NFL Draft 2026 mailbag: Should top-five teams target QBs? Which WRs fit Bills, 49ers?
The Jets, Raiders, Saints and Browns could be in the market for a quarterback this draft cycle.
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Whether Oregon's Dante Moore declares for the draft will go a long way toward sorting out the 2026 QB class. Tom Hauck / Getty Images
To this point, the 2026 NFL Draft class hasn’t generated the type of buzz that came from the 2025 and 2024 classes. At the end of the day, though, the conversation will start the same way it always does: Who’s the best quarterback available, and how early does he go?
The answer to the latter could hinge on which NFL teams ultimately land atop the draft order. Will any of those franchises give in to desperation at the game’s most important position and take a quarterback, even if there’s not a clear QB1 by April?
That’s one of the topics you asked our draft experts, Nick Baumgardner and Dane Brugler, to cover. Let’s check out the mailbag.
(Editor’s note: Mailbag questions have been lightly edited.)
How much pressure will teams in the top 5 be under to draft a quarterback, regardless of roster needs or prospect quality at those slots? — Brad M.
Any team drafting in the top five will feel some level of desperation, just by the nature of earning a high pick. But each team is also at a different point on the roster-building timeline so the answer will vary depending on the organization.
Obviously, the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants won’t be in the quarterback market after investing first-rounders at the position last April. The New York Jets have loaded up on picks for the next two years and won’t feel forced to take a quarterback early, but they also can’t run it back with Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor. The Las Vegas Raiders have some tough decisions to make this offseason about Geno Smith and their future at quarterback. And the New Orleans Saints will be in the market, unless Tyler Shough blows the organization away down the stretch.
But the franchise feeling the most desperation will be the Cleveland Browns.
The Browns wanted to draft the position early last year, but viewed it as a one-quarterback class — meaning they had Cam Ward as the only potentially elite option — and were unable to get up to No. 1. Instead of selecting Travis Hunter, Cleveland then traded back to gain assets and push its quarterback hunt back to the 2026 NFL Draft. Neither Dillon Gabriel nor Shedeur Sanders would stop the Browns from drafting a quarterback in the top five if they got the chance.
The potential top-five quarterbacks (Fernando Mendoza, Dante Moore, Ty Simpson) are all underclassmen, so we’ll see how many go back to school. Scouts expect Mendoza to declare, but the decisions from Moore and Simpson likely will depend on how Oregon and Alabama finish their seasons. — Brugler
Given the situation between the 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk, and the pending free agency of Jauan Jennings, which prospects fit the mold of an X receiver that San Francisco should look at? — Kevin M.
We also had a Bills question similar to this, as Keon Coleman’s future looks uncertain. The good news? There could be room for every team in this boat.
The two best receivers in this class are Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson and Ohio State’s Carnell Tate. When healthy, Tyson (6 feet 2, 200 pounds) is the most complete pass catcher in the class — and one of the most complete prospects we’ve seen in a minute. He does everything, and does it at full tilt. He creates space for himself, adjusts to poor throws, wins at the catch point and has established himself as an elite blocker.
Tyson, who had two catches for 61 in a win over Colorado on Saturday night, has had some pretty persistent injury issues. It’s the type of variable that could cause a talented player to tumble down the board a bit.
For teams picking in the back half of the first round, look at either Louisville’s Chris Bell (6-2, 227) or Washington’s Denzel Boston (6-4, 210). Bell is a uniquely shaped WR with big-time power and burst, both in the open field and at the catch point. I have speed concerns with Boston, but he’s outstanding in the air.
Further down the board, I’d point to players such as Alabama’s Germie Bernard (6-1, 209), Rutgers’ Ian Strong (6-3, 210) and maybe even North Dakota State’s Bryce Lance (6-3, 207), brother of Trey Lance. This receiver class continues to grow on me. Also keep an eye on Indiana’s Elijah Sarratt (6-2, 210), Florida State’s Duce Robinson (6-6, 220), Notre Dame’s Malachi Fields (6-4, 220) and USC’s Ja’Kobi Lane (6-4, 195). — Baumgardner
Who are the notable prospects that are “outliers” in this class, other than Texas A&M edge Cashius Howell (6-2, 250 with short arms)? Examples: Bryce Young with his height or Will Campbell with his arm length. — John R.
Every draft has “outliers” that present interesting case studies. Here are a few of the notable ones in the 2026 draft class:
- Alabama QB Ty Simpson. If he declares after this season, he will finish his college career with fewer than 15 starts. Just two quarterbacks currently on NFL rosters (Anthony Richardson and Mitchell Trubisky) had such meager experience entering the league, and neither has panned out.
- Penn State QB Drew Allar has 35 1/2-inch arms, which is an unusual length for a quarterback. You have to go back a decade, to the 2016 NFL Draft, to find a quarterback who had arms longer than 34 inches (Paxton Lynch).
- Iowa’s Logan Jones will be the top center on some team’s boards, but his arms are shorter than 31 inches, which will be a deal-breaker for a lot of schemes.
- Texas A&M’s Trey Zuhn plays left tackle for the Aggies, but his length (sub-32-inch arms) falls below some thresholds NFL teams have, even on the interior.
- LSU’s Mansoor Delane, arguably the top cornerback in the draft, measured in with 30 1/8-inch arms this spring. That number is below what some defensive coordinators target, especially early in the draft.
- Oklahoma’s R Mason Thomas has mediocre length (31 3/4-inch arms) and small hands (8 5/8 inches) for an edge rusher.
- Georgia Tech wide receiver Malik Rutherford is listed at 170 pounds, but he weighed in at only 163 pounds this spring.
- Pitt running back Desmond Reid is a fun player with the ball in his hands, but his size (5-5 3/4, 169 this spring) is going to be a non-starter for most front offices.
Tulane QB Jake Retzlaff (231 yards passing, three total TDs Saturday) and South Florida QB Byrum Brown (416 total yards, five TDs Saturday) might be the two most intriguing guys from that group. Retzlaff threw for nearly 3,000 yards as a sophomore last year at BYU but transferred to Tulane after an honor code violation. He is a legit athlete — a dual-threat QB with an explosive arm, but also some size concerns (6-1, 205).
Brown (6-3, 231) is a dynamic athlete with a big arm. In two-plus seasons as a starter for the Bulls, he has thrown for more than 7,000 yards and rushed for more than 2,000. He’s had better years as a rusher (keep in mind, he broke his leg last year), but this season might be his best to date as a passer.
Retzlaff and Brown will have the opportunity to show scouts what they can do in postseason all-star games.
The best Group of 5 player this year, regardless of conference? Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. A giant safety with terrific ball skills, McNeil-Warren will be the sixth Toledo defender drafted in the past five years. We say this every season, but Toledo coach Jason Candle remains the best eye for talent in the entire Group of Five. — Baumgardner
Can you speak to the growing depth of the receiver class? It seems to be getting deeper as the weeks go on, with increasingly more Day 1/Day 2 guys. — Owen A.
There’s no doubt that the wide receiver class looks a lot more promising than it did a few months ago, when so much was based on projection.
I had four receivers ranked as top-40 prospects in August (Tyson, Bell, Tate and Makai Lemon), and all four have lived up to the hype this season, if not exceeded it. Those prospects playing up to their collective talent level is a key reason for optimism.
It also helps that several underclassmen have taken another step and secured top-100 status, including Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion, Boston, Indiana’s Omar Cooper Jr., Lane and a few others. Will they all declare?
That said, I am still not that impressed with the depth of this year’s senior receivers. Bernard is going to be a good pro, and Sarratt has put himself in the Day 2 discussion. Several others can fill out an NFL depth chart, such as UConn’s Skyler Bell, Oklahoma’s Deion Burks and Fields. Overall, though, this class (like most) needs the underclassmen receivers to elevate its overall health. — Brugler
Thoughts on the depth of this TE class? I’m a big fan of Baylor’s Michael Trigg (seven catches for 45 yards Saturday), but I’m not seeing him in top-50 convos. — John R.
Trigg is one of a handful of guys who could conceivably flirt with the top 50, depending on how those prospects perform during the playoff push, postseason and pre-draft circuit.
Texas TE Jack Endries had a huge 2024 at Cal but entered the weekend with just 22 catches for 169 yards, as the Longhorns’ offense has been clunky for much of the year. Ohio State’s Max Klare is another prospect who joined a new squad this year, after transferring from Purdue. He’s at 400 receiving yards and two TDs on 38 catches, and he had his best game of the season in a win over Rutgers this week (seven catches, 105 yards, one TD).
The guy to watch at the position, though, might be NC State’s Justin Joly. A phenomenal athlete at 6-3, 263, he has the potential to play all over the field (Y or U, H-back, fullback, big X receiver and maybe even big slot). He’s approaching 2,000 career receiving yards and has been a contested-catch machine. The battle for TE2, behind Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq, will be interesting. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of these guys joins Sadiq in the top 50.
Other tight ends to watch during the Shrine Bowl/Senior Bowl/combine run: Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers, Cincinnati’s Joe Royer and Boston College’s Jeremiah Franklin. — Baumgardner