2026 NFL Draft: Best players still available for Rounds 2 and 3

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Fernando Mendoza is off the board, as are 31 other players after Round 1 of the NFL Draft. Who are the best players still available?

Here, according to the combined big boards of Yahoo Sports NFL Draft experts Nate Tice and Charles McDonald, are the top players still on the board heading into Day 2 — Rounds 2 and 3 — of the 2026 draft:

(Ranking from Yahoo Sports’ big board)

McCoy is a quick-twitch athlete who constantly makes plays on the football. He has good size and already shows the footwork and patience to stay sticky with receivers and be consistent in man coverage. McCoy suffered an ACL injury in January of 2025, and he hasn’t played or really done much since then to show teams where he is at physically. There are times where he is indifferent against the run, but his skill set and athleticism are just too fun of a package at the cornerback spot to drop too far. — Nate Tice

Like his older brother A.J., a star cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons, Avieon Terrell has a chance to be a first-round pick and a longtime NFL starter. He might not be the most athletic corner in the draft, but he has the movement skills that should translate in a big way at the next level. Terrell might not ever be a true lockdown cornerback in the NFL, but he has enough skills to be considered early in the draft. — CM

Round 1 grades | Big Boards: Nate Tice • Charles McDonald | Draft guide

A toolsy safety with size and explosiveness, McNeil-Warren plays with an edge on every snap that’s palpable. It’s hard to not notice where the future NFL prospect is located when watching Toledo’s defense. He’s a hard hitter who also has the length and range to play as the deep safety in coverage. His burst and physicality show up when he has to come down and play the run or when jarring the ball loose from pass catchers over the middle. He has a knack for being around the ball and forced a heaping of fumbles, but can be a bit inconsistent in how he closes in the run game. I like McNeil-Warren’s game in any type of modern defense, with his size being an asset against bigger wide receivers and athletic tight ends, there’s something to him and how he is always around the football. — NT

The only thing Allen might be missing is elite speed as far as his draft profile goes. Allen earned time as a true freshman on Georgia’s talented defense and ascended to a leadership role quickly. His smarts, physicality and willingness to do the dirty work helped make him a star in Athens and should help him get into the starting lineup quickly in the NFL. — CM

Hill is like the opposite of CJ Allen. He has the speed, size and physicality that teams desperately want in the middle of their defense, but his attention to detail in terms of being where he is supposed to be schematically wasn’t always his strongest suit. He was banged up a bit during his final season with the Longhorns, but in a class that lacks defined star power at many positions, he may end up a beneficiary of teams taking a bet on his athletic upside. — CM

Nussmeier had an inconsistent final season as he survived the death throes of the Brian Kelly era in Baton Rouge. He has a below-average build and isn’t an overwhelming athlete, but his gunslinger mentality maximizes every concept that’s run for him and he knows how to get the ball in play. Nussmeier will push the ball and does so with clean timing and ball placement. He has plenty of arm and maximizes it with his timing. He can get himself in trouble with his aggression, but he really makes constant good decisions with the football and plays to win the game rather than just find the safest answer. I see a potential solid starter in the right situation with a good understanding of properly playing quarterback. — NT

Vanderbilt was on the national stage this past season and it might have a highly drafted prospect in Stowers, who is one of the most athletic pass catchers in the draft. Stowers set a record for TEs with a 45.5-inch vertical leap and he continued his strong workout by running a 4.51 40-yard dash. The athleticism transfers to the field as well, giving some proof of concept that he’s not just a workout warrior. — CM

Ponds is just a football player. He lacks size, but he’s explosive, intelligent and tenacious, a combination that lets him play bigger than his size and impact games constantly. I understand if there’s a cap on how high he ends up going, but Ponds could stick on the outside in a zone-heavy system because of his explosiveness and ball skills. Or he could end up being a slot dynamo because of his toughness, awareness and competitiveness. Just a player you like having on your team. — NT

Scott is an older prospect, who will be 25 at the start of his rookie year, but he has the playmaking ability to immediately be a weapon in the secondary. Scott really made his presence felt during the Hurricanes’ run through the playoffs en route to the national championship game. As an older slot defender, maybe this is a bit high for him, but the ability to win in multiple ways and get his hands on the ball as an aggressor in the secondary will be key. — CM

Another Penn State edge has dominated the scouting combine, stop me if you’ve heard this before. Dennis-Sutton has been a longtime contributor for the Nittany Lions’ defense and he cemented his status as at least a Day 2 pick by having an outrageous combine workout relative to his size (6-5, 256). Sutton had nearly a 40-inch vertical leap and was one inch away from 11 feet on the broad jump, firmly cementing him as one of the most explosive players in his draft class. He has a solid all-around game to give him credence beyond the athletic results. — CM

Lance, yes he’s Trey’s brother, is a springy athlete who is a valid three-level weapon because of his size, ball skills, speed and overall athleticism. Despite being all of 6-foot-3, Lance is consistently smooth getting in and out of his breaks, with real burst to maximize the separation he creates. He easily overwhelmed the FCS competition, but that matches his high-end testing at the combine. Lance benefits from routes that allow him to use his speed, and his route running could still use further polish, but he snatches the football consistently away from his body, shows loose movement on vertical route stems, and has explosive play ability that never goes out of style. — NT

Jacas should smoothly fit the role of a dirty work defender in an NFL team’s edge rotation. He gets a bit too buried in winning his assignment and becoming disconnected from what’s happening in the play, but that’s not a fatal flaw and can be viewed as a positive for some teams. The upside here is likely a quality EDGE2 for a team with a true leadoff pass rusher. — CM

Pregnon is not the flashiest guard out there, but he gets the job done. The former Wyoming and USC transfer was a mainstay in Oregon’s offense last season and should be a capable starter at the next level. He has issues to fix in terms of leverage, but a potential starting guard is going to get drafted highly in this class. He’s probably going to be best in a gap scheme that utilizes his ability to be explosive in short areas. — CM

Like most players who worked out at the combine, Cisse helped himself by having some incredibly explosive jumps that match the tape of a feisty, athletic cornerback who should be able to step in and play in a variety of schemes. He fell underneath the radar playing for an underachieving Gamecocks team, but he has a chance to flourish in the NFL. — CM

Orange is a sturdy body in the middle but will surprise blockers with his quickness and violence right after the snap. Orange will get into the backfield and disrupt plays, but doesn’t have a lot of production to speak of. Some of that is because of how Iowa State plays defense, but some of that is also Orange’s lack of consistency in capitalizing on his instant wins. He also shows real effort in trying to run after the quarterback and ball carriers down the field on things like draws and screens. I do think there’s something here with his length, quickness and strength to both eat blocks and get into the backfield. His passing down role is still limited, but he is valid on defensive loops and twists to stay on the field on late downs. Overall, I like Orange’s combination of length, violence, and quickness that speaks more than what his college career production pointed to. — NT

Crawford is a fireball off the edge. He is a bendy athlete who can turn the corner while maintaining his speed and balance. His acceleration is notable when he is closing on the football, and that athleticism shows up when he is asked to drop into coverage as well (which is part of the reason his pass rush production is more good than outstanding). He doesn’t have ideal length and is still learning the more advanced aspects of rushing the passer, but his twitch and relentlessness, along with some positional versatility — he was asked to drop in coverage at a decent clip — make him a prospect easy to like, even without high-end production and the lack of real size to hold up at the point of attack in the run game. — NT

Like his teammate Omar Cooper Jr., Sarratt had a very consistent season at Indiana and launched himself into consideration for being drafted within the first couple rounds. Sarratt is a smooth, big-bodied receiver who immediately built strong chemistry with Fernando Mendoza and can profile as a dirty work, starting WR2 in a good NFL offense. — CM

Connor Lew was a tough player for Auburn and he has a chance to be a high-floor interior starter on teams that need offensive line help. Lew tore his ACL in October, but he put up enough solid tape beforehand to possibly end up as a Day 2 pick. — CM

Branch set the Bulldogs’ record for receptions in a year during his lone season at Georgia, showing off the elite athleticism and agility that made him such an exciting player at USC beforehand. Branch is not the biggest wide receiver (5-8, 188) who will win at the catch point, but it’s going to be difficult to find many players in this class who are more dynamic than Branch once he gets the ball in his hands. — CM

A tall but quick athlete who plays with polished technique, Barber has been a consistent player despite turmoil in Gainesville. Barber doesn’t have crazy length, but he has light feet, technique and solid strength that allow him to be effective as a run and pass blocker. He has experience at both tackle spots, with good, consistent play and enough tools to make him an interesting Day 2 option. — NT

Halton is another standout who played a huge role in Oklahoma’s defensive resurgence under Brent Venables. He is not the biggest interior player out there, but he makes up for being a 290ish-pound defensive tackle with strong technique and considerable athleticism to get up the field and wreak havoc on offenses. Depending on what weight he plays at in the NFL, he may be just a high-octane rotational piece. That’s valuable. — CM

Raridon has the size, strength and experience to be a legit in-line “Y” tight end at the next level. He has the length and clean technique, along with athletic bend, to sustain as a run blocker (and even accomplish tasks like backside cutoffs), with enough pop to move edge defenders consistently at the college level. What makes me excited about Raridon as a prospect is the fact that he combines his size and blocking ability with real athletic ability to stretch the field and adjust for the football. Raridon has suffered two ACL injuries, but played every game over his past couple of seasons in South Bend. A “Y” tight end that can hold up in-line and also be a valid threat as a receiver is a hard player profile to find. — NT

Tiernan has an unusual build considering he’s 6-8, 323 pounds with 32-inch arms, but he’s a quality blocker who might have a future at guard if the length issues inhibit him at tackle. He’s not the smoothest mover, but he’s explosive in short spaces and can generate a lot of force on first impact. — CM

Bell is if Adonis played wide receiver. A player with a top-shelf combination of height, weight and burst, Bell made Miami’s defense look slow once the ball was in his hands. He is still raw as a route runner and benefits from routes that let him build up his speed and not have him do too many nuanced breaks, but he can snatch the football without breaking stride with his big hands (10 inches at the combine) and he eats up yards after the catch with his size and explosive athleticism. Bell is more of a force of nature than a wide receiver at this point. He suffered an ACL injury and is still a raw player, but there is a fun bundle of tools to work with for a team that can be patient with his development. His draft range is going to be wide depending how each team weighs how much development he needs. — NT

Fields is a big outside wide receiver (6-foot-4 1/2, 218 pounds) who wins with his size, ball skills and surprising quickness for a player with his frame (and a lack of timed speed, considering Fields ran just a 4.61 40-yard dash at the combine). He really grew on me the more I studied him. He’s physical and not overly fast, but has good ball skills and has little nuances to his route running that help him out. And even though he is a bigger prospect who lacks that high-end timed speed, Fields is able to comfortably get in and out of his breaks and create space for himself on breaking routes. He’s a competitive player (he ran down an interception return against Boston College and made a great tackle) who could benefit from more snaps inside as a power slot. You’re hoping he can end up as a Jauan Jennings-like player, another former quarterback turned physical wide receiver like Fields. — NT

Dunker is the classic Iowa offensive lineman. He can play right tackle but might have his skill set maximized as a guard in the NFL, where he can be a bit more scheme-diverse. Regardless, he has high upside as another offensive lineman who showed out at the scouting combine. — CM

Feisty is the best way I can describe Abney. He has quick feet and consistently closes with a burst on the football. Even though he doesn’t have great size (5-10, 187), Abney plays physically and is willing to tackle. Abney can get a bit too upright in his backpedal, and it can lead to penalties when combined with his lack of size and tendency to get handsy in coverage, which is why I like him best primarily in the slot. I could see a defense that majors in Cover 2 or Cover 6 (like the Seahawks, for example) as being a good fit if they want to try Abney on the outside because of his awareness, tenacity and nose for the football. — NT

Bernard is the rug that ties the wide receiver room together. He can do a lot of things well, and can be an effective and winning player in a variety of roles. He is a good route runner from the slot and on the outside, and can consistently snatch the football away from his body. He can pick up yards after the catch with his contact balance and toughness, even if he doesn’t have true gamebreaking speed. He’s also a willing blocker unafraid to scrap with defenders. Bernard might not have star potential, but he is one of those players that fit any type of offense and personnel around him. — NT

Delp didn’t always get the usage he looked destined for as a freshman at Georgia, but he still has a solid profile as a prospect. He confirmed his elite athleticism at Georgia’s Pro Day, running a 4.48 40-yard dash and leaping 38 inches in the vertical jump. He’s also a productive blocker who was key for Georgia’s run game over the years. He could see a big jump in the NFL. — CM