The first round and night one of the 2026 NFL Draft is in the books, and it was a wild one with a bunch of trades, a few surprises, and teams making multiple first-round picks. We saw the Raiders land their hopeful franchise quarterback, the Rams get their hopeful quarterback of the future, a ton of offensive linemen get drafted, and Makai Lemon land in Philly and potentially replace AJ Brown on the Eagles.
We have plenty to talk about, so here are my instant reactions from the first round of the 2026
NFL Draft.
Franchise Quarterbacks
As expected, the Las Vegas Raiders selected Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza with their 1st overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. He was expected to be their selection the second the Raiders clinched the top pick in the draft, and tonight it finally became official.
However, don’t expect him to start right away. The team signed veteran quarterback Kirk Cousins and ideally would like Mendoza to sit his entire rookie season. So, if all goes the way the Raiders front office and coaching staff hope, we won’t see much of Mendoza in 2026.
One of the bigger surprises from night one was the Los Angeles Rams selecting Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with their 13th overall selection. There was a ton of debate surrounding the QB2 during the draft process, but the Rams pounced on him and now he’ll be the eventual quarterback of the future behind veteran Matthew Stafford. He lands with Sean McVay and will have time to develop in what is probably the best-case scenario for him.
Jets choose Bailey over Reese
One of the bigger talking points heading into the draft was, what would the Jets do at 2? Would they take Ohio State’s Arvell Reese or Texas Tech’s David Bailey? Despite the cancelled top-30 visit, the Jets still took David Bailey with their 2nd overall pick, while Reese slipped to 5th overall to the Giants.
Time will tell whether they made the right decision.
9 Offensive Linemen go in round one
It was expected, and it happened. We saw a run on offensive linemen happen tonight, and a total of 9 went in the first round.
- OT Spencer Fano – Browns, 9th overall
- OL Francis Mauigoa – Giants, 10th overall
- OT Kaydn Proctor – Dolphins, 12th overall
- G Olaivavega Ioane – Ravens, 14th overall
- OT Blake Miller – Lions, 17th overall
- OT Monroe Freeling – Panthers, 19th overall
- OT Max Iheanachor – Steelers, 21st overall
- G Keylan Rutledge – Texans, 26th overall
- OL Caleb Lomu – Patriots, 28th overall
The offensive line is a strength of this draft class, and we should see more players go quickly on day 2 of the draft. Guards Chase Bisontis, Emmanuel Pregnon, Gennings Dunkers, and tackles Caleb Tiernan and Travis Burke all will likely go sometime in the second or third rounds.
Trades
We saw a bunch of trades in round one, with most coming in the final 10 picks. Early on, we saw the Chiefs and Cowboys move up a few spots to get their players, and the Eagles traded up with the Cowboys to select wide receiver Makai Lemon. After that, the Bills and 49ers traded out of the first round while the Jets moved back in and made their third first-round pick of the night.
We saw lots of movement tonight, and we could see more tomorrow and throughout the remainder of the 2026 NFL Draft.
Jeremiyah Love goes 3rd overall
The Cardinals were heavily rumored to be trading out of their 3rd overall selection, but they stayed and selected Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love. He’s a talented back and one of the better prospects in the draft, but we have seen this story before. Bad teams taking a running back early rarely work out for them.
The Cardinals have questions at quarterback and all over their defense, but added a running back while having James Conner, the recently signed Tyler Allgeier, and Trey Benson on the roster.
We’ll see how it plays out.
Excited for the Denver Broncos pick
The Broncos did not make a selection tonight after they traded away their first-round pick to the Miami Dolphins in a blockbuster trade for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle. They won’t pick to 62nd overall, but there’s a lot of talent still on the board for the Broncos.
They have been rumored to be looking at linebackers, tight ends, running backs, defensive and offensive linemen, and could trade up for someone. We’ll see what Sean Payton and George Paton have in store for the Broncos, but tomorrow night, we should have a new, exciting prospect joining the Broncos roster.
