he was tasked with covering bigger WRs or TEs and was pesky but physically outmatched. Additionally, he is much more of a dragger than a thumper when it comes to tackling. Almost assuredly, OCs are gonna scheme the run game at him until he can prove that he can actually hit at the next level. His long speed is a bit of a concern, as he is more quick than fast and may struggle with speedier slot receivers when they go vertical.

I think Canady will likely compete with Chamarri Conner in camp for the starting slot corner spot. If Canady wins out, Conner likely reverts to his more natural spot at safety. If Conner wins out, Canady probably rotates in and out of the lineup based on the situation. He might have a similar arc to Jaden Hicks, who played sparingly early on in his rookie year, then gained snaps at the end of the year and entered year two as the starter.

---

With the 161st pick, the Kansas City Chiefs select Emmett Johnson, RB, Nebraska

5102/202lbs/22.7 years old/RAS:5.85u/4.56s 40 yard dash/1.61s 10 yard split/85.6 2025 PFF Grade/Pro Comparison: Devin Neal/ Consensus Big Board Ranking: 105

As I have already touched on, the Chiefs running game in 2025 was atrocious. No running back averaged more than 3.9 YPC. PFF had our running back room charted as forcing 54 missed tackles on 389 attempts, forcing a missed tackle on 13.9% of their attempts. For comparison, new Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III forced 86 missed tackles on 221 carries, forcing a missed tackle on 39% of his rushing attempts. Walker will clearly slot in as our RB1, but his durability is definitely a concern. Walker missed 12 games in his first 4 years in the league during his time in Seattle, and was seemingly coming out of games looking a little banged up a lot. Anyone who had KWIII on their fantasy team knows the injury rollercoaster of having him. It is pretty evident that this was the reason that the Seahawks opted to draft Zach Charbonnet the year after drafting Walker. Unfortunately, the Chiefs really did not have a complimentary piece to Walker like Seattle did already on the roster.

Probably my favorite mix of value, fit, and need, Emmett Johnson immediately boosts our running back room. Johnson was a one year starter at Nebraska, rushing for 1451 yards and 12 TDs on 251 attempts (5.8 YPC) while also catching 46 balls for 370 yards and 3 TDs en route to being a First Team All American and a Maxwell Award and Doak Walker Award finalist. He managed to force 68 missed tackles on his 251 carries, good for a 27.1% forced missed tackle rate while also averaging 3 yards after contact. He excels in a more north/south running scheme, which I am sure new Chiefs RB coach DeMarco Murray can give him some pointers on and help elevate his game in. Johnson also does a lot of work in the passing game as well, recording 92 receptions for 702 yards and 5 TDs in his 3 years at Nebraska, of which he was only the primary back for one year. Thankfully, Johnson has very good vision to hit the holes quickly, so Chiefs fans won’t be subjected to seeing another running back try to give our OL a head first colonoscopy on a regular basis a la Pacheco.

Say it again with me guys; the biggest issue facing Johnson's pro prospects are more size related than anything else. At 5102 and 202lbs, Johnson does not have the size to be a brutalizing back and might not have the bulk to be anything more than a complimentary back at the next level. He isn’t a pile mover and might be forced out of short yardage and goalline packages as a result. For being smaller, he also doesn’t have great long speed and is more quick than fast. He can still break off an explosive, but he might not finish them out in the endzone. Thankfully, that will be more of Walker's role, but for an offense that had 3 total RB runs go for 20+ yards in 2025, I would like more than one person capable of consistently getting those. Also due to his size, he is fairly limited albeit willing in pass protection.

Emmett Johnson projects as a guy who will spell out Kenneth Walker, likely getting 5-10 carries a game and getting some work on passing downs as well. He will likely not be a true starter unless injuries pop up to Walker, but he should be good enough to hold down the fort if that does happen.

---

With the 176th pick, the Kansas City Chiefs select Cyrus Allen, WR, Cincinnati

5112/183lbs/23.3 years old/RAS: 8.76/4.49s 40 yard dash/1.57s 10 yard split/74.4 2025 PFF Grade/ Also played at Louisiana Tech and Texas A&M/ Pro Comparison: Jordan Addison/ Consensus Board Ranking: 303

Our receiver corps has been a ghost of itself since we traded Tyreek Hill back in 2022. Whether it’s our coaching staff's lack of being able to competently develop receivers or a front office inability to scout receivers who can make the jump to the pro level, something has to change. Xavier Worthy played through injury virtually all of 2025 and needs a big year 3 to avoid the bust label, and Rashee Rice is a fucking idiot who many Chiefs fans cannot wait to have off the team. However, at least for 2026, our WR1/WR2 spots are filled. The real competition comes in at WR3.

Cyrus Allen took a bit of an interesting path in his college career. A Louisiana kid, Allen committed to Louisiana Tech, where he led the nation with 21.8 yards per reception as a true freshman, and then had an excellent follow up season as a sophomore with 46 catches for 782 yards and 4 TDs. This brought the NIL powerhouse Texas A&M knocking, where Cyrus Allen played as a true junior. Whether it was not being a scheme fit, not having chemistry, or factors outside his controll, Allen had a pretty poor junior season with 18 catches for 269 yards and 1 score. A change of scenery seemed the best option for everyone involved. At Cincinnati, Allen was a favorite target of QB Brenden Sorsby en route to a 49/661/13 statline. In the draft process, Allen showed out at the Senior Bowl and was consistently winning his 1 on 1 matchups.

Cyrus Allen’s game is very much predicated on his burst off the line and the crispness of his routes. He possesses a natural understanding of route tempo, head moves, and release packages that make him a threat off the line on day one. He possesses capable speed to succeed vertically in the league, but predominantly thrives as a more quick twitch short/intermediate passing game target who can create after the catch. At Cincinnati, Allen posted 269 yards after the catch and forced 8 missed tackles. He is a smooth mover who should project nicely as a slot WR in the NFL.

It is almost comical at this point, but yet again size is a bit of a concern for Cyrus Allen. He can get bullied by bigger corners in press man coverage if they can get a hand on him, and he has a pretty dreadful 20% contested catch rate. With his shorter arms (30 7/8th inches) he just doesn’t have the catch radius or the physicality to make a play happen if he doesn’t have much separation. He will not be a guy who you can rely on in the run game, which will probably limit his snaps to more passing situational downs. Sometimes he can get a bit lackadaisical in his routes, which I am sure will piss off Bienemy and Mahomes a time or two. It is also a bit worrisome that his down season at Texas A&M was also the only season where he was consistently facing high end DB talent and guys who will be playing on Sundays.

I think Cyrus Allen will enter camp competing with Tyquan Thornton for the WR3 spot, but I think at least early on Thornton will have that spot locked down. Cyrus Allen will have to work on some of his deficiencies, particularly in run blocking, before he routinely sees the field. Gotta eat your dinner before you can have dessert. He will likely be more of a schemed touch kind of guy early on with a chance to earn snaps later in the year. I fully expect him to be in the competition for kick returns and/or punt returns though.

---

With the 245th pick, the Kansas City Chiefs select Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU

6016/203lbs/24.3 years old/RAS: NA/4.82s 40 yard dash/77.1 2025 PFF Grade/ Pro Comparison: If Drew Lock watched a ton of Matthew Stafford highlights/ Consensus Board Ranking: 82

In the wake of Mahomes’ injury in December, we got a little glimpse of the development and progression of our backup QB options. For how many people were complaining that Mahomes was the problem with our offense, this would be a good litmus test to figure out if it was a Mahomes issue or an offense issue. Gardner Minshew didn’t even make it through the first drive before he went down with a season ending knee injury. Chris Oladukun played valiantly for a 7th rounder from 2022 who played in his first starting snaps of his career, but ultimately looked like a low end backup at best. Given Mahomes’ injury history, having an improved long term option at backup QB was a must this offseason. We cannot keep expecting Mahomes to push through the pain every season as he ages. Unfortunately, high end backup QBs cost a pretty penny and our salary cap situation is not the greatest.

Garrett Nussmeier might have been one of the players to lose the most in the 2025 season. In his first ever college start, Nussmeier put up 395 yards and 3 TDs on a tough Wisconsin defense in the ReliaQuest Bowl in 2024, then followed it up by putting up 4043 yards and 29 TDs in his first year as a starter. Things were looking great for Nussmeier going into 2025, as he was widely projected to be in contention for the top QB selected in the preseason. Unfortunately, life had other plans. Nussmeier battled his way through what was misdiagnosed as a core muscle injury through the majority of the season until LSU shut him down. During the medical testing at the combine, it was found that the issue that crippled him during the season wasn’t an abdominal injury as previously reported, but was actually a spinal cyst that was compressing a nerve that led to abdominal and oblique pain throughout the season.

Nussmeier has tons of traits that make him very enticing to be a long term backup in the league who can make spot starts as needed. Firstly, and probably most cliche of them all, he is a coaches son. Doug Nussmeier is a well traveled offensive mind who has coached most recently in New Orleans, but also won a Super Bowl with the Eagles in 2024 as their QB coach. Football is just kind of in his blood. Secondly, he has a phenomenal arm. We didn’t get to see a ton of wow throws in 2025 due to the cyst making activating the core agonizing for him, but put on the 2024 tape and you’ll see that Nussmeier has a “fuck you, watch this” kind of arm. He possesses great touch and velocity on his throws, utilizing many different arm angles and keeping solid footwork for the most part. Lastly, he just has the mental side of it all. He has leadership in spades and has a strong sense of poise and control at the line of scrimmage. Teammates respond to him incredibly well and feel comfortable with him running the show.

I can’t even make it up at this point. Nussmeier's size is a bit of an issue for him. At 6016 and 203lbs, Nussmeier is slender for an NFL QB. To give perspective, 5’10’ Bryce Young is allegedly at 210lbs. Brock Purdy is about an inch shorter than Nussmeier but has 20lbs on him. Additionally, his 9 1/8th inch hands are among the smallest in the league. Couple the size issues with injury concerns, and you’ve got a bit of a problem. From an on the field perspective, Nussmeier gets too attached to his first read at times and forces throws that should not be made. Disguised coverages especially throw a wrinkle into this, as he struggles adjusting when the pre snap read and post snap read don’t align, and sometimes stays with the first read regardless of what is shown post snap. Sometimes he has a little too much faith in his arm to get the job done and gets himself into trouble. It is almost like watching your 12 year old cousin play Madden at times. He will try to make an insane highlight reel throw when the easy play is right there, and he will at times throw absolute piss missiles that don’t need to be rocketed at the WR. Additionally, the way he drifts around the pocket and seemingly blindly walks into pressure at times is frustrating to watch.

In KC, I think Andy Reid will have a lot of fun with him. Nussmeier has all the tools you could want, but needs to elevate the mental side of the game to be played more like a chess game and less like a video game. Sound familiar? Although nowhere near as toolsy as Mahomes, Nussmeier has enough of an arm that we won’t have to dramatically change the offense much if Nussmeier is needed for a few games. Short term I think he will be QB3 on the roster behind Justin Fields, potentially QB2 if Mahomes misses games to start. Barring injury, I don’t see him getting a ton of snaps, if any, this season. Long term I expect him to be our QB2 throughout his rookie deal and be able to fill in for spot starts as needed.

---

UDFA Class and Analysis, Roster Predictions, and Offseason Recap in the comments.

I've never done a mock this early before and I think it'd be fun to look back on it around this time next year and see how wrong I was, so what the hell. This is the timeline in which Arch lives up to all the hype. Pick order is based on my own personal predictions, obviously:

1. Dolphins: Arch Manning, QB, Texas

I fully anticipate Miami being as bad as expected. There are still so many holes on the roster, and while QB wouldn't appear to be one of them, the Dolphins would be insane to pass up taking one at #1 overall.

2. Jaguars: Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio St.

This will probably be an unpopular take, but I'm expecting a massive drop-off for Jacksonville this year. The schedule is tough and I think they handled the draft and free agency about as poorly as possible. Lucky for them, it lands them one of the best WR prospects of all time.

3. Falcons: Dante Moore, QB, Oregon

Atlanta should undoubtedly have some of the worst QB play this year, which they address here. Moore is my Heisman front-runner at the moment and Oregon could potentially be in line to win the national title.

4. Raiders: Leonard Moore, CB, Notre Dame

I'm expecting big improvements on the offensive side of the ball for Las Vegas, but their pass defense may take a step back. Moore is one of the most exciting corner prospects in recent memory.

5. Buccaneers: C.J. Carr, QB, Notre Dame

I think this season will officially mark the end of the Bowles-Mayfield era in Tampa Bay. I'm not expecting anything more than a one year extension for Mayfield if they're able to reach a deal, as Tampa now finds themselves in rebuild mode.

6. Cardinals: Drake Lindsey, QB, Minnesota

I think Arizona has too solid of an overall roster to be as bad as advertised. They still have 3 or 4 legitimate offensive weapons and a young and potentially exciting defense. I'd say they win just enough to knock them out of the top 5. Beck plays enough to display for sure he isn't the answer at QB, and with Monti Ossenfort surely fired, LaFleur can go get his guy. Lindsey is someone I'm thinking may take a major leap this year and vault past names like Julian Sayin and Jayden Maiava.

7. Vikings: Dylan Stewart, EDGE, South Carolina

Another messy situation, I don't think the Vikes want to go to the first round QB well again, so they likely sign another vet; Baker Mayfield perhaps? Anyway, with Greenard in Philly and Van Ginkel on an expiring deal, pass rush becomes a pressing need. I believe Stewart establishes himself as the top pass rusher in college in 2026.

8. Jets: Cam Coleman, WR, Texas

Call me insane, but I think Cade Klubnik surprises everyone and wins the QB job out of camp. In Frank Reich's offense I wouldn't be shocked if he has early success. The Jets are still missing a true X receiver, and adding Coleman to that receiving room boosts them into the top 10 in the NFL.

9. Giants: Ryan Coleman-Williams, WR, Alabama

Coleman-Williams was a stud in 2024 before drops and injuries plagued his 2025 season. I think he bounces back in 2026 to emerge as the clear WR3 in this class. It becomes abundantly clear that the Giants need weapons outside of Malik Nabers.

10. Browns: Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma St.

Cleveland is likely only a QB away from being a playoff team. I doubt we'll see much encouraging play out of the 2026 carousel, making this an obvious selection.

11. Steelers: Austin Siereveld, IOL, Ohio St.

Though he'll likely be starting at left tackle for the Buckeyes this year, Siereveld projects as a guard at the next level. His anchor is tremendous and is an immediate contributor in the run game. As for QB, I think Rodgers finally decides to hang it up after the 2026 season, leaving the door open for Drew Allar.

12. Commanders: Charlie Becker, WR, Indiana

This is a WR room that is sorely missing a big body, and Becker fits the bill perfectly.

13. Panthers: Will Echoles, IDL, Ole Miss

Carolina goes back to the trenches with this pick, as Echoles offers scheme versatility and some pass rush upside to go with his elite run-stuffing.

14. Jets (from Indianapolis): Matayo Uiagaleilei, EDGE, Oregon

The Jets get a dominant power rusher to complement 2026 first round pick, David Bailey.

15. Jets (from Green Bay via Dallas): Ahmad Moten Sr., IDL, Miami

I have the Jets with 3 first round picks for the second year in a row by way of Dallas finishing with a better record than Green Bay. Aaron Glenn and company continue to beef up the defensive line. And yes, I do think Glenn shows enough in year two to keep his job.

16. Chiefs: Jordan Seaton, OT, LSU

This projects to be a very weak offensive tackle class, but I'm expecting a fine season from Seaton as he moves from Colorado to LSU; definitely a much better pass blocker than run blocker.

17. Bengals: Justice Haynes, RB, Georgia Tech

I thought Haynes clearly looked like one of the best pure runners in college football last season before the injury, and now he moves into an offensive scheme that will feature his skills even more.

18. Lions: Colin Simmons, EDGE, Texas

Incoming "Lions fan made this" comment. I have to admit, I have reservations about Simmons as a prospect. The size is a bit concerning, and I think his production at Texas will take a hit in 2026 as he feels like a terrible fit for Will Muschamp's defense, which has become rather outdated. His role would most likely be that of a "jack of all trades, master of none." I view him very much as a boom-or-bust player, but the Lions would have trouble passing up the value as they still have a major need at speed rusher.

NOTES:

-I wouldn't say I'm totally out on Trevor Goosby, but I do think he could regress considerably next season.

-I'm expecting Julian Sayin to pull a Dante Moore and return to school in 2027 despite likely being a top 10 pick.

-Arch Manning and Jayden Maiava could easily switch spots based on how the season goes down. I wouldn't be surprised with either of them being the QB1 or QB6.

-I'm also very high on Jadan Baugh out of Florida, and would rank him as my RB2 ahead of Ahmad Hardy.

Playoff Teams:

-Bills

-Ravens

-Titans

-Broncos

-Chargers

-Patriots

-Texans

-Eagles

-Bears

-Saints

-Seahawks

-Rams

-49ers

-Cowboys

I didn't include playoff teams since that would involve the exercise of projecting how each team would finish the season, as well as there being many other players I want to scout before making a full first round.

Jeremiyah Love was the consensus RB1 in this class (and rightfully so). But his Notre Dame teammate Jadarian Price is an intriguing talent going to a strong situation. Running backs' success is predicated a ton on the situation, and Price is going to the defending Super Bowl champs. With Kenneth Walker gone and Zach Charbonnet fresh off a major injury, I could see Price being the best rookie back this year. I wanted to ask if you believe Price can be even better than his college teammate at the next level?