We are well and truly on the path to the 2026 NFL Draft. Mock draft season is in full swing and evaluators around the media landscape are releasing profiles and big boards.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler released
his initial list Top 100 after the Super Bowl. Every evaluator’s rankings will likely change as we go through the process, with the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine as the most likely to reshuffle.
The New York Giants only have two picks in the Top 100, at least as things stand now. They could make moves to add draft capital, potentially working a trade, moving a player (or players) or finding a trade partner on draft night.
But while the Giants might not be making many picks in the Top 100, Brugler’s list is always interesting reading.
1) I don’t know if I’ll ever fully agree with Brugler
I think acknowledging various biases is foundational to any good piece of analysis or evaluation, so I want to start off by acknowledging one of the biggest differences in how Brugler and I seem to view the draft. He seemingly passes every prospect through a “Height/Weight/Speed” filter and that often figures heavily in his evaluations. That’s an old school way of doing things — with the twist of using modern technology to accurately measure athleticism.
I used to be the same way. However, seeing players like Steve Smith Sr. Jason Kelce, Odell Beckham Jr., Aaron Donald, DeVonta Smith, Devon Achane, the Kendricks brothers, and Ivan Pace Jr. all have success as “undersized” players for their positions, while players with “prototypical” or “freakish” profiles bust convinced me to re-evaluate my process for evaluations.
Now my personal mantra is “Size Is Not A Skill Set”. I’m not saying that I’m right and he’s wrong, but rather something to keep in mind as we go through the list.
2) This will be a defense-driven draft
If there’s one thing that leaps off the page when looking at this draft class, it’s that this is definitely a stronger defensive class than offensive class. A quarterback is going to go first overall, but the rest of the Top 20 will likely be dominated by defense. Not exclusively defensive players, mind you, but it’d be a surprise if we got more than six or seven offensive players between picks 2 and 20.
That might not impact the Giants’ draft, as there might only be three players off the board that they care about. If they want to continue to add to the defense, there should be good options available. Likewise, they should also have impact players available on the offensive side of the ball as well. But the general theme of the first round should be established pretty early.
3) A good draft to trade back — if you can find a partner
One of the other things that simply leaps off the page is how flat the talent level is in this draft. There will probably be 20 (or so) players to carry first round grades in this draft, but how each individual team views them could vary tremendously. Some teams could see Denzel Boston as WR1 in this class and a Top 5 pick, while others could see him as 20.
That obviously makes trading down highly attractive, as your board could dictate that you get similar value at 15th overall as fifth overall, with additional draft capital. On the flip side, there isn’t much trade bait at the top, that is, unless, teams simply fall in love with a position player like the Jaguars did Travis Hunter.
It’ll be fascinating to see how that plays out and impacts the draft. I suspect we could either see teams be highly aggressive trying to get “Their Guy” or a very sedate night, without much in between.
4) Ty Simpson will be a lynchpin
The Alabama quarterback could well be the second quarterback off the board. He was in contention to be QB1 at times this season and has significant upside. However, he also only has one season of starting experience and had an uneven season.
That said, this is an undeniably weak quarterback class and the question is how far the NFL allows Simpson to fall on draft night. The New York Jets are an obvious team to watch given their plethora of first round picks, but so too are the Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams. Matt Stafford is an MVP but we don’t know how long he’ll be able to play at that level or even want to keep playing. The Rams have a late first round pick they could use to take Simpson — or perhaps as a trade chip if they want to make an aggressive move.
It’s something that bears watching.
5) Day 2 is the sweet spot for interior linemen
If you want to add an interior lineman, either offensive or defensive, Day 2 is the place to do it. This class doesn’t have much in the way of high level talent on the interior. There is no Quinten Nelson or Ndamukong Suh who commands a high pick and will be a Day 1 game changer. However, there are plenty of (somewhat limited) guards and defensive tackles who will carry Day 2 grades. That doesn’t mean the classes are weak by any means, and there will be good players available throughout the Friday portion of the draft.
That could actually work out for the Giants if they follow the Ravens’ recent history of drafting a receiver or defensive back in the first round and a lineman in the second.
6) The fall of Peter Woods
Okay, I probably could have just expanded the subhead to say “What happened at Clemson?” but I was just talking about defensive tackles, so I thought I’d stay at the position.
Woods was widely considered a Top 10 lock coming into the season thanks to his athleticism and versatility. He split time between defensive tackle and defensive end in 2024 and had a solid-enough season (3 sacks, 4 hits, 13 hurries), but he was completely unable to back that up as a more pure defensvie tackle this year.
It was a common theme at Clemson, with T.J. Parker suffering a similar fall, while Cade Klubnick went from being in the “QB1” discussion to a likely Day 3 pick.
Parker, at least, had a great week at the Senior Bowl to begin rehabilitating his draft stock. However I’m not sure how much trust you can have in the rest of the Clemson prospects, and Woods is the poster boy for that.
7) Dane might be too low on Kenyan Sadiq
I was wondering if there might be some kind of mistake in Brugler’s list as I scrolled down and didn’t see Oregon TE Kenyan Sadiq… At least not until I got to 20th overall. As I mentioned above, I suspect there will be about 20 first round grades given out on average this year. That would suggest that Brugler isn’t convinced that Sadiq should be a lock to be drafted in the first round.
I’m not ready to plant a flag in the ground on Sadiq just yet, but I think his eventual evaluation will be closer to Michael Meyer, Brock Bowers, or Tyler Warren than a second round tight end. He could be among the first offensive players off the board.
8) Edge is quietly stacked this year
I mentioned above that this draft is going to be driven by the defensive side of the ball, and Brugler’s Top 100 is simply littered with talented edge defenders. It isn’t as good as last year’s edge class, but the depth is impressive.
Personally, I tend to think Brugler is too low on Rueben Bain Jr. and Romello Height (see above on differences in opinion with respect to measurables). But there should be good pass rushers and edge defenders available at just about every pick in the first three rounds. Offenses could be in for a tough time this year, particularly as the 2025 class matures.
Valentine’s View
Chris kindly left room for me to add a pair of my own takeaways. So, here they are.
1.) The Sonny Styles love
I was a bit surprised to see Brugler rank Styles, an off-ball linebacker, as his No. 5 overall prospect. I watched Styles recently, and my comment to Chris was “the Giants could use some of that in the middle of the field.”
Can you select an off-ball linebacker No. 5 in the draft? I don’t know. I do know I think Styles is going to be a terrific defender who has all the skills needed to be on the field on every down.
2.) Day 2 is also a wide receiver sweet spot
Chris said above that he believes Day 2 of the draft to be a sweet spot for interior linemen. He is probably right. It is also, though, a sweet spot for wide receivers.
Brugler has 14 receivers ranked from No. 22 to No. 99. They are:
KC Concepcion, Texas A&M (No. 22); Denzel Boston, Washington (No. 25); Omar Cooper Jr., Indiana (No. 27); Germie Bernard, Alabama (No. 45); Chris Brazzell, Tennessee (No. 46); Malachi Fields, Notre Dame (No. 49); Chris Bell, Louisville (No. 53); Antonio Williams, Clemson (No. 61); Ted Hurst, Georgia State (No. 62); Elijah Surratt, Indiana (No. 65); Brenen Thompson, Mississippi State (No. 74); Zachariah Branch, Georgia (No. 75); Reggie Virgil, Texas Tech (No. 94); Bryce Lance, North Dakota State (No. 99).
Unfortunately, the Giants don’t have a third-round pick.
