Joel Klatt ranks his Top 50 Prospects for the 2026 NFL Draft

Before this, there's this. As you celebrate the game, take a deeper look at its roots. The people growing the grass, paving the lots, welding the goalposts, inspecting every football. The hardworking people that make every Sunday possible. Carhartt is proud to outfit the crews behind the game. Visit carhartt.com slash join the trades to learn more. The top 50 players available in the NFL draft. Did he get his foot down? Omar Cooper, yes, he did. Back of the end zone, that's what I'm talking about. Every single one of these Ohio State receivers goes into the league and they're ready-made to produce right away. I know some people say, like, you can't draft a running back that high in the first round. Well, maybe you can if it's a talent like this. Number one player on the big board. This has to do with his play and his value at this position. Touchdown. These fans are the best in the country. A day like today is why we love college football. Hey, welcome into the program. This is the Joel Klatt Show. I'm Joel Klatt. This show is brought to you by Graduate by Hilton. We thank them for their support, as always. Big one here today. We are unveiling our top 50 list here at the Joel Klatt Show. That's right. It's my big board and it's coming straight at you. Hey, just remember, if you haven't subscribed on YouTube, you need to go do that. The show is better on YouTube, so go do that right now. Also, hit that notification button. And then if you haven't followed us on social media, we are everywhere that you like to social media. Wherever you like to social media, you can follow us there at Joel Klatt Show out there on social. Let's go. It's going to be 50 to 1. Let's get into it right away. At number 50 is a guy that I really loved. Really loved during the course of the last couple of years. And the only reason that he's not really the top corner in the draft and a first for sure first round pick is his size. That's D'Angelo Pons from Indiana. So he's going to be number 50 and he measured at 5'8". If he was any taller, if he was six foot with the way he played, there's no doubt he'd be a top 15 pick. But he's 5'8". Even though he's explosive and his vert was 43 and a half at the combine, which was exceptional. He's going to get in here at number 50. Now, just remember, this was one of the best defenses in college football at Indiana. And the entire schematics of what they did under Brian Haynes, the defensive coordinator, revolved around not an interior player, not a defensive lineman or a pass rusher. It revolved around structurally D'Angelo Pons. They would roll away for him, create numbers everywhere else on the field, and allow him to kind of take away half the field. That's how good he is. I think he's excellent. I think he could play in the slot as well. So a little bit of a value pick right there. He's going to be number 50 on my big board. Some other corners here that I'm going to get through here as we're kind of deep into this 50. Corner Brandon Cisse from South Carolina. Twitchy athlete. I like him a lot. He was at North Carolina State before going to South Carolina. At 48, I've got corner Keontae Scott from Miami. Slot corner who played safety at times. I think that versatility is always good and valuable. Everyone's going to remember that pick six from Ohio State when he jumped the route, took it back for six. That was great. That was clearly his legendary play on their run to get to the national championship game. He's an older guy, by the way, will turn 25 by the time the season starts. At 47, let's go to the edge. Remember, those are always valuable guys. Malachi Lawrence from Central Florida, UCF. I like Malachi Lawrence a lot. Athletic player. He's 6'4". He's 253 pounds. He ran 4'5 in the 40 with a 40-inch vert. So that type of explosiveness is always going to be valuable on the edge. So he gets in here at 44. At 46, another corner, Chris Johnson from San Diego State. Good size. Really love his length. He's 6'193 pounds. He's a really good player. So watch out for Chris Johnson here in the top 50. At 45, a guy that I'm a bit higher on than some of the others out there, and that's Trayden Stukes. He's a safety from Arizona, and he was exceptional. That Arizona defense was one of the best in the country this last year. Got to prep for that Arizona defense. Getting ready for the Holiday Bowl as they took on SMU. Now, Trayden didn't play, along with some of the other veteran players from that secondary. But that was one of the best pass defenses in all of college football. And Trayden Stukes was really the leader. They raved. The coaching staff raved about his leadership ability, his ability to go and make plays. They were a ball-hocking secondary. So Stukes is a guy that I would pay attention to here in the top 50. Another one that I thought just had a really solid career, and then eventually, at the end of his career, became the number one. Number one on his team. And that's an outside wide receiver, Jeremy Bernard at Alabama. Listen, Bernard is a solid player. And again, he moved around quite a bit. Began his career at Michigan State. Then he was at Washington. Followed DeBoer into Alabama. Great hands. Only four drops in his career. And as this process goes along, I'm starting to hear his name quite a bit in NFL circles. So they're liking what they see. I like what I see on film. So Jeremy Bernard at 44. At 43. He is the second running back I have on the entire big board. It happens to be, yes, a backup running back. But only because he backed up one of the best players in the country in Jeremiah Love. This is Jadarian Price at Notre Dame. So the top two running backs in my top 50, both from Notre Dame. He averaged six yards per carry in his career in South Bend. Had 280 total carries in three seasons. So he is not worn out. He's 5'11", 200 pounds. Really good player. Big play. Threat, just like his teammate Love. Five rushing touchdowns of over 40 yards. So Jadarian Price, really good player there. At 42. Zion Young from Missouri on the edge. Powerful guy. 6'6". Great length on the edge. 262 pounds. He had 16 and a half tackles for loss, which was second in the SEC. Love his ability to get after it on the outside. He also had six and a half sacks for Missouri. So Zion Young at 42. At 41. On the edge, R. Mason Thomas from Oklahoma. Remember, this Oklahoma defense for Brent Venables was outstanding. I know they lost that home playoff game to Alabama. But boy, that was a defensive-led team. Offense did not do really anything the second half of the season. He is a productive player over the last couple of years for Venables. Considered a little undersized, but I love his production. He's 6'2", 240 pounds. That didn't stop him. 15 and a half sacks in 23 games over two years. Great production. So I like R. Mason. R. Mason Thomas right there. At number 40, here's a guy. I keep saying this. Everybody that I was a teammate with at Colorado is rolling their eyes because we used to make fun of these types of terms. But our coaches would say, hey, sometimes this guy is just a football playing Jesse. And that's exactly what Jacob Rodriguez is, the linebacker from Texas Tech. This guy was outstanding. Outstanding. Butkus type of guy. He was in there fighting for the ball at or. Near the line of scrimmage. A ton. He has a nose for turnovers. Great instincts. Terrific leader. He could be the captain of a defense. I really love what this guy was able to do. In fact, not just in the conversation for the Buckets. He won the Buckets Award. Best linebacker in college football. Great production. Jacob Rodriguez at number 40. At 39, I'm going to go with another linebacker. And this is a player that I just felt like was a bit twitchier with a higher upside than Rodriguez. So he gets one slot higher. That's Anthony Hill from Texas, started all three years for the Longhorns. He was a five star recruit, All-American his last couple of years at Texas, really good player and a guy that I could see have a really solid NFL career at 38, a guy that I thought was going to be higher on this list. But during the draft process, he slipped just a little bit, and that's Kaden McDonald, the defensive tackle from Ohio State. Now, listen, he was a real key to what they were able to do with Matt Patricia, the defensive coordinator. Remember, they played. He played a lot of what I would call odd defense, odd, meaning that you play with a true nose tackle that true nose tackle was Kaden McDonald. He's twitchy, he's powerful, he's big, he can solidify the interior of that defensive line, and even from a tackle position, he can get production in the backfield, tackles for loss, sacks. I like Kaden McDonald a lot, 330 pound run stuffer with some athleticism, you bet, sign me up for a guy like that. At 37, all right, here we go, pronunciations. As you know, when I called Cooper Dijon last week on my mock draft, pronunciations are not my strong suit. So here we go. We ready? Max Ihanachor. That's right. I got it. The tackle from Arizona State. He's been a riser in this process after a really strong week at the Senior Bowl. Didn't start playing football until junior college. He was born in Nigeria, moved to the U.S. when he was 13. So I think there's a lot of potential with a high ceiling for Max. Max Ihanachor, I think he's a really good player. He checks in at 37. At 36, let's go back down to Texas Tech. Remember that defense was solid. Interior, you've got to build a defense inside out, front to back. Well, front to back, Lee Hunter, defensive tackle for Texas Tech was outstanding. All-American this past year, big body in the middle of that line, 320 pounds, and a lot like Kaden McDonald, he had explosiveness and athleticism and can get in the backfield and disrupt. So a guy that can do that from the interior is awesome. always going to be valuable. Lee Hunter at 36. corner from Clemson at 35 Avion Terrell younger brother of the Falcons corner AJ Terrell I think this guy's got great bloodlines he's got good athleticism again I think some of these Clemson guys could have been higher on this list if they would have reached expectations last year as a team but for now he's 35 at 34 another one of those Clemson players TJ Parker on the edge his 2025 season didn't quite live up to the expectations of what he did in 2024 when he was a true sophomore and he had 11 sacks in that season but he's still 6'4 he's still 265 pounds and again you look at what he was able to do in 2024 if that translates to the NFL this guy's going to be a heck of a player another corner on the board at 33 Colton Hood from Tennessee really strong player out of Tennessee they had two really good corners with Jermod McCoy and Colton Hood I like Hood right here at 33 at 32 here we go we get into a quarterback finally Ty Simpson is going to check in at 32 now he kind of falls all over the place on a lot of these big boards that you see you know all these people doing big boards I'm a Ty Simpson fan I know his size is going to turn some people away but if you watch him play the film suggests that he plays a lot bigger than his actual frame and the reason is is that he makes really strong accurate intermediate and deep level throws in particular outside the numbers when you can do that do I really care about your size he's a battler this guy is a warrior in there I mean some of those games that he played Georgia on the road Oklahoma on the road in the playoff he was exceptional and in a lot of respects on an Alabama team that kind of struggled this year if you I think that it's safe to say he was a real bright spot and was the reason that they were winning football games a lot of the time he was a real bright spot and was the reason that they were winning football games a lot of the time so Ty Simpson leadership big throws all those things I really love at the quarterback position so he's at 32 at 31 KC Concepcion the wide receiver from Texas A&M dynamic guy right lots of speed lots of of short area quickness I think he can be a guy that you look up in a couple of years and you're like okay this guy is a smart point guard style quarterback's best friend so KC Concepcion as the league has I don't want to say moved away from the big frame wide receiver but certainly we've seen more value pop up with these guys with short area quickness that can operate in the middle of the field he can play outside and inside but I certainly think he can do that on the inside there at wide receiver so he's 31 at 30 CJ Allen from Georgia really good linebacker really good linebacker and again I don't know if you can go wrong with Georgia defenders right I mean they run an NFL style of scheme you know they're going to be a good linebacker they're going to be a good linebacker you know they're going to come in and be smart you see all of these guys that have been in the league in the last two three four seasons they've succeeded and I think CJ Allen will be another one of those at 30 at 29 let's go back interior defensive line Peter Woods from Clemson came into last year I thought he could be a top 10 pick but again like all of these Clemson players they fell short of expectation as a team so he's gonna fall down the draft board just a little bit so Peter Woods is going to be inside of my top 30 but at 29 at 28 offensive tackle Caleb Lomu from Utah really good player and he's going to be the second Utah offensive lineman inside of the top 30 this is a guy that I think can be a really really strong contributor and I would not be shocked if he could be versatile and play in and out I think the same could be said for Spencer Fano who I'll get to a little bit later in this top 50 he's the other Utah tackle that's in this inside of this top 30 but Lomu is at 28 at 27 Caleb Banks okay so we've talked about Caleb Banks a little bit the defensive tackle from Florida uh they just don't build guys like this okay and his frame and his size is just going to be enticing he's six six three hundred and twenty seven pounds I mean like come on 35 inch arm length 85 wingspan which is over eight feet the challenge for him is going to be matching his athletic profile with the production and to be fair this last year he lost a ton of time he got derailed by a foot injury he broke his foot so he doesn't have a ton of film but I'm telling you the traits are going to be hard to pass up here so he's inside of my top 30 here at 27. uh 26 guy I really like and I got to be honest I during this process you know you're like shouldn't this guy be higher you can make an argument he should be higher Keldrick Falk edge Auburn he's only 20 years old fascinating player and production I think it probably should have been higher for his build and athleticism I could see his impact in the NFL be greater than what his impact was at Auburn they had a ton of transition at Auburn over the last few years trying to get themselves back on solid footing he's a really good player I've got him at 26. another edge player and this is why Falk had to slip to 26 is I just couldn't put him higher than Cassius Howell from Texas A&M he doesn't have off the charts body type or or any of those traits but man you just couldn't block this guy at A&M he was terrific in production and I'm always going to go to the tape over traits now traits can get you drafted there's no doubt Falk is that way Caleb Banks is that way but then you've got to go to the production what are you on film when you're playing the game are you disruptive do you impact positively for the defense Cassius Howell does this that at A&M so he checks in right here at 25. 24 we get to some wide receivers how about Denzel Boston from Washington this guy is a dynamic guy now I really like Denzel Boston he's a big body receiver 6'4 and the traditionalists will tell you in the NFL you need that big body in particular when you get into the cold weather months you get into the playoffs and and somebody that can win those contested situations the windows in the in the playoffs in particular and as you get deeper into the playoffs they are so small and you've got to have a strong big body wide receiver that can go win in those moments I think Boston is one of those guys by the way he doesn't he well he doesn't really even have a 40 time he hasn't run a straight line 40. so you can question his overall speed but what you can't question is his quickness he was excellent when you looked at the shuttle third fastest time among all receivers so like listen that's something it's about creating space and catching the ball he can do both of those things at 23 I would say he's a great receiver but he's going to be a great receiver for the rest of his career I'm going to go with Jordan Tyson from Arizona State I thought that this guy was outstanding on the outside great wide receiver highlight reel when he's on the field he can go up and get it again that contested situation he's excellent there the knock is going to be his injury history I'm hearing some of those murmurs of like will he even be on the field he did not run at the combine because he's still working his way back from a hamstring injury blew out his knee when he was at Colorado before he transferred to Arizona State but Tyson when healthy he's going to be a great receiver and he's going to be a great receiver so he's going to be a great receiver and he's going to be a great receiver he's going to be an elite level prospect at 22 the tackle from Alabama Caden Proctor really good player monstrous human being he's 6'7 guys come on measured in at 352 he's athletic again like Caleb Banks on the defensive side they just don't make them like this you know and when you can draft traits and you can see it on the field that's a good thing so Caden Proctor in there at 22 getting closer to the top 20 here 21 safety Dylan Thienemann from Oregon now this is a good this is a guy that is rising up draft boards I didn't think that he had a great season at Oregon his tape is actually better from his first two years in college football when he was at Purdue so he's best when he's in a free safety mode and he can play center field but he's so smart and athletic that Oregon tried to play him a little bit like Caleb Downs played at Ohio State at or near the line of scrimmage as more of a roamer in that situation made that incredible pick if you're going to get into the top 20 here we go the Mosquito Bowl is the incredible true story of four college football stars who walked away from NFL careers after Pearl Harbor to enlist in the Marines from Friday Night Lights director Peter Berg and starring Nicholas Gallagher Bill Skarsgard Ray Nicholson and Tom Francis comes a story of brotherhood and sacrifice four men who traded the gridiron for the battlefield the Mosquito Bowl in theaters October 30th uh Edge Akeem Mesidor from Miami listen guys turn on the videotape right this guy was a game wrecker along with his teammate Reuben Bain big frame he's 6'3 260 pounds super productive for the Hurricanes goes inside and outside so he provides a little versatility he is going to be 25 years old on draft day he began his career at West Virginia before going down uh to Miami and having that solid season last year at 19 small school guy from Toledo Emmanuel McNeil Warren the safety from Toledo uh really active player his tape is littered with plays on the ball okay so if you want a guy that's going to be impactful and around the football field he's going to be a great guy if you want a guy that's going to be impactful and around the football field he's going to be a great guy McNeil Warren is your guy hits picks all of that um we've seen small school guys succeed indeed in the league. Quinion Mitchell was his teammate. Now he's with the Eagles. He's been a great player. So Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is inside of the top 20 at 19. At 18, tackle from Clemson, Blake Miller. Miller's a solid prospect now, and he played a ton of football. Super experienced guy at right tackle, over 50 starts for Dabo at Clemson, and he's 6'7", 320 pounds. Yeah, sign me up. Sign me up for experience right there. At 17, a guy that's been rising up draft boards, and we should have probably seen this because of his experience and his position value. Left tackle, Georgia, Monroe Freeling. Really talented guy. Only one year as a starter at Georgia, but is the top left tackle specifically in the draft, which could benefit, by the way, him greatly, in particular when the Browns are selecting at six. Remember in my mock draft, and if you haven't looked at the mock draft, go back and watch that mock draft on YouTube. But this is a guy with ideal length at left tackle, and his value at left could get him drafted a little bit sooner than maybe the big board would suggest. At 16, interior offensive lineman, Vanga Yoenia from Penn State. Super athletic and powerful guy. Really powerful guy on the interior. Someone is going to get a steal with him, and in particular because I don't know if you're going to value these interior linemen, probably like you should, but someone that needs an interior lineman is going to get the best interior lineman in this draft, and that is Yoenia. He is really good. He's the only interior guy in the top 50. I love this. You've got to watch YouTube because they put him in motion, and they got creative with him with his athleticism at Penn State. Really love him. He can be a left guard, right guard for 10, 12 years in the NFL. Stay on the O-line at 15. Let's go. Spencer Fano, the tackle from Utah. Now, I think he also provides some versatility. Some believe he could go down and play guard. I'm one of those. I think that he could go and do both. This is a really good player. One of the things that's going to be a knock on him is that he struggled a little bit against Texas Tech and their elite defensive line in that matchup with the Red Raiders in Salt Lake earlier this year. That was a game that Gus and Jenny and I called, so that's going to be a knock on him just a little bit, in particular at a straight tackle spot, but again, position versatility. I think that helps a lot. I think that's going to be a knock on him. I think that's him. At 14, this is a guy, I'm just going to be higher on this guy than most. Omar Cooper, yes, he did back of the end, so that's what I'm talking about. One of my favorite players in the draft, I thought he was the best wide receiver in the Big Ten and maybe in the country with the ball in his hands after the catch. Maybe, I don't know, Zachariah Branch would have something to say about that, and rightly so, but listen, Omar Cooper was out. There's the play right there. Absolutely, he did. Great body control. He can work the middle of the field. Great hands. Smart player. Omar Cooper is a guy that I think could be a real value add on the interior of a passing game for someone in the NFL, and when you see guys like JSN, Jackson Smith, and Jigba do what he was able to do, you get the right fit, the right offense, the right quarterback. That's exactly what Omar Cooper could do. Really powerful lower half. That's what you want when you're talking about those slot-wide receivers. He's a guy that's going to have some injury concerns. Could he be the top corner in the draft? Yes. Could he fall down the draft and maybe even outside of the first round? However unlikely that is, it could happen because of the injury concerns. Jermod McCoy, the corner from Tennessee, had that ACL injury, so we just haven't seen him in quite a bit. If he hadn't torn his ACL, though, I'm telling you, his 24 tape was outstanding. Did not squash those concerns at the combine. He did not run, but he is planning to work out at his pro day, so we'll see how that goes. I'm telling you, man, someone is going to love this guy. It will not shock me at all if we're talking about, in a few years, one of the best tight ends in the National Football League is Kenyon Sadiq from Oregon. One of the things I love about Sadiq is his athleticism, so he provides a weapon for a quarterback, in particular in the red zone. That's exactly what he did for Dante Moore at Oregon last year, but as Dan Lanning very accurately put it to me, go watch a blocking cut-up of this guy. This guy works hard regardless of down and distance. Regardless of situation, he's a devastating blocker, and so that versatility means that you can be, I would say, versatile with what your offense is, your schematics are, in particular from a personnel grouping standpoint, so I really love Sadiq from that aspect. Great athlete. He's 6'3", 240 pounds, 4'3", 9 in the 40. Come on, that's ridiculous. 43 and a half vert, nasty blocker. He's inside of my top 15. 12 overall. Number 11, tape don't lie, Ruben Bain is a game wrecker. This guy is awesome, man. Dominated everybody he lined up against this year. What I love most about Ruben Bain is that it did not matter the down and distance, the game situation. This guy was 100% all the time. All the time. Against the run, the pass, his motor does not stop. It does not stop. Love Bain. I know, I know. There's some concern about his length, and in particular, his arm length. If he falls, someone's going to get an absolute steal. He's my number 11 player in the draft. Number 10, my top corner in the draft, Mansour Delane from LSU. All-American out of LSU. Do-it-all corner. What I love about him is he's not afraid to be physical, both in the passing game and he'll come up and be a great tackler. I think every great corner has to be willing to step in there and get physical on the edge, and he absolutely has that. He's also very smooth in coverage. Mansour Delane, I think, certainly is going to get selected in the top 10. I would be pretty surprised if Bain or Delane get past the Chiefs, which I believe is the ninth pick. My number nine player in the draft, however, is Makai Lemon, slot receiver from USC. Again, I keep talking about this value. I don't think you have to be the prototypical big body wide receiver in order to create a lot of value at wide receiver. You get a guy that understands football like Makai Lemon does, and you can create a threat on offense. He's got the best spatial awareness in the draft at the wide receiver position. He just understands coverage. He understands space. He knows how to get himself open. He's reliable with the football, and he's really tough, man. This guy will go into traffic, and he will catch the football over the middle of the field, create big plays after the catch. Really love Makai Lemon. He's inside of my top 10. At number eight, Francis Maui Noah. Maui Noah is my top tackle available in the draft. Beast on the right side. There's been some questioning about his pass blocking ability, whether he can move laterally and maybe play left tackle. People think he's probably more a right tackle, which is what he played at Miami. What you don't have any questions about is his ability to just own the line of scrimmage. That was evident in that run in the playoff toward the national championship game. They won the line of scrimmage on the defensive side with Mesidor and Bain. They won it on the offensive side with Maui Noah. I thought he was terrific. He was a five-star out of high school, started right away for Mario Cristobal at Miami, and this guy plays angry. I really love his game. Number seven, my top receiver in the draft, Carnell Tate from Ohio State. Outstanding downfield threat. You talk about contested situations. This guy is terrific. He got overshadowed because of the absolute beast on the other side of the field in Jeremiah Smith, but man, Tate is outstanding, and he's a technician, which is what you would expect from Ohio State. He's a smooth route runner. He's 6'2". He's 195 pounds. He's got good speed. He's got good quickness, and because he comes out of that tree, you know he will produce. Every single one of these Ohio State receivers goes into the league, and they're ready-made to produce right away, right away, and he's absolutely one of them. There's no doubt in my mind. Carnell Tate, easily a top 10 pick. He's my number seven player on the big board. At number six, value, value, value, edge players, David Bailey from Texas Tech, game wrecker off the edge. He led the power four in sacks, tackles for loss in his one year at Tech. He had three years at Stanford. He goes to Tech, and he was outstanding. Leads them to a Big 12 championship, leads them into a playoff spot. They really, I don't want to say exceeded, but they matched their expectations, which were significant. Sky high, and all of that investment on the defensive line paid off, none more so than David Bailey. He was outstanding, and I think he's got a real chance to be the top pure edge rusher in the draft. At number five, a guy that has rocketed up draft boards. Now, he was already high. Many people before the combine had this guy inside of the top 15. Now, I've got him inside of my top five. He is number five overall, and that's Sonny Stiles, the linebacker for the Buckeyes at Ohio State. Perfect linebacker. For today's game, because of his versatility. Remember, his first year starting at Ohio State as just a youngster, he played safety. Then he moves down to linebacker. He's their captain, block O. Nobody had more respect in that locker room than Sonny Stiles. Smart player. He can cover out of the backfield. Terrific tackler, and he runs like crazy. I mean, his 40 was one, or excuse me, his combine was one of the great combines in history. 6'5", 245 pounds, ran 4-4-6 with a 43.5 jump. That's insane. Insane. And because of that, you pair that with all the intangibles, and he's going to get taken, at least in my estimation, in the top 10. I don't think that you can let this guy go because, again, he's going to be the focal point of your defense for years to come. He'll be a captain, a face of your franchise on the defensive side. I would say the same about this next player. My number four player is not going to get selected likely in the top five, even though he should, based on his impact on the field. The safety from Ohio State, Caleb Downs. I don't think there is a better pure defender in this draft. Caleb Downs is outstanding. Now, would the NFL decision makers love to see him be a little bit bigger? Yeah, probably. But man, again, just look at the tape. Watch him play and impact the game in every single area. Coverage, blitzing, at the line of scrimmage, deep down the field. He does it all. And one of the things that I loved about him was our conversations. He is as smart as anybody that I've covered in college football. Matt Patricia will be the first one to say that. I think he's going to be the first one to say that. I think he's going to be the first one to say that.