The draft never sleeps — and neither do the scouts. After months of film work and early-season evaluations, we’re stacking up the 2026 class and projecting fits across all 32 teams. This mock isn’t just a list — it’s an inside look at how NFL decision-makers are already viewing the next generation of stars. Subscribers get the full breakdown: team intel, player grades, and round-by-round projections you won’t find anywhere else.
*draft order based on October 17 standings
1. New York Jets — Dante Moore, QB, Oregon
The New York Jets are staring down a familiar crisis at quarterback. At 0-6 through the first six weeks of the 2025 NFL season, their offense ranks among the league’s worst in total yards (bottom five) and points per game (last place). Justin Fields, signed as a bridge starter in the offseason, has struggled mightily—completing just 58% of his passes with a league-low QBR of 32.4—exacerbating a 14-year playoff drought rooted in subpar QB play (Jets rank last in total QBR since 2011). With Fields’ deal lacking long-term guarantees and backups like Tyrod Taylor and Adrian Martinez offering no franchise solution, the Jets are on pace for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. That’s prime real estate for a reset, and Oregon’s Dante Moore—exploding as the Ducks’ starter this fall—represents the ideal blend of upside, scheme fit, and immediacy to end the misery.
Moore, a redshirt sophomore transfer from UCLA, has transformed from a raw talent into college football’s most composed signal-caller in 2025. Sitting behind 2025 draftee Dillon Gabriel last year, he’s seized Oregon’s high-octane offense (which produced back-to-back Heisman finalists) and posted video-game numbers through seven games: 75% completion, 1,210+ yards, 14 TDs, just 1 INT, plus 172 rushing yards and 2 scores. His adjusted completion percentage (81.7%) ranks third among FBS starters, and he’s thrived in big spots—like a 248-yard, 3-TD dismantling of Penn State in the White Out, where he dissected a top-10 defense with zero panic.
2. Cleveland Browns — Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana
The Cleveland Browns are mired in another quarterback quagmire, a familiar refrain for a franchise that hasn’t had a stable signal-caller since Otto Graham roamed the Lake Erie shores. Through seven weeks of the 2025 season, Cleveland sits at 1-6, dead last in the AFC North and among the league’s bottom feeders in scoring offense (16.2 points per game) and passing efficiency (QBR of 42.1, 30th overall). Deshaun Watson, the $230 million albatross whose Achilles rupture sidelined him for the entire year after a re-tear in January, remains on the physically unable to perform list with no clear return timeline—his $80 million cap hit in 2026 looms like a financial guillotine. The 2025 rookie duo of third-rounder Dillon Gabriel (22-of-37 for 209 yards, 3 TDs in limited action) and fifth-rounder Shedeur Sanders (spotty decision-making in mop-up duty) hasn’t inspired confidence as franchise cornerstones, posting a combined 1-4 record in starts. With Joe Flacco shipped to Cincinnati and backups like Kenny Pickett offering bridge-level mediocrity, the Browns are projected for the No. 2 pick in the 2026 Draft (behind only the winless Jets). Enter Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza: a 6-5, 225-pound pocket maestro who’s catapulted to QB2 status on most boards, blending prototypical size, surgical accuracy, and poise that could finally exorcise Cleveland’s QB curse.
Mendoza, a redshirt junior transfer from Cal, has weaponized Indiana’s explosive spread attack under coach Curt Cignetti—fresh off a 2024 College Football Playoff berth—to post Heisman-caliber numbers through seven games: 71.2% completion, 1,423 yards, 17 TDs, just 2 INTs, and an 84.6 QB rating (7th in FBS). His adjusted completion rate (83.2%) leads the nation, and he’s thrived in marquee matchups, like a 312-yard, 4-TD clinic against Illinois’ stout secondary and a road dismantling of Oregon where he outdueled fellow top prospect Dante Moore 28-24. Scouts peg him as a “wide receiver’s dream” for his touch and placement, with a 67% career completion rate that ballooned to 72% in 2025.
3. Baltimore Ravens — Rueben Bain Jr., DE, Miami
The Baltimore Ravens, perennial AFC North juggernauts who entered 2025 as Super Bowl favorites after a 12-5 campaign in 2024, have cratered into an unexpected nightmare. At 1-5 through six weeks, they’re tied for the third-worst record in the NFL and projected for the No. 3 pick in the 2026 Draft—behind only the winless Jets and hapless Browns. Lamar Jackson’s hamstring injury (sidelined since Week 3) has masked deeper issues, but the real culprit is a defense that’s devolved from elite to embarrassing: last in points allowed (32.3 per game), 31st in total yards conceded (390+ per game), and a woeful 29th in pressure rate (24.2%). With DT Nnamdi Madubuike lost for the season to a neck injury, OLB Odafe Oweh traded to the Chargers, and veterans like Kyle Van Noy (1 sack) and rookie Mike Green (0 sacks) flailing, the pass rush is nonexistent—just 8 sacks league-wide, dead last. Enter Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr.: a 6’3”, 275-pound wrecking ball who’s emerged as the draft’s premier edge defender, blending power, versatility, and explosiveness to turbocharge Baltimore’s 3-4 scheme and restore their defensive identity.
Bain, a third-year junior, exploded as a freshman in 2023 (44 tackles, 13 TFLs, 7.5 sacks, 3 FF) before a 2024 calf injury sapped his sophomore output (23 tackles, 3.5 sacks in 8 games). Fully healed and leaner in 2025, he’s a one-man demolition crew for the undefeated No. 3 Hurricanes (5-0): 26 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, 3 sacks, 19 pressures (28.9% win rate, top-5 nationally), and 15 run stops through five games. His Week 1 masterclass vs. Notre Dame—a 92.6 PFF grade with 4 pressures and a 25% pass-rush win rate—set the tone, earning him the No. 1 overall PFF grade among FBS defenders (95.8)
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