2026 NFL Draft Prospects to Know

Get a jump start with top players who are already popping off the tape for 2026

It felt very weird to type that. “2026” feels like an eternity away, but NFL teams and agents no doubt already have files and folders with that label as we look ahead for future prospects.

I’ll never forget talking to an NFL assistant general manager about future scouting. They were already scouting freshmen quarterbacks who were starting at the college level. Teams can’t afford to be late on players—especially quarterbacks—and we adopt that same strategy here.

So which players should you already know for 2026?

A quick reminder:

• Players must be three-years removed from high school graduation to enter the NFL draft.

• Thanks to Name-Image-Likeness and loosen transfer rules, players are spending more time in college than ever before. Last year was a low number of underclassmen who declared. So we’ll focus mostly on the top upperclassmen for 2026.

• Arch Manning is eligible, but we’ll get into that.

• Superstar freshmen wide receivers Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith are not eligible until 2027

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Quarterbacks

Drew Allar, Penn State (potential 2025 player)

Luke Altmyer, Illinois

Noah Fifita, Arizona

Nico Iamaleava, Tennessee (potential 2027 player)

Avery Johnson, Kansas State

Cade Klubnik, Clemson

Arch Manning, Texas (Manning is expected to return to Texas for his senior season and enter the 2027 NFL draft, per sources close to his family and Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian)