The 91st edition of the NFL Draft begins this week from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The festivities will be taking place on the North Shore in downtown Pittsburgh next to the stadium no longer called Heinz Field. They’ll also be using space across the river(s) at Point State Park, as well. This is the first time since 1948 that Pittsburgh will be hosting the NFL Draft. That year, Alabama halfback Harry Gilmer went no. 1 overall while 10 players from Notre Dame were selected.

The 2026 NFL Draft

Sponsored by Bud Light, crucially. 

Day 1
Round 1
Thursday, April 23rd
8:00 PM ET

Day 2
Rounds 2-3
Friday, April 24th
7:00 PM ET

Day 3
Rounds 4-7
Saturday, April 25th
12:00 PM ET

*TV Coverage will be on ABC, ESPN, and NFL Network for every round.

Notre Dame Player Projections:

Before we get to this year’s projections I wanted to look back quickly at last year’s guesses:

CB Benjamin Morrison: 2nd Round, 45th overall – 53rd overall, so close!
S Xavier Watts: 2nd Round, 48th overall – 96th overall, we knew it then this was stupid for him to drop.
TE Mitchell Evans: 5th Round, 143rd overall – 163rd overall, a small drop but nothing too bad.
DL Rylie Mills: 5th Round, 145th overall – 142nd overall, it felt like the right spot and he won a Super Bowl.
LB Jack Kiser: 5th round, 154th overall – 107th overall, nice!
QB Riley Leonard: 5th Round, 157th overall – 189th overall, he fell into the 6th round.

We didn’t project anyone else to get picked and Howard Cross, Beaux Collins, Kris Mitchell, Jordan Clark, Rod Heard, RJ Oben, and Jayden Harrison did not hear their name’s called throughout the 2025 Draft. However, Collins ended up signing a 3-year deal with the Giants worth $3 million and caught a couple passes as a rookie. Cross was a practice squad player for the Bengals in 2025 and is currently on a futures/reserve squad deal for 2026.

Now for our guesses on the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft:

RB Jeremiyah Love: 1st Round, 4th Overall
RB Jadarian Price, 1st Round, 28th Overall
WR Malachi Fields, 4th Round, 112th Overall
OL Billy Schrauth, 4th Round, 134th Overall
OL Aamil Wagner, 6th Round, 198th Overall
TE Eli Raridon, 7th Round, 224th Overall

Two first round picks for the Irish! Okay, perhaps a little optimistic for Jadarian Price, although I’ve balanced it out with a more pessimistic draft for the remaining prospects.

18 Stripes Mock 1st Round Draft

Absent some draft day drama, it looks like Fernando Mendoza is locked in as the no. 1 overall pick–giving us the absurdity of the tight-laced and super awkward quarterback settling down in the chaos that is Las Vegas. This combination will be as fascinating as watching the Raiders try to actually develop a good quarterback for once.

Ohio State is sure to dominant the top end of the draft, although they’re only projected to have about 8 players taken in total. I mean, that’s a lot but they won’t have a ton of picks coming after Thursday night.

This is supposed to be a wide receiver heavy 1st round. I am projecting 5 at this position to be taken on Thursday night, although I’d make the case this isn’t an overwhelmingly impressive group of wideouts. Plus, the 2027 class could be legendary led by Jeremiah Smith who might be in the discussion for the no. 1 overall pick.

The Giants trading Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals for the 10th overall pick shook things up over last weekend. I had to re-do my mock 1st round and moved Jordan Tyson up to be picked by New York. I also noticed I have the Cowboys taking 2 cornerbacks, that would be something. That’s my bad, then again, Jerry Jones?

The 3 Biggest Storylines of the NFL Draft

1) Only One Quarterback in the 1st Round

Many of the scouting services and mock drafts have been pretty clear during the winter and spring. After Mendoza comes off the board it could be a long wait for the next quarterback to be selected. The likes of Carson Beck, Garrett Nussmeier, and Drew Allar are going to be lucky if they hear their names called at some point towards the end of the night on Friday.

Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson is the lone outlier. He’s inexperienced, struggled at times in 2025, but still has enough value and a high enough ceiling that a first round pick is still being talked about. Enter, the New York Jets! They have a pair of first round picks among 4 total picks in the top 50 overall. They have a tiny amount of cap tied up in the quarterback position, just brought Geno Smith back on a modest 1-year deal for $3.3 million, and should be able to take a punt on Simpson. I wouldn’t do it, but of the teams who are willing, I’d put the Jets at the top of the list.

2) Bain Car Crash

Just a couple weeks before the draft a report was released that former Miami defensive end Reuben Bain was involved in a fatal car crash back in 2024. He was driving a Range Rover heading northbound on I-95 in Miami at 4 AM while traveling with a pair of teammates and another female. No field sobriety test was conducted but the report vaguely states Bain rear-ended another car and then crashed his vehicle. The female friend later died from her injuries.

Of course, the NFL media machine has been in overdrive discussing if this will cause Bain to fall out of the first round. With the history of NFL franchises and how they handle these situations, that seems highly doubtful.

3) Love Falling

We’ve been conditioned to turn a sour face over running backs going early in the first round. Value, value, value! Once upon a time, Jeremiyah Love was talked about as maybe a first round pick, then perhaps top half of the first, then as the best overall player, and as we get closer to things there’s talk about Love maybe falling a little bit.

Here are all the top 10 overall running back picks over the last 10 drafts:

2025 – Ashton Jeanty – 6th overall
2023 – Bijon Robinson – 8th overall
2023 – Jahmyr Gibbs – 12th overall
2018 – Saquon Barkley – 2nd overall
2017 – Leonard Fournette – 4th overall
2017 – Christian McCaffrey – 8th overall
2016 – Ezekiel Elliott – 4th overall

That’s a real nice group. Fournette was the biggest disappointment (and hasn’t been a factor in the NFL since 2022 and retired after 2023) but on average these types of players are going to give you a really entertaining and strong first several seasons on their rookie contracts.

In short, Jeremiyah Love is going to look cool in the new Titans uniforms (if they pick him) and he’ll very likely become a NFL star for 4-6 seasons.

This looks nice.

He’s the type of talent where I think you have to argue he’s absolutely worth it. The second contract is a much tougher decision. Most running backs are going to change teams by their mid-20’s that’s just a fact of life in the league. Gibbs is the next example on the market. He’s coming into the final year of his rookie deal and is expected to sign an extension in Detroit worth $60 million over 3 years. I’d bet Gibbs won’t finish out that future contract with the Lions.

So, if you’re the Titans–draft Love now and enjoy things. Even if you end up paying him a huge contract he’ll likely move on to another team after 5 or 6 seasons.