- North Dakota State’s Cole Payton brings real NFL upside: While he may get overlooked as a smaller-school sleeper, Payton led all FCS quarterbacks in PFF overall grade, PFF passing grade and PFF rushing grade in 2025.
- Oklahoma’s Febechi Nwaiwu is a versatile offensive line prospect: He played 144 snaps at center, 54 snaps at left guard, 647 snaps at right guard in 2025, and he allowed no sacks or quarterback hits in the process.
- 2026 NFL Draft season is here: Try the best-in-class PFF Mock Draft Simulator and learn about 2026’s top prospects while trading and drafting for your favorite NFL team.
Estimated Reading Time: 6minutes
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PFF+ subscribers instantly have the work of the largest scouting department in history (in the form of the PFF data collection team) at their fingertips — much of the same information used by all 32 NFL front offices. And we’ll use that data here to scout sleeper defensive players for the 2026 NFL Draft.
The data reveals trends and important nuggets for evaluating a player’s ability to succeed in the NFL. You can use PFF Premium Stats in a variety of ways, from scouting players for the NFL draft to finding rookies for your fantasy team.
We’ve already explored defensive sleepers. Now, we’ll be looking at 2026 NFL Draft offensive sleepers (players who graded well in college but aren’t among the top 150 players on the PFF Big Board).
Let’s start by diving into an FCS quarterback who stands out in PFF Premium Stats.
If you’re a PFF+ subscriber, log in and follow along.
Search Parameters:
- Open PFF Premium Stats
- Click on the “By Position” tab in the upper right-hand corner
- Click on the “league” box in the upper left-hand corner and select “NCAA”
- Click on “QB” in the “Passing Grades” box, under “Passing Reports”
- Click on “division” in the upper left-hand corner and select “FCS”
- Click on “min. dropbacks” and select “20%” (to remove small sample sizes)
- Click on “draft year” and set it to “2026” (to find players in this draft class only)
The top player on the list is North Dakota State‘s Cole Payton, with a 95.8 PFF overall grade. When sorting by PFF passing grade, we see that Payton’s 94.5 mark is also No. 1 among FCS quarterbacks.
Payton completed 161 of 226 passes for 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in 2025, and he posted an impressive 78.3% adjusted completion rate. While those numbers are impressive enough, his rushing output equally stood out, headlined by a 90.0 PFF rushing grade — the top figure among FCS quarterbacks. Payton’s rushing numbers — 894 yards, 13 touchdowns and 39 forced missed tackles — make it clear that he is a true dual-threat quarterback. He was a one-year starter, but his production makes him an intriguing late-round quarterback prospect.
Next, let’s look for running backs who can generate yards outside of what the blocking provides on the play by focusing on PFF Elusive Rating.
Search Parameters:
- Open PFF Premium Stats
- Click on the “By Position” tab in the upper right-hand corner
- Click on the “league” box in the upper left-hand corner and select “NCAA”
- Click on “RB” in the “Elusive Rating” box, under “Learn More About a PFF Signature Stat”
- Click on “min. run attempts” and select “20%” (to remove small sample sizes)
- Click on “draft year” and set it to “2026” (to find players in this draft class only)
PFF Elusive Rating distills the success and impact of a runner independent of the blocking in front of them by looking at how hard they are to bring down.
Editor’s Note: The formula is missed tackles forced divided by (designed run attempts plus receptions) multiplied by yards after contact per attempt multiplied by 100
Virginia Tech‘s Terion Stewart takes the top spot with a 220.7 elusive rating At 5-foot-9 and 220 pounds, Stewart is a short, stocky, powerful runner with a low center of gravity to maintain balance during contact, and he has a very effective stiff arm that can generate flashy plays.
Stewart will be a strong candidate to be on the NFL Network’s “Angry Runs” segment as a rookie. In 2025, he forced 39 missed tackles on 82 rushing attempts and produced 390 yards after contact. His 4.87 yards after contact per rushing attempt average ranks second in the draft class.
The only other player with an elusive rating over 200.0 is Louisiana-Monroe‘s Zach Palmer-Smith (210.8). Palmer-Smith is also a powerful runner, but he uses his lateral agility to force defenders to miss tackles on jump cuts. He forced 50 missed tackles on 119 rushing attempts and racked up 603 yards after contact, helping his average pf 5.07 yards after contact per rushing attempt rank first in the draft class.
Next, let’s look for a productive sure-handed receiving tight end.
Search Parameters:
- Open PFF Premium Stats
- Click on the “By Position” tab in the upper right-hand corner
- Click on the “league” box in the upper left-hand corner and select “NCAA”
- Click on “TE” in the “Receiving Grades” box, under “Receiving Reports”
- Click on “min. targets” and select “50%” (to remove small sample sizes)
- Click on “draft year” and set it to “2026” (to find players in this draft class only)
The results are initially sorted by PFF receiving grade, making the top three players Houston‘s Tanner Koziol (87.3), Vanderbilt‘s Eli Stowers (85.3) and Utah‘s Dallen Bentley (83.1). If the results are sorted by “Drop Grade” in the next column over, Bentley claims the No. 1 spot (91.9).
Bentley was targeted 76 times in 2025, and he caught 48 passes for 620 yards and six touchdowns without a drop all season. Even more impressive is that Bentley’s average depth of target was 10.8 yards, the second-highest mark in the draft class among tight ends with at least 30 receptions. So, he wasn’t just being targeted on easy six-yard curls or screens.
Next, let’s look for a talented pass-blocking interior offensive lineman.
Search Parameters:
- Open PFF Premium Stats
- Click on the “By Position” tab in the upper right-hand corner
- Click on the “league” box in the upper left-hand corner and select “NCAA”
- Click on “G” in the “Pass Blocking” box, under “Blocking Reports”
- Click on “min. pass-block snaps” and select “50%” (to remove small sample sizes)
- Click on “draft year” and set it to “2026” (to find players in this draft class only)
The top name on the list is Oklahoma‘s Febechi Nwaiwu (91.6 PFF pass-blocking grade). Looking at the “under pressure allowed” area shows that Nwaiwu didn’t allow a single sack or quarterback hit and only two hurries on his 505 pass-blocking snaps in 2025.
If we go to his profile (click on his name), navigate to the “Team Report” dropdown in the top right, select “snaps by position” and slide the detailed positions circle over, we find out that Nwaiwu played 144 snaps at center, 54 snaps at left guard, 647 snaps at right guard in 2025. NFL teams might project his best fit to be at center, where he started during the East-West Shrine Bowl, but his high level of play at multiple positions offers value regardless.
These are just a few examples of how you can use PFF Premium Stats to find talented and productive draft prospects. Later in this series of scouting draft prospects using your PFF+ subscription, we’ll go more in-depth at specific positions.
If you haven’t yet, become a PFF+ subscriber and dive into the data for yourself.
