The 2026 Draft Thread - 1st Round - 7th overall

skinsinparadise said:
On the national stuff I trust Schefter the most. He also is saying could be Love at 3. I love Mcshay, I wouldn't say I trust him 100% but I do believe he has good sources. I really though don't trust anyone 100% not even Keim. But when I start hearing things overlap from muliple sources I trust, I trust it more. With Keim I trust him the most when he's uber specific. As to Love-Styles, he flat out said he doesn't know how they'd go -- guessed in a podcast Love but couched it as a guess. And i don't recall the wording.

Muitiple sources including Keim -- Downs not the preference at 7
Multiple sources including Keim -- they love -- Love and Styles
Keim and a minor national source -- Delane is next on the list after Love and Styles

McShay all over the place on Tate, going top 5, to now maybe falling out of it. Haven't listened to him on it today but will. He thought Tate to Washington then backed off.
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He hasn’t said what we’re going to take it Styles/Love are off the board yet.

You can tell he’s talked to a lot of people over the weekend.
 
KDawg said:
I don’t either, but it tells you they have Styles over everyone.

I don’t think either are there.

McShay just said point blank that if Arizona stays, they are taking Love. If they move back, Tennessee is taking Love.

And I don’t think Styles gets beyond 5.

I think it’s essentially Delane, Tate, Downs for us.
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If that’s the case (and I agree that it seems likely), I’d be open to trading back to 9 if KC wanted to get ahead of NO to take Delane and we still wind up with Tate.

Of course, if WAS prefers Tate to Downs (or whoever), they’d be taking a risk that NO grabs him at 8.
 
KDawg said:
He hasn’t said what we’re going to take it Styles/Love are off the board yet.

You can tell he’s talked to a lot of people over the weekend.
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Cool, I'll listen to it. McShay is a blast.

He so gets into the fun of the draft. I used to talk about it on ES -- loved his podcast with Kiper.

I know he tallks to a lot of people and shares it every podcast. I might watch his coverage of the draft on Netflix over ESPN on Thursday,

For those who say its all nonsense. I think some of it is smoke. Some of it is real. It's part of the reporters job to dicipher that. Usually its based on who have they trusted in the past.

Just being a draft geek forever, and subscribing to every draft thing I can, I even used to get the books that Kiper put out years ago and stopped doing about a decade ago -- some of what's out this week is absolutely on the money, some isn't. My rule of thumb is to look for overlaps from one person to the other -- doesn't make it foolproof but it increases the odds.
 
KDawg said:
McShay was very confident. It’s as confident as I’ve seen him. It was like he actually got inside info there.

But that aligns mostly. We all assume it’s Love > Styles > Delane but it looks like it may be Styles > Love > Delane

I don’t put a ton of stock into what media says. I take it for what it is. But McShay is the guy I trust over any others in the media.
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I always go back to the source. Who would have told McShay that in a way he feels that confident, and what would they have to gain from it.

Every year, there are reports about this or that, and people stating things definitively that they have heard, and it turns out to be fake news.

There are other spots where it turns out to be accurate.

The problem is, it's really hard to tell what's going to be accurate, and what is fake news.

I find it hard to believe the following:

1. Anybody in our FO who KNOWS what the board looks like and what the pick is has told anybody. Literally anybody.
2. The team has told the agents of any prospect "if he's there, we're picking your guy."
3. Anybody on the coaching staff except for Quinn and the coordinators are fully read in on the full board.

I could be wrong, but this group has been extraordinarily tight lipped.

So, if you take that as generally fact, who would have told McShay that information and what would they have gained from it? One thing I want to be clear about, I absolutely don't think McShay made that up. Somebody did tell him. The question is who and why would they?

And frankly, apart from Styles' agent, I don't know who would or why. And I'm not sure that McShay would trust the agent, he's smarter than that.

And if you put all that together, there are the following options:

1. I'm wrong, and the FO is leaking more than it has in previous years. This would make me unhappy.
2. McShay believed the agent who fed him a line
3. Some other team has a reason for feeding this information to McShay for some other motive, though I can't figure out what it is
4. McShay made it up because it's good theater and nobody is going to contradict him. It's a fairly good guess anyway.

I dunno. It's weird.

And while I like Styles, I prefer Love. I don't honestly think it's going to matter. I think the football Gods are going to take this decision out of our hands. I don't think Love and Styles are both going to be there.
 
Guys… I am fully aware there is a lot of smoke here. Really. I promise. Remember, in some capacity I am involved in the football business (not at the pro level, but you hear things). I know there is a lot of misdirection.

I compare sources and look for overlap.

I’m typing what McShay is saying and what I think. I am not passing it as gospel.

Just wanted to make sure that was clear
 
If Peters picks Styles because he's "Quinn's guy" that's a HUGE ENORMOUS mistake. Because if they go 8-9 or worse, Quinn is most likely going to be fired, and Peters has to know that.

Peters needs to pick HIS GUY, not QUINN'S guy.

I hope he knows that. Collaboration and supporting the coaching staff is extremely important. But the reason you separate the two roles is exactly for this reason: you don't have the HC making emotional personnel decisions.

Now, it's is possible that Styles is BOTH Peters' and Quinn's guy. In which case, go with God. And find offensive weapons elsewhere stat.
 
Chris said:
Netflix?
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Seconded, Netfix?

I don't actually have a way to watch the draft. I don't have cable anymore, nor YouTube TV (which I had for the season to watch games), or the ESPN or NFL apps. I was going to try and find a radio broadcast somewhere, though honestly, I don't care that much for the blather, I really just need to know the picks, which I can get by following the trackers...

But I DO have Netflix.
And this quick search just turned up this gem:

Netflix is hosting live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft with The Ringer NFL Draft Show and The McShay Show, featuring analysts like Todd McShay for Days 1 and 2. Coverage includes live draft analysis, mock drafts, and player prospects, complementing traditional broadcasts. The 2014 movie Draft Day is also available.

So I know where I'll be watching!

EDIT: Chris it appears as though they do have a live draft coverage.
 
McShay: Styles is Washington’s priority. They love Love, but he’s hearing they aren’t all that in on Bailey but could be just being coy about it. But otherwise if they are thinking receiver it would be”absolutely” be Tate.

No mention of Delane. So I do think some things have been left out because I think we’re in on him.
 
KDawg said:
Guys… I am fully aware there is a lot of smoke here. Really. I promise. Remember, in some capacity I am involved in the football business (not at the pro level, but you hear things). I know there is a lot of misdirection.

I compare sources and look for overlap.

I’m typing what McShay is saying and what I think. I am not passing it as gospel.

Just wanted to make sure that was clear
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My post replying to yours wasn't questioning you.

It was questioning how McShay got his information.

It might be accurate.

It might not.

But I find him being so definitive ... somewhat remarkable giving how tight lipped our FO has been. Which is why I remarked on it.
 
So many possible scenarios and outcomes. Whatever happens and whoever we get is going to result in a combination of elation, disappointment, and what-ifs. Hell, it even happened back when we had the #2 pick overall. Now there's 4 or 5 possible (realistic) outcomes. I think we should make a site -wide pinky promise that we will not complain if we get one of a posters big 3. Put it on the site as a sticky and hold each other accountable.
It won't happen, but it would make for a fun time when someone breaks their vow.
 
Voice_of_Reason said:
Seconded, Netfix?

I don't actually have a way to watch the draft. I don't have cable anymore, nor YouTube TV (which I had for the season to watch games), or the ESPN or NFL apps. I was going to try and find a radio broadcast somewhere, though honestly, I don't care that much for the blather, I really just need to know the picks, which I can get by following the trackers...

But I DO have Netflix.
And this quick search just turned up this gem:

Netflix is hosting live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft with The Ringer NFL Draft Show and The McShay Show, featuring analysts like Todd McShay for Days 1 and 2. Coverage includes live draft analysis, mock drafts, and player prospects, complementing traditional broadcasts. The 2014 movie Draft Day is also available.

So I know where I'll be watching!

EDIT: Chris it appears as though they do have a live draft coverage.
Click to expand...

I just subscribed to NFL+ for a month to get NFL Network for the draft. I’ll check out Netflix, too.

As far as traditional draft coverage goes…

frontofficesports.com

Netflix Passes on NFL Draft Rights As Fox, Streamers Battle

Sources say the league is likely to add one streaming partner to its draft coverage plans, which include ESPN and NFL Network.
frontofficesports.com frontofficesports.com
 
Commander Wraith said:
If that’s the case (and I agree that it seems likely), I’d be open to trading back to 9 if KC wanted to get ahead of NO to take Delane and we still wind up with Tate.

Of course, if WAS prefers Tate to Downs (or whoever), they’d be taking a risk that NO grabs him at 8.
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What has been (I'm going to get in trouble for using this word) speculated is they are higher on Delane than Tate.

If that's the case, they should stick and pick Delane at 7 rather than trade down and potentially (almost certainly) lose their preferred prospect.

And then go sign every FA WR still available.
 
It seems clear that board is;

1. Styles
2. Love

After that it gets murky and I think they would prefer a trade down if possible
 
Where can you piece together info on the draft? Breer talked about it, and I posted his point on it. Others have talked about it, too.

A. Other teams are often a good source. Teams call others in advance about interest in trading up and down to get a sense of what they want capital wise. Scouts are often friends with scouts from other teams and they talk to each other during pro days. They hear things when doing their own research --ala lets say they checked in on Downs with the coaches at Ohio State and in that conversation they learned that such and such team has bugged the hell of them on the same player. Stuff like that. As Breer and Schafer among others have said its taking small pieces of info from here and there and puzziling it together.

B. The GM is not making his decision in a vaccum. His scouts are part of the decision process. Peters or name that GM isn't holed up in a room by himself without Newmark, the scouts, etc and just making the call. The dudes who work in the FO are in the loop. It's a joint decision. Multiple people in that building know their leanings not just Peters. Craig Hoffman talked about this, as to how he had a good relationships with some scouts in that building and had a sense of their leanings that way.

It's a game of telephone. I know in my business most people can't keep their mouth shut. It's a joke with me and a friend of mine because we can't trust anyone. I personally only trust one person on any sensitive info because anyone else will tell just one person and then that one person tells the next and it keeps spreading.

Does it make all the information, right? Of course not, but how can information spread if Peters isn't telling the world his hopes and dreams? it's plenty possible. Peters isn't the only GM that doesn't talk, most of them don't, but they have a web of people around them that have to be equally mum -- and the odds of that is pretty low.

Now are some purposely using the same game I lay out to their advantage by spreading false info. You bet. So then you got to trust that the reporter who obviously isn't an idiot and is well aware of this game can dicipher the real from BS. And its hard to do, but some are better at it than others.
 
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Voice_of_Reason said:
Seconded, Netfix?

I don't actually have a way to watch the draft. I don't have cable anymore, nor YouTube TV (which I had for the season to watch games), or the ESPN or NFL apps. I was going to try and find a radio broadcast somewhere, though honestly, I don't care that much for the blather, I really just need to know the picks, which I can get by following the trackers...

But I DO have Netflix.
And this quick search just turned up this gem:

Netflix is hosting live coverage of the 2026 NFL Draft with The Ringer NFL Draft Show and The McShay Show, featuring analysts like Todd McShay for Days 1 and 2. Coverage includes live draft analysis, mock drafts, and player prospects, complementing traditional broadcasts. The 2014 movie Draft Day is also available.

So I know where I'll be watching!

EDIT: Chris it appears as though they do have a live draft coverage.
Click to expand...

I have access to everything but I think will still watch McShay.
 
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