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2027 NFL Draft: 26 Best NFL Prospects in College Football
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- 2027 NFL Draft: 26 Best NFL Prospects in College Football
The 2026 NFL Draft had a good group of prospects, but overall, it's just okay. The 2027 NFL Draft, however ... let's go.
This isn't a ranking of the projected best players in college football — it's a look at the top NFL prospects coming into this season.
Lots of quarterbacks, lots of massive calls, lots of big players, big stars, and one whopper of a wide receiver who might have been the second overall pick this year.
The hype will be off the charts with the talent that's coming out, and the NFL focus will be on all the future franchise quarterbacks on the way.
Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr(13) warms up before an NCAA football game against Texas A&M at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025, in South Bend.© MICHAEL CLUBB/SOUTH BEND TRIBUNE / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
CFN's 26 for 2026: Top 2027 NFL Draft Prospects
26: Winningest Programs Yet To Make the CFP
25: ACC Key Questions
24: Big 12 Key Questions
23: Big Ten Key Questions
Next Up: No. 22, SEC Key Questions
One key thing to note before getting started - this is fluid. Did we have Fernando Mendoza in our top 100 early last year? No - oops.
Things change fast, NFL Draft stocks rise and fall in a hiccup, and we'll adapt and adjust on the fly. For now, here are the top 26 NFL prospects going into the season.
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26 Jamari Johnson, TE Oregon
No, he's not the elite talent Oregon tight end star Kenyon Sadiq is, but the 6-5, 257-pound Johnson is a different type of athlete.
Good at Louisville, he turned into more than a No. 2 tight end for the Ducks last year with 32 catches for 510 yards and three scores.
25 Princewill Umanmielen, EDGE LSU
This seems like the 13th year we've been writing about Umanmielen.
He came to Nebraska as the next big thing, but he didn't take off until he went to Ole Miss last year, making 44 tackles with nine sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
Following Lane Kiffin to LSU, his profile will keep rising as one of the nation's top edge rushers.
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24 Damon Wilson II, EDGE Miami
Next.
The Hurricanes lost Rueben Bain and Akheem Mesidor
to the NFL, and they went out and got one of the nation's best pass rushers to help fill the gaps.
The 6-4, 250-pound Wilson was a good recruit for Georgia, but didn't take off until last year at Missouri, with nine sacks and 23 stops.
23 Sam Leavitt, QB LSU
Never assume who the Lane Kiffin starting quarterback will be, but the guy who gets that job - Jaxson Dart
and Trinidad Chambliss are the recent stars - will blow up.
A baller, the 6-3, 210-pounder runs well and was the feisty leader for Arizona State's run to the 2024 Big 12 Championship and College Football Playoff. Hurt for most of last year, if he's right, he'll be comped to Dart.
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22 Zabien Brown, CB Alabama
A good-sized corner who should turn into even more of a ball-hawker, he turned both of his picks last season into touchdowns.
He and 6-4 Dijon Lee will form a whale of a corner tandem for the Tide.
21 Rasheem Biles, LB Texas
A destructive force for Pitt over the last two years, with 183 tackles, 31.5 tackles for loss, ten sacks, and three interceptions taken for scores, now he'll be manning the middle of the Texas defense.
There's one problem as an NFL prospect - he's a true tweener at just 6-1 and 215 pounds.
20 Darian Mensah, QB Miami
Accurate, smart, and a proven winner, the current ACC Champion-winning quarterback goes to the team that played for the national title. He's not a runner, and he needs to get a bit bigger, but the guy can throw.
Watch for him to be even more explosive coming off a year throwing for close to 4,000 yards with 34 touchdowns and just six picks.
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19 KJ Bolden, S Georgia
While he's built a bit more like a corner than a true safety, he's a great tackler for his 6-0, 185-pound size.
Likely to drop a bit as a Free Safety Only type, get past the measurables - he can play.
18 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, LB Notre Dame
The production and burst have to be there after suffering a knee injury, but with his 6-3, 230-pound size and pass-rushing skills, he's a versatile option who'll find a fit somewhere. But first, everything has to be back to normal.
17 Anthony Smith, DE Minnesota
A true old school NFL defensive end at 6-6 and 285 pounds, he's got the size, burst off the ball, and the experience, with 18.5 sacks and 29 tackles for loss over the last two seasons.
Dec 26, 2025; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Minnesota Golden Gophers defensive lineman Anthony Smith(0) against the New Mexico Lobos during the Rate Bowl at Chase Field.© Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
16 Quincy Rhodes Jr., EDGE Arkansas
Still growing into the position as a defensive end/edge rusher tweener, the 6-6, 277-pounder stepped up last season with eight sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss, and 44 stops. Now he has to do it again to be in the first round mix.
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15 Ty Benefield, S LSU
Warning: there's always overlove for the top safeties here - the most ignored big position in the draft.
Benefield comes over from Boise State, where he made 235 tackles with five interceptions and 12 broken up passes over the last three years. At 6-2 and 205 pounds, he has the size to go along with the range.
14 Trevor Goosby, OT Texas
Consider this a true projection as the 6-7, 325-pounder is just growing into his upside and potential. He wasn't a top recruit, and last season was his first as a full-time starter at left tackle, but all of the tools are there.
13 Ellis Robinson IV, CB Georgia
The 6-0, 180-pounder isn't going to pound anyone, but he's got the ball skills and tools to grow into an elite corner prospect. In his first year as a starter, he picked off an SEC-high four passes and broke up seven. He can move.
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12 Julian Sayin, QB Ohio State
There's a little bit of the Ohio State Quarterback thing happening - he's playing behind an NFL line, handing off to NFL running backs, and throwing to elite NFL wide receivers, but he's rock-solid.
In his first full year, he completed 77% of his throws with 32 touchdowns, and now he knows what he's doing.
11 Leonard Moore, CB Notre Dame
Coming off an All-America season, the 6-2, 197-pound veteran showed his great freshman season was no fluke.
He broke up 11 passes with 48 tackles and two picks in the Irish's run to the national title game, and last year he intercepted five throws as an elite shutdown talent.
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10 Jordan Seaton, OT LSU
Forget for a moment that the Colorado offensive line blocked like a soft breeze, even though he was the star, Seaton is a 6-5, 315-pound dream of an NFL tackle who should shine on the left side of the LSU front.
9 David Stone, DT Oklahoma
Very young, but very good, the 20-year-old is adding the bulk and should be a true anchor at around 315 pounds on his 6-3 frame.
Last year's 42-tackle season with eight tackles for loss just scratched the surface.
8 LaNorris Sellers, QB South Carolina
R-E-L-A-X - here comes the bounceback - and he wasn't that
bad last year.
He didn't run last year like he did in his breakout 2024 campaign, and the big pass plays weren't quite there, but the team around him wasn't great.
He's still 6-3 and 240, he's still got all of the tools, and he'll be only 21 years old when the season starts.
Nov 29, 2025; Columbia, South Carolina, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers(16) passes against the Clemson Tigers in the first quarter at Williams-Brice Stadium. © Jeff Blake-Imagn Images
7 Dylan Stewart, EDGE South Carolina
The NFL tends to like super-athletic 6-5, 250ish pound edge rushers from the SEC who come up with 11 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss and six forced fumbles in their first two seasons.
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6 Koi Perich, S Oregon
Last year, Oregon took safety Dillon Thieneman away from Purdue, and he was every bit as good in Eugene. This year, it poached Perich from Minnesota.
The 6-1, 200-pound former Gopher made 128 tackles with six picks in his first two years, and was one of the nation's best all-around return men. Now the draft spotlight is on.
5 Dante Moore , QB Oregon
Yeah, the 6-3, 210-pounder would've been the No. 2 overall pick to the Jets if he came out for the 2026 NFL Draft, and he'll be the top quarterback on most lists for next year when he moves on, but the top four prospects for next year are at a whole other level.
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4 Colin Simmons, EDGE Texas
Insane strong, insane quick, and both smooth and explosive coming around the edge, he's going to be the must-have edge rusher in the 2027 NFL Draft.
The 6-3, 245ish pounder has 21 sacks and 29.5 tackles for loss in his first two seasons.
3 Jeremiah Smith, WR Ohio State
Out of all the elite Ohio State wide receivers dominating the NFL over the last several years, Smith is the one of ones prospect-wise.
He's a better prospect than Marvin Harrison was, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba
, and Emeka Egbuka
, Carnell Tate, Garrett Wilson
, and on and on.
Try this for a profile. He's a 6-3, 225-pound wide receiver who runs a sub-4.4 and caught 163 passes for 2,558 yards and 27 touchdowns in two years at the highest of levels.
No arguing if you think he should be higher than this, but he's a receiver - quarterbacks matter more.
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2 CJ Carr, QB Notre Dame
Buy into the hype that's coming out of South Bend after this offseason.
It was quickly forgotten that he almost pulled out the win over Miami and did everything but hit the extra point against Texas A&M, and was close to flawless the rest of the way.
He might not run too often, but the 6-3, 210-pounder is a true next-level passer with the arm, the demeanor, and the command. But when it comes to quarterbacks going into 2027 ...
Nov 28, 2025; Austin, Texas, USA; Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manningwarms up before a game against the Texas A&M Aggies at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.© Scott Wachter-Imagn Images
1 Arch Manning , QB Texas
We're all used to elite college quarterbacks being amazing right out of the gate. Sometimes it takes several at-bats to start seeing the curveball.
It's all there, including the toughness to handle all the hype, all the smoke, and all the doubters to come up with a decent year by most reasonable standards.
This is a 6-4, 220-pound Manning who runs, has the arm, and looks like a player who just needed the time logged in for things to slow down a little bit.
On top of all of that, find one person who has a negative thing to say about him - there's nothing. He's it, he's the NFL franchise quarterback, and now let's see if he goes out and proves it.
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The Rest of the First Round 2027 NFL Draft Prospects
This is the 26 for 2026 series, so we'll stick with the bit, but here are six others to round out the group of projected 32 first round talents (in alphabetical order).
Coen Echols, OG Texas A&M:The question might be the measurements. He's listed at 6-3 and 315, but the former LSU Tiger might check in a little bit smaller. This is still a projection, and he might be a guard at the next level, but the all-around talent is there.
Kelley Jones, CB Mississippi State:Super intriguing with a great blend of skills, he's a 6-4, 195-pound broken up pass machine.
Nick Marsh, WR Indiana:Both silky-smooth and explosive for a 6-3, 213-pounder, the former Michigan State Spartan is about to take his game up a whole other notch for the Hoosiers.
Justin Scott, DT Miami:At 6-4 and 303 pounds, he's not massive, but he'll once again serve as an anchor for another great Miami defensive front. Don't expect anything splashy, but he's tough, talented, and starting to grow into his own.
Carter Smith, OT Indiana:There was plenty of recognition over the last few years, but now he'll be the star of another good offensive line. At 6-5 and 313 pounds, he's got the size along with the left tackle quickness.
A'Mauri Washington, DT Oregon:The 6-3, 320-pounder has anchor ability with a funky way of getting into the backfield and batting down throws.
Related: 26 for 2026: 26 Key Questions for the Big Ten Football Season
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This story was originally published by College Football News on Apr 22, 2026, where it first appeared in the College Football section. Add College Football News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
