NFL Draft Big Board: The Top 150 Players In The 2026 Class

With the conclusion of the 2025-26 NFL season, we've officially moved into NFL draft season.

The calendar has shifted.

• Feb. 17 - Mar. 3: Franchise/transition tag period
• Feb. 23 - Mar. 2: NFL scouting combine
• March 11: New league year/free agency

With that in mind, I think it's time to update my NFL Draft big board and expand it from a top 100 to a top 150.

I'm not one to brag, but …

For the 2025 draft, I was No. 1 in big board accuracy and No. 3 in mock accuracy. Since 2020, I'm the No. 1 mocker in the known universe.

For all of our draft coverage, check out our Fantasy Life NFL Draft Hub as well as my most recent mock draft.

2026 NFL Draft: Top 150 Big Board

I should give some context as to my "big board" philosophy.

While I have opinions on specific players, I'm not a scout and hardcore tape grinder, so this board is less evaluative and prescriptive and more descriptive and predictive.

Instead of ranking these 150 guys strictly based on how I see them as prospects or think they will perform in the NFL, I'm also aiming for accuracy. 

I want to:

• Place players in the general range in which they'll be drafted.
• Order guys accurately within their respective positions.
• Give priority to the positions that matter most in tiebreak scenarios.

So this board isn't just: "Here's how I rank these guys in terms of talent." This board is more about how I think talent will be valued by the NFL in the draft. The market matters.

Featured Players In My Top 150 Big Board

QB Fernando Mendoza

When we get to May and look back, I won't be surprised if we see just one QB in Round 1: Fernando Mendoza. (At least that's my early read right now.)

Check out my Mendoza scouting report.

EDGE/LB Arvell Reese

Given how thin this class is at QB, Arvell Reese is my No. 2 player in the class.

Still just 20 years old, Reese was a consensus first-team All-American and the playmaking heart of the Buckeyes defense this past season. Whether he's off the ball or with his hand in the dirt, he has the potential to be a multiple All-Pro professional.

S Caleb Downs

On the one hand, Caleb Downs entered college as a five-star recruit and the No. 1 S in the 2023 class, and now he exits it as a two-time unanimous first-team All-American and the winner of the Jim Thorpe Award and Ronnie Lott Trophy. The dude is a certified baller, and in terms of talent, I think he's a top-three player.

On the other hand, he plays S, and the position has been devalued in the NFL draft over the past decade.

In 2018, future first-team All-Pros Minkah Fitzpatrick and Derwin James went outside of the top 10. In 2022, Kyle Hamilton went No. 14. And the next year, Brian Branch—as the first S off the board—went in Round 2.

I look at Downs and see an elite prospect who could have a difference-making NFL impact.

But I also doubt that NFL teams will value him accordingly, even if they evaluate him similarly.

RB Jeremiyah Love

Jeremiyah Love is just 20 years old. He won the 2025 Doak Walker Award as the top RB in college football, and over the past two seasons, he put up 3,014 yards and 40 TDs from scrimmage in 28 games.

With a three-down skill set and workhorse frame (6-foot, 214 pounds), Love could be one of the NFL's top backs as a rookie.

Here are the RBs over the past decade to go in the top half of Round 1 and finish their rookie seasons at 21 years old.

• 2016: Ezekiel Elliott (No. 4)
• 2017: Christian McCaffrey (No. 8)
• 2018: Saquon Barkley (No. 2)
• 2023: Bijan Robinson (No. 8)
• 2023: Jahmyr Gibbs (No. 12

I put Love firmly in the tier of these players as a prospect. Frankly, it would be a shock if he weren't at least a Pro Bowler within a few seasons.

If he lands in a functional offense—unlike Ashton Jeanty this past year—he could draw Round 1 investment in fantasy drafts for season-long, best ball and Guillotine LeaguesTM. 

And for dynasty, he should easily be the No. 1 pick in non-superflex formats.

EDGE Rueben Bain

Rueben Bain this past year finished as a consensus first-team All-American and won the ACC DPOY as well as the Ted Hendricks Award as the top DE in college football. Scouts might nitpick his height (6-foot-3), but he has good weight (270 pounds), and his production speaks for itself (20.5 sacks in three years, 9.5 sacks this past year).

This class is deep in the front seven, and some evaluators might prefer other EDGEs. David Bailey and Keldric Faulk are both candidates to go in the top 10, and either one of them could jump Bain.

But as of now, I think he's the best pure EDGE in the class.

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