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Ranking the 5 best and works picks of Round 1
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Ranking the 5 best and works picks of Round 1 originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The NFL Draft never disappoints, and Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft lived up to its billing. With a shorter pick clock and little consensus after the No. 1 pick, the surprises were flying off the board.
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But not all surprises are good, and as the hype dies down between Days 1 and 2, there's some time to reflect on which splashes were truly impactful. Of course, there's little use in predicting just how well these moves will turn out, but grading the process behind transactions can provide a proper baseline for our expectations.
Ranking the 5 best picks of Round 1
5. Philadelphia Eagles , USC WR Makai Lemon (No. 23)
Lemon made a strong case for WR1 this season, posting gaudy production while flashing many of the traits that foreshadowed Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Emeka Egbuka 's transition into more than just slot receivers.
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Slot-bound or not, Lemon is going to make plays for Philadelphia. He adds insulation to a passing offense that has cracks in its foundation, insurance for an A.J. Brown trade, and upside on easier completions.
It feels like a mistake that Lemon fell this far, and as always, the Eagles capitalized. Moving a pair of late-round picks to take this swing is easy to accept when it's a consensus top-15 pick falling too far.
4. New York Giants , Ohio State LB/EDGE Arvell Reese (No. 5)
Giants fans were justifiably emotional on draft night, hoping to cash in on Jaxson Dart 's rookie year and a second top pick via the Dexter Lawrence trade. There were a dozen permutations that would have left the New York faithful overjoyed. Yet, when the top non-quarterback in this class fell all the way to No. 5, the reaction felt rather muted.
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That's likely just a matter of surprise; Reese wasn't on most fans' radars, and there was little time to conjure up a reaction.
Fear not! This was an excellent pick. Reese won't be New York's Mike, but as a rangy outside linebacker with freakish play strength and a strong first step, he's a playmaker at the second level. Add in the off-ramp as a pass rusher, and there's both extra utility and some positional value to make Reese pop. Reese falling past No. 2 may have been a mistake. Falling past No. 4 is a pretty significant win for the Giants.
3. Carolina Panthers , Georgia OT Monroe Freeling (No. 19)
With little consensus in this class, there's something to be said about the chances for later picks to outshine their early-Thursday predecessors. There's a real chance that Freeling is the best lineman in this class. He's an excellent athlete, flashed high-level pass protection against SEC defenses, and has experience at multiple positions.
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For a Panthers offense in desperate need of high talent, Freeling falling is quite a gift. It's not possible to sustainably win with Bryce Young if he is under constant duress. Wherever -- and whenever -- Freeling starts, he'll provide an upgrade.
There was legitimate top-10 hype during the draft process, and Freeling doubled down on his platform season with a strong pre-draft circuit. The delta between him and the linemen drafted before him is small, and he may have the most upside in the class.
2. Tennessee Titans , Auburn EDGE Keldric Faulk (No. 31)
There are two ways to crack the code of post-draft grades: draft high-value positions, and do it with players falling farther than they should. Faulk checks both boxes.
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Yes, he lost some steam during the pre-draft process, given that his final season wasn't overly productive. Even so, his athletic numbers popped. At 276 pounds, Faulk ran a 4.67-second 40-yard dash and hit 35 inches on his vertical. When running the hoop drill, he showcased the kind of bend eliciting upside as a pass rusher.
He's an NFL-ready run defender who has the ingredients to grow into his pass-rushing potential. In a near-perfect fit for his skill set, Robert Saleh will optimize Faulk and allow him to balance his early-down strength with passing-down athleticism. Saleh is a wizard at maximizing defensive linemen in his vision, and Faulk has plenty of tools for him to play with.
1. Kansas City Chiefs , Clemson DT Peter Woods (No. 29)
Like Lemon falling to Philly, it always feels like the draft's biggest fallers land on the best teams. The Chiefs didn't need an heir to Chris Jones in Round 1. But when a preseason top-five prospect falls to the end of Round 1, it's too tempting not to swing.
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Woods will immediately improve Kansas City 's run defense, and like Faulk, he should improve as a pass rusher at the next level. Similarly, it's a good process decision given his spot on the consensus board, his high-value position, and strong athleticism.
There have been mock drafts that paired Woods with the Chiefs in the top 10. Landing him at the back end of Round 1 is the best pick by my board, even after a tumultuous 2025 season.
Ranking the 5 worst picks of Round 1
5. Arizona Cardinals , Notre Dame RB Jeremiyah Love (No. 3)
We know the deal here. Bad team picks a good running back, everyone gets mad, world keeps spinning. But the nerds are right about this one. Love may very well be an elite back in due time; I'd slot him above Ashton Jeanty as prospects. But the opportunity cost of the third-overall pick is significant, and Arizona chose to start its rebuild with an expensive player on the lower end of the positional value spectrum.
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MORE: Why the nerds hate the Jeremiyah Love selection
Arvell Reese isn't Will Anderson , but the path of a star edge rusher changing a defense's fortunes is much simpler than a running back trying to carry an offense. Even other low-value positions, like safety ( Caleb Downs ) or linebacker ( Sonny Styles ) provided Arizona with a quicker route to taking over games.
Love is bound to be an excellent pro, but when a running back is taken by this poor of a roster, it feels like his best days will come in another uniform. Let's hope that's not the case in Arizona.
4. Los Angeles Chargers , Miami EDGE Akheem Mesidor (No. 22)
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Mesidor's film is pretty good, and it's the biggest piece of the puzzle in his top-50 hype. However, just about every other factor points to Mesidor being a bit of a reach.
Being 25 years old as a rookie matters. It's less of a developmental runway and less surplus value on the second contract if things go right. If things go wrong, we'll look back and point to his best season coming as a more mature body than his peers (while playing alongside a top-15 pick at edge rusher).
Mesidor didn't test during the pre-draft cycle. He has lower-body injuries staining his medical profile. Was his tape that much better than the Keldric Faulks and Zion Youngs of the world? I'm not so sure.
The Harbaugh regime has been rife with questionable offseason acquisitions. This one fits right in.
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3. Seattle Seahawks , Notre Dame RB Jadarian Price (No. 32)
Most of what applies to Arizona applies to their Super Bowl-winning rivals with the last pick in Round 1. Price, Love's backup at Notre Dame, obviously isn't as potent as the No. 3 pick. On the flip side, Seattle's swing carried less opportunity cost.
My biggest gripe here is talent. Price is much closer to Day 3 than Day 1 on my board, and in a weak running back class, I'm not convinced he was the class's clear RB2. Price was never part of the passing game at Notre Dame and wasn't asked to carry the load of the rushing attack.
He was efficient, but his film didn't stand out, and when compared to the other part-time backs in recent drafts (Ohio State's Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson , UNC's Javonte Williams and Michael Carter, Georgia's Nick Chubb and Sony Michel ), Price doesn't move the needle.
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This feels like a reach, looking for a plug-and-play starter to start on a Super Bowl contender. I respect the swing, but don't agree with how they arrived on a mid-round running back.
2. Los Angeles Rams , Alabama QB Ty Simpson (No. 13)
The Rams may have saved a lesser team from themselves.
In a weak quarterback class, Simpson made a pretty poor case to be a first-round pick. He's a good processor who deals with pressure well and has had some high-level flashes this fall. But Simpson isn't the biggest, strongest, fastest, or most accurate. He's not seasoned by experience or buoyed by big-game success.
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Simpson has a below-average frame, mediocre arm talent, and just one season of starts to his name; it's a profile fraught with red flags.
He's also not helping Los Angeles beat Seattle, perhaps the most troubling piece of this puzzle. The Rams can taste the second Super Bowl championship of Sean McVay's tenure. Their quarterback just won the league's MVP award. Two of their division rivals are expected to join them in next year's playoff race.
And with the margins so slim, the Rams took a player whose presence in the starting lineup means something has gone horribly wrong.
If Simpson is a franchise quarterback, Les Snead will look like a genius. Virtually any other outcome, including the many in which Simpson is a fine starter, will have the football world vindicated in its skepticism.
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1. Houston Texans , Georgia Tech OG Kaylen Rutledge (No. 26)
The Texans have a knack for taking an inopportune approach to building an offensive line.
Maybe Houston knows something we don't, but straying far from the consensus board is frequently a sign of bad things to come. Few were as aggressive in doing so as the Texans, who took Rutledge 32 spots ahead of his consensus board ranking (via Wide Left). That's a massive reach, especially with other offensive linemen (Emmanuel Pregnon, Chase Bisontis) available.
Houston doubled its trouble by trading up to make the pick. Getting back Nos. 26 and 91 for Nos. 28, 69, and 167 is an overpay, and it doesn't seem likely that anyone was rushing to the podium for Rutledge's services.
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Rutledge's elite athleticism will give him a chance to blossom. Most see him as a starter, and the Texans badly need one. But Houston reached on a low-value position and traded up to do so, making this the worst process move of the first round.
