We’ve finally made it. The 2026 NFL Draft is here. With decisions made and trades accepted, teams are ready to make their selections (or more trades!). We’ll have you covered throughout the draft with real NFL and fantasy football reactions. We have a live stream for Round 1 AND the entirety of Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft. We’ll also be active on social media and via our Discord channel where you can join fellow football fans as we all enjoy the NFL Draft. Let’s dive into each pick of Round 1 of the NFL Draft along with draft grades and scouting reports for fantasy football-relevant players!
- Dynasty Rookie Draft Simulator
- Dynasty Rookie Rankings: Expert Consensus
- DBro’s Top 100 Dynasty Rookie Draft Rankings
- DBro’s Dynasty Rookie Draft Primers: QB | RB | WR | TE
2026 NFL Draft Round 1 Coverage
We’re going to share our draft grades for each pick of Round 1 below. Our analysts will each provide their grades, and we’ll share the consensus for each first-round selection in the table below.
NFL Draft Grades: Round 1
Round 1 Draft Picks & Analysis
1.01 – Las Vegas Raiders – Fernando Mendoza (QB – Indiana)
Derek Brown shares his scouting report for Mendoza:
Mendoza has an easy, quick release. He has the necessary arm strength to make every throw required in the NFL. His touch and ball placement are strong. He leads his receivers on crossers well and doesn’t limit YAC opportunities while also being able to drop it in the bucket for go routes. He can sling it from multiple arm angles. His pocket presence is excellent. Mendoza doesn’t drift in the pocket. He will climb versus the rush and has no issues standing tall against incoming pressure to deliver the ball to his receivers. While he isn’t an electric athlete, Mendoza is a solid opportunistic scrambler. He can pick up a few yards with his legs when the situation calls for it. Mendoza isn’t an off-script artist, but he can make some plays outside of structure. It’s not a world that he seeks to live in and shouldn’t. There’s something to be said for being a “boring” quarterback that can be trusted to run an offense. He’ll have to adjust to tighter windows in the NFL. It’s not a consistent issue for Mendoza, but he did show some hesitancy pulling the trigger early in 2025 when faced with smaller throwing windows. He would pump and pat the ball at times, but he did improve in this aspect throughout the 2025 season, ripping it more consistently with confidence toward the end of the season. Mendoza didn’t work much under center, which will be a hurdle with his transition to the NFL with footwork, etc. It will help that last year, Klint Kubiak allowed Sam Darnold to work from shotgun on 63.3% of his dropbacks. Don’t be surprised if Kubiak bumps that rate up some for his rookie quarterback in 2026.
1.02 – New York Jets – David Bailey (Edge – Texas Tech)
Matthew Jones shares his scouting report for Bailey:
A highly tenacious edge rusher who has the first-step, speed, and agility to threaten the edge on passing downs, and who brings the same motor in the run game as well, his excellent 2025 campaign has him in the high first-round conversation. At the same time, he’s not quite as clean of a prospect as his numbers would lead you to believe, and will need to continue to add functional strength, improve his pad level, and diversify his arsenal of rush moves/counters. Frame suggests he’s likely to be viewed as more of a rush linebacker than even-front base end.
1.03 – Arizona Cardinals – Jeremiyah Love (RB – Notre Dame)
Derek Brown shares his scouting report for Love:
Jeremiyah Love glides across the field. He has instant and easy elite acceleration. Love will monetarily pause after receiving a handoff with some runs before exploding upfield. He has the burst to get away with it. Love also has backbreaking home run speed with the ability to house any carry or screen. Love has an amazing combination of vision, patience, contact balance, and power with his frame. Love has no issues letting blocks set up in front of him before weaving through traffic. With his frame, Love flashes impressive finishing power with runs and interior rushing skill. He won’t be a player that is pulled at the goalline for a bruising power option. He can string together tackle-breaking moves without losing speed with impressive fluidity. Love is a spin move, samurai deploying the move to churn out a few extra yards. He’s made plenty of defenders look silly in the process. His creativity at the second-level can be jaw-dropping with jump cuts, spin moves, and some insane hurdles. Love should be a passing game weapon from Day 1 in the NFL. Since 2024, he has aligned in the slot or out wide with 10.6-16.6% of his snaps. He was tasked with wheels and angle routes in addition to the usual flats and dumpoffs. Love can also align in the slot or on the perimeter. His explosive short-area agility allows him to run routes like a true wide receiver. Love’s pass pro still needs some refinement. He has the play strength and base to be a trusted pass pro option from the jump in the NFL. With many reps, he’ll physically push a defender off course or out of the play path, but he also needs to work on anchoring down or latching onto a defender and driving them into the dirt. His technique will improve with more coaching in the NFL, but he has the skills to become one of the league’s best in this area. Since 2024, he has amassed 118 pass blocking snaps (per PFF), allowing zero sacks or quarterback hits and only four pressures.
1.04 – Tennessee Titans – Carnell Tate (WR – Ohio State)
Derek Brown shares his scouting report for Tate:
Tate is a fluid mover who looks like he’s gliding down the field at all times. He has easy, effortless acceleration and speed. Tate pulls away from corners on crossing and vertical routes. He has no issues stacking corners. Tate can threaten a defense at all three levels. Tate is a savvy route runner with an in-depth understanding of how to manipulate corners with a variety of pacing variations in his routes, head fakes, and jab steps. He loses little speed when linking these separation tools together. The snap at the top of his stems is crisp and sudden. Tate’s play strength shows up during routes and at the catch point. He has incredible body control to make difficult catches outside of his frame look easy and routine with arrogant hands. He snags the ball away from his body with a litany of sideline catches. Tate finishes college with a 68.8% contested catch rate and a 4% drop rate (including zero drops in his final season). One area that Tate will have to improve upon in the NFL is consistently beating press coverage. He can get hung up at times with physical corners that can get into his body and stall him. It’s not a consistent issue as he has plenty of high-level reps against press where corners flail as they attempt to slow him down, but it’s worth noting.
1.05 – New York Giants –
1.06 – Cleveland Browns –
1.07 – Washington Commanders –
1.08 – New Orleans Saints –
1.09 – Kansas City Chiefs –
1.10 – New York Giants (from Bengals) –
1.11 – Miami Dolphins –
1.12 – Dallas Cowboys –
1.13 – Los Angeles Rams (from Falcons) –
1.14 – Baltimore Ravens –
1.15 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers –
1.16 – New York Jets (from Colts) –
1.17 – Detroit Lions –
1.18 – Minnesota Vikings –
1.19 – Carolina Panthers –
1.20 – Dallas Cowboys (from Packers) –
1.21 – Pittsburgh Steelers –
1.22 – Los Angeles Chargers –
1.23 – Philadelphia Eagles –
1.24 – Cleveland Browns (from Jaguars) –
1.25 – Chicago Bears –
1.26 – Buffalo Bills –
1.27 – San Francisco 49ers –
1.28 – Houston Texans –
1.29 – Kansas City Chiefs (from Rams) –
1.30 – Miami Dolphins (from Broncos) –
1.31 – New England Patriots –
1.32 – Seattle Seahawks –
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