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

[KDawg]

I don’t think it can be overstated how interested the Chiefs will be in trading up to get Jeremiah Love. Sure it is the worst kept secret that they are interested in him. How many chances would a team like KC be in position to get a franchise running back?

I would demand a huge return for the 9 to 7 jump. Explain to KC that several other teams are trying to get to 7 and offering a bunch of picks and that Love appears to be their target.

I'd just take Love instead of potentially pricing us out of Reese, Bailey, Bain, Love.

 

[RedWolf]

 

[philibusters]

I was listening to Logan Paulsen on the Command Center podcast and his top 10 Edges.

He rated Arvell Reese as an Edge. At Ohio St he was an offball LB. If we run the Flores system I think he is the Andrew Van Ginkel player rather than the Greenard player. The Van Ginkel role is an offball LB who does play a lot on the line so its a bit of a hybrid between on and off ball linebacker, but its still more of an offball LB position than on on ball LB.

I didn't think they do a good job of talking about the 3 types of edges in the odd front system. The 4i DE who is a bit of a traditional 3-4 DE (think Kendrick Faulk), the Jonathan Greenard role (think David Bailey), and the Van Ginkel role which is more of an offball LB but a bit of a hybrid spot as that system has them on the line so much (think Reese). It felt like he was evaluating Reese for the Greenard rather than Van Ginkel role. At least that is the way I interpreted listening to it.

He likes Akeem Mesidor slightly more than I do. He had with his 2nd highest grade, though he ranked him 4th as a prospect cause while he technically he had a slightly higher grade on Logan's board than Bain and Faulk, the fact that he 3.5 years older than Bain and 4.5 years older than Faulk and the fact that the grades were all so close made him flip their rankings as prospects on his board. For Mesidor I am not sure how his games translate to the NFL. He wins on a lot of inside counters. And if you can threaten the corner and get the Tackle to overset like a Bailey can with his explosiveness I can see that translating to the NFL. But Mesidor is 270 pounds, I am not sure how threatened NFL tackles will feel to the corner. Mesidor is a great hand fighter and he'll still win on the inside counters sometimes, but its harder if the tackle has not overset. Likewise, Mesidor has okay power rush moves, but he is not great going through the chest. His most effective way to win according to the daftondraft guys who charted him is on the inside counters and again his hand fighting is fantastic, but if he cannot get NFL tackles to overset like he can to college tackles, it won't be quite as effective.

He loves Faulk. I am not sold on Faulk, but I think he is a decent 3-4 DE and we are moving to an odd front so the scheme fit seems good. In base Faulk would mainly be a run defender which is very good at and in passing downs he is probably more of an interior pass rushing in an odd front and I think can do that. I think Bain would probably play a similar role, but Bain feels more like a 4-3 DE. You are more setting the edge as a 4-3 run defender, a tackle and TE may double you, but you generally where the block is coming from. A 4i in an odd front has to deal with constant double teams, not knowing where the run block is coming from (it could be a down block from the tackle or a double from the tackle and guard, a standard block by the guard, they could try to trap you on a trap or wham block--you just have to better block recongition as you face like twice as many types of blocks and you just face way more double teams and generally defend with slightly worse leverage--Bain is a good run defender, but don't know if he does well in like a 4i). Bain would probably be a really good as an inteior rush though in pass situations from an odd front. But I see the scheme fit for Faulk, rather than Bain.

I like Bain a lot, but I think the scheme change makes his fit less clear. To me as a run defender I am not sure how he fares an odd front playing a 4i. I think he would be a devastating interior pass rusher in an odd front cause inside his short arms matter less. I am still intrigued by him though.

In odd front Bailey is outside LB and I think his pass rush will be fantastic.

Jason, Logan's producer for that podcast had Gabe Jacas as a top 10 and Logan's comment surprised me a lot. The draftondraft guys talked about him and they talked with him at the senior bowl. He said he lost about 12 pounds for the senior bowl to get from his seaosn playing weight of 277 to about 265. The daftondraft guys said they thought his get off looked a looked spruced up at the senior bowl. He'll probably always be a power first guy according to the daftondraft guys but they thought he showed a few new things at the senior bowl. By contrast Logan said he didn't see the juice as a pass rusher, which means he really wouldn't see the pass rushing juice at 277 pounds. So I thought that was interesting as I kind of liked Jacas

 

[Bulldog]

A review of Faulk to me looks a bit like a Philip Daniels type DE if you remember him from Gibbs II in 2004-2007.

Solid against the run, can play inside or outside, and gets 6-8 sacks on strength and technique.

That is the profile of a good player in the NFL, but I am not sure that is the profile of value for a top 10 selection in the draft.

To me that is the type of player you get later towards the end of the round or at the top of Round 2.

No doubt he would be the best DL on the roster given what we have now though in any case.

I would be comfortable taking him in a trade down where we get a pick later on.

 

[KDawg]

A review of Faulk to me looks a bit like a Philip Daniels type DE if you remember him from Gibbs II in 2004-2007.

Solid against the run, can play inside or outside, and gets 6-8 sacks on strength and technique.

That is the profile of a good player in the NFL, but I am not sure that is the profile of value for a top 10 selection in the draft.

To me that is the type of player you get later towards the end of the round or at the top of Round 2.

No doubt he would be the best DL on the roster given what we have now though in any case.

I would be comfortable taking him in a trade down where we get a pick later on.

Agreed. Im higher on Faulk than most are, though.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

I am firmly of the opinion that Bailey is overrated and while I think he has pro potential I think he is a significant project as it pertains to every part of the game that isn't pass rush. He is ABYSMAL in run defense.

And he struggles against the higher quality tackles.

If you are rating Bailey above Bain it is very likely because you are betting on traits, which I get. Bain does have short arms. But based on tape I have no idea how anyone would say Bailey has better overall film.

Going to be completely honest...I kind of hope Bailey and Bain go above us, and then we can grab Reese. I feel like risk factors are higher for the prior two rather than Reese...which sounds weird but that's where I am.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

A review of Faulk to me looks a bit like a Philip Daniels type DE if you remember him from Gibbs II in 2004-2007.

Solid against the run, can play inside or outside, and gets 6-8 sacks on strength and technique.

That is the profile of a good player in the NFL, but I am not sure that is the profile of value for a top 10 selection in the draft.

To me that is the type of player you get later towards the end of the round or at the top of Round 2.

No doubt he would be the best DL on the roster given what we have now though in any case.

I would be comfortable taking him in a trade down where we get a pick later on.

100% in agreement.

I like Faulk a lot as the type of player he is, but I have no delusions that I think he will become much more than he is in the NFL. I think what he is will translate well to the NFL, but just watching him play...and seeing the decisions he's making when opportunities arise, I don't think he's got the mental makeup to have that need to dominate. I think he's a "do his role really well" type of guy. A B+ player (which is still really good), but never someone who takes over a game because you either need him to or because he feels like he has to.

If we trade back and grab Faulk, that's fine. But he's not value at #7. I want true Blue Chip potential.

 

[philibusters]

Going to be completely honest...I kind of hope Bailey and Bain go above us, and then we can grab Reese. I feel like risk factors are higher for the prior two rather than Reese...which sounds weird but that's where I am.

I think fits the Van Ginkel role well. Thats a hybrid offball/on ball linebacker spot, but more offball than on ball in assignments. I think he is a great downhill run defender. I feel like he is verstaile--he can rush the passer well enough that some people are projecting him as an edge. I get Logan's analysis. If you compare his toolbag to true edges, its underwhelming, but it will develop in the NFL and he has flashes some tools and has the physical traits to be an effective pass rusher. Van Ginkel drops into coverage on roughly one third of pass attempts, Reese can do that too. As an off ball linebacker he is better as a run defender, but he shows flashes of zone feel and ability to play in space in coverage and he has the athleticism to cover te's and running backs in man. It seems like a fit to me. Like he won't be at his peak in year 1 he does need to continue develop his pass rush and space feel in zone coverage, but his run defense is already close to fully developed and his physical traits are elite.

 

[KDawg]

Going to be completely honest...I kind of hope Bailey and Bain go above us, and then we can grab Reese. I feel like risk factors are higher for the prior two rather than Reese...which sounds weird but that's where I am.

I’m not there, necessarily. Reese isn’t a clean prospect. He disappears for long stretches. I’m not sure he profiles as a true edge, either. He’s more of a 34 OLB type. Hes 243 lbs. but Crosby is only 247, so he may be able to profile as a true edge.

He’s another one I need to do a deep dive into.

All of these edge prospects have warts. But all have advantages, too.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

I really don't think Crosby is still 247. He's listed now at 255, but just looking at him and hearing about how he's changed his body to the NFL...he's gotta be more than that too. He's said he had to gain a lot of specific muscles to help his technique (unclear what the muscles are).

 

[philibusters]

I’m not there, necessarily. Reese isn’t a clean prospect. He disappears for long stretches. I’m not sure he profiles as a true edge, either. He’s more of a 34 OLB type. Hes 243 lbs. but Crosby is only 247, so he may be able to profile as a true edge.

He’s another one I need to do a deep dive into.

All of these edge prospects have warts. But all have advantages, too.

I think projection as a pure edge is a bit fuzzy. He'll have super clean wins on his tape, but he has no real pass rush plan, if he doesn't win he doesn't have counters, he is not setting up lineman by showing one thing and then doing another. He is definitely more of an 34 OLB. That doesn't mean he can't develop those things. Logan Paulsen on his the Command Center gave his grade for Reese as a pass rusher and it was not a top 10 for his board despite the fact the has him in his top 10 and he said that is because he sees potential, but the nuances are not there. I think Reese is cleanest as a 34 OLB or 4-3 MLB. You know what you are getting. If you grade him as like a pure 4-3 edge you are taking a big risk-- development is just difficult to predict.

 

[KDawg]

I really don't think Crosby is still 247. He's listed now at 255, but just looking at him and hearing about how he's changed his body to the NFL...he's gotta be more than that too. He's said he had to gain a lot of specific muscles to help his technique (unclear what the muscles are).

I’d say he looks 260-265, but my point was more that Reese could bulk up.

But I’m not sold on Reese, either. Bain is my guy, and I think he absolutely can play edge. But I’d be lying if I said the arms didn’t make me nervous that the tape won’t be as good in the League.

This edge class is oddly very deep and good quality while not being very clean.

Keldric Faulk is a monster, though. 6-6 288 and his play matches.

 

[Solitary Man]

I'd just take Love instead of potentially pricing us out of Reese, Bailey, Bain, Love.

I understand this and would not be upset with taking Love. But I want KC to lose their shit at the thought of missing out on Love. What would they give us to have the best QB/RB duo in the league.

 

[KDawg]

I understand this and would not be upset with taking Love. But I want KC to lose their shit at the thought of missing out on Love. What would they give us to have the best QB/RB duo in the league.

Probably not as much as we’d wind up losing is more my point. I don’t care about Kansas City’s feelings.

We need blue chip talent.

If we get to our pick and we have more blue chippers on board than picks before our new 1st - sure! I just don’t see that happening. We need talent.

 

[Solitary Man]

Probably not as much as we’d wind up losing is more my point. I don’t care about Kansas City’s feelings.

We need blue chip talent.

If we get to our pick and we have more blue chippers on board than picks before our new 1st - sure! I just don’t see that happening. We need talent.

You always listen to offers. You don’t have to accept them. There might be 2 blue chippers on the board not including Love, which means they would be available at 9. Just because you hear the offer doesn’t mean you take it. And I’m not sure you understood the losing their shit comment.

 

[Always Commander Never Captain]

I mean Reese's skillset as a true Edge is just raw...he's only been encouraged to be a blitzer, which is win as quick as you can unless you're doing a delayed rush. Such as show one gap, fake like you're tracking the RB, then hit a different gap.

But his quick wins show real talent how quality those wins are. A 240lb LB shouldn't win that well with a hard punch to a Guards shoulder as often as he does unless he's got real athleticism to subtly drop center of gravity and explode up with leverage in a flash. And he's done that enough to show he's got instincts for when to explode up into a Guards shoulder.

I think how the Ohio State defense was making Sonny Styles look really good at times was from taking some lateral coverage responsibility away from him and giving it to Reese. Which let Styles just trust the run action in front of him and go after it instead of thinking "oh this guy could leak out".

 

[KDawg]

You always listen to offers. You don’t have to accept them. There might be 2 blue chippers on the board not including Love, which means they would be available at 9. Just because you hear the offer doesn’t mean you take it. And I’m not sure you understood the losing their shit comment.

I understood. You think they’re going to panic and give up the farm - I don’t. I think they are going to go hard after Breece Hall (after cap clean up). Will they get him? Who knows.

But I’m sure they’d be just fine getting a Tyson, Fano or Mauigoa.

And of course you listen to offers. But my ears turn off when the new offer hurts more than it helps.

 

[DWinzit]

Edge James Pearce Jr was one of those guys who was highly discussed about his uncanny pass rush ability mixed with lots of character concerns. He ended out going late in the first round and had a good 10 sack season in his rookie year. Well, now the Falcons need to deal with the negative side of why he fell all the way to them and they went with the risk reward selection:

Falcons EDGE James Pearce was arrested on Saturday in Miami after crashing his car at the end of a police chase.
Pearce is alleged to have been fleeing a domestic dispute. Not good, to put it mildly. It somehow gets worse when you factor in the charges Pearce is facing following the chase and subsequent crash, including two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and aggravated stalking. That’s in addition to “fleeing or eluding police with lights or siren.” Social media footage shows what appears to be Pearce in a struggle with police following the chase. The 22-year-old had a sensational rookie season following the Falcons’ aggressive move up to get him late in the first round, but this has him in danger of a massive suspension, perhaps missing all of 2026. There’s also the very real possibility of a jail sentence. Stay tuned.

Just a reminder that character matters with the players we discuss in this thread

 

[KDawg]

Watched Arvell Reese in some detail.

Positives:
-He played a lot of various "positions" in the Ohio State defense: 34 OLB, 42 ILB, 43 OLB
-Takes on pulling guards and base tackle blocks really well. Anchors and extends and uses his hands
-Understands zone responsibilities and when to pass off/when to follow receivers in match principles.
-Extremely versatile as a football player
-Plays with a high end motor
-Seems to have a solid understanding of what offenses are trying to accomplish and adjusts game to game in his backside contain/pursuit angles based on QB zone read possibilities
-Adequate blitzer
-Can play sideline to sideline
-Good trigger as a true LB in the 43 or 42
-High end tackle precision - doesn't seem to miss a lot of tackles.
-Produced against high end competition.

Concerns:
-A lot of his sacks and big time plays were due to scheming wins (Texas - Coffee House blitz as a 42 inside backer where he was on a delay, Indiana - long stick from an inside alignment on the LoS (4i-ish alignment) to get to Mendoza and hit him on a rollout are two examples)
-243 pounds - while it's possible to bulk him up, he doesn't really profile as a true edge. He is more of a 34 OLB, 42 ILB, 43 OLB type of player. I think he could potentially play Mike but I think you are taking away a lot of his skill set.
-Piggybacking on the last point - he is really good at anchoring on the LoS to defend run, but he can't get off of blocks very well due to his size. He does a great job funneling work inside of him but he isn't a disruptor on the edge in the run game.
-Pass rush technique needs some work. He seems to go speed to power quite often, which in theory is solid, but he gets too high in the transition and sometimes gets moved.
-Doesn't have elite bend
-Isn't quick twitch in "a box"
-Lack of experience

Overall: I like Reese, but he fits a very specific scheme - not from a positional standpoint as he is positional versatile, but from a "he needs a DC that is going to use him and move him and is willing to base a lot of the defense around his versatility" kind of guy. He has a lot of potential and the ceiling is high, but he isn't a true edge in a 43 and while some think he can get there, and he may be able to, he just isn't ready for that based on the 2025 film. But he is a very good football player who plays with aggressiveness and instinct and is a well rounded + athlete.

 

[DWinzit]

If he is there at 7 and the other favorites are gone, are you taking him or are you looking for a small trade back?

There are a lot of mocks that have him listed as a top 3 player in this draft. I have had difficulty having him ranked that high although I definitely like him. Me, I'd be accepting all offers before making a decision