At the very top, the 2026 NFL Draft class is shaped by defensive talent, particularly a good group of edge defenders and a nice crop of wide receivers and cornerbacks that occupy a significant share of the top 50.

Overall, this class blends blue-chip defensive playmakers, a deep perimeter talent pool and a more meaningful cluster of quarterbacks worthy of early consideration than last cycle.

For the full ranking of draft prospects — including three-year player grades and position rankings — click here. And if you want to go hands-on with the class, check out the PFF Big Board Builder to create your own rankings or fire up the PFF Mock Draft Simulator to run full mock drafts in seconds.

Editor’s note: The analysis included here comes from Trevor Sikkema’s preseason scouting series, while the rankings themselves have been fully updated. This analysis is provided to give readers context on how these players were viewed entering the season.

1. Peter Woods, Clemson Tigers

Big board rank: 3

Woods is an ideal blend of size, strength and athleticism for a big man. That shows up in his versatility not only in his 0-to-5-technique alignments, but also his ability to make an impact in two- and three-point stances, making him truly scheme-versatile. His bread and butter is explosiveness in his first step, converting speed to power quickly and consistently. Pairing that with inside hand placement allows him to stack and shed blockers with haste to make plenty of plays at the line of scrimmage. If Woods continues to improve and diversify his pass-rush plan (even with shorter arms), he can convert his pass-rush win rate into more sacks and tackles for loss as opposed to just making stops at the line.

2. Caleb Banks, Florida Gators

Big board rank: 14

Banks is a big, strong, and violent player with the size and strength to be an impactful defensive lineman in the NFL. He brings a strong club move that he relies on to get past blockers and into the backfield as a go-to option. His first step has good burst, but he won’t be one of those defensive linemen making chase-down tackles to the outside. His length and strength give him ideal scheme versatility as a nose tackle, 3-technique, or 3-4 defensive end in odd and even fronts, and he is a good run defender, though at times he is too focused on gap-shooting rather than holding his spot. Right now, Banks just wins with power. He must improve his pass-rush diversity and pad level, areas that have held his career pass-rush win rate below 12.0% heading into 2025.

3. Christen Miller, Georgia Bulldogs

Big board rank: 21

Miller has been waiting for his turn behind Georgia’s pipeline of NFL defensive linemen. He has the chance to really stand out in 2025. At 6-foot-4 and 310 pounds, he has a good frame to line up as a nose tackle or 3-technique in a 4-3 scheme. He also appears to have longer arms for an interior player. Not often do you use the word twitch with a defensive tackle, but Miller has it in his initial movements, whether in his hands or feet. He is a good run defender due to his consistent leverage and quick first step, but his true anchor feels a bit light. What enhances his projection despite lower career snap counts is his fast processing and football IQ.

4. A’Mauri Washington, Oregon Ducks

Big board rank: 39

Analysis Coming soon!

5. Kayden McDonald, Ohio State Buckeyes

Big board rank: 47

Analysis Coming soon!

6. Dontay Corleone, Cincinnati Bearcats

Big board rank: 58

Corleone, or better known as The Godfather, has been in college football for quite some time. He was one of the highest-graded players in the country in 2022, sporting elite PFF run-defense grades thanks to imposing strength and massive size. His PFF overall and run-defense grades have steadily dropped each season since, and he suffered blood clots in the 2024 offseason, which is worth noting given his weight. Corleone has unique quickness for a nose tackle, and even though he possesses shorter arms, he can stack and control centers at will in run defense. His pass-rush win rate has been below 10.0% for two seasons, likely a product of his lack of length, which only gets more challenging to overcome in the NFL. As a true nose tackle for a 3-4 scheme, he can still bring plenty of value.

7. Domonique Orange, Iowa State Cyclones

Big board rank: 61

Orange, aka Big Citrus, is a massive defensive line prospect who has a ton of power potential (benches 450 pounds and squats 650 pounds, per The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman). He has good first-step explosiveness, especially for his size, which leads to impactful speed-to-power conversion on his bull rushes when in attack mode. But although Orange’s power profile is impressive, his speed and finesse game is lacking. His hand speed is slow, which shows up in how quickly he can disengage from blockers. He must also improve how much separation he creates when stacking to maximize block-shed potential. All of that is to say that his power profile is NFL-caliber and especially useful and versatile in a 3-4 scheme. He is also a high-effort player.

8. C.J. Fite, Arizona State Sun Devils

Big board rank: 79

Fite is a young defensive tackle prospect who already has two years of starting experience as a nose and 3-technique in Arizona State‘s even-front defensive line as a true junior. His run-defense reps as an underclassman were incredibly impressive, including against double teams. He is built like an NFL player and now needs to find out who he is as a pass rusher to realize his potential (which could make him a top-100 pick).

9. Darrell Jackson Jr., Florida State Seminoles

Big board rank: 82

Jackson is a massive defensive tackle prospect with significant strength potential. He measures in around 6-foot-5 and 340 pounds, and that high weight number isn’t sloppy. His length and weight also allow him to have success as a nose and 3-technique player in a 4-3 scheme. His hand placement and usage can be inconsistent, but when he gets it right, he’s a bulldozer who is nearly impossible to stay in front of. Jackson’s career pass-rush win rate is below 10.0% heading into 2025, but 2024 was his best season in that regard. He must also improve his processing and feel for where the ball is or is going. He’s in the potential, rather than polished, category of prospects heading into his final campaign, but he has the look and natural strength of an NFL defensive lineman.

10. Skyler Gill-Howard, Texas Tech Red Raiders

Big board rank: 114

Analysis Coming soon!

11. Albert Regis, Texas A&M Aggies

Big board rank: 124

To this point in his college career, Regis has been a consistency-over-impact type of player. He presents a high floor as a nose tackle with good size, flexibility, and leverage. He isn’t the most explosive or violent, so we haven’t seen much backfield production. But, he is where he needs to be with a good understanding of techniques and defensive line principles that can make him a depth NFL player in any scheme.

12. Bear Alexander, Oregon Ducks

Big board rank: 130

Alexander is a very talented 3-technique defensive tackle. He is built well and makes speed his calling card with explosiveness and solid hand usage. At its best, his speed-to-power strength and leg drive are some of the best you’ll see. He also already shows a good understanding of pass-rush moves. He needs to refine his anticipation of the ball and work on his overall consistency with leverage. Holding up against power is also key (he struggled against Jackson Powers-Johnson). While talented, he’ll have plenty of questions to answer come draft time due to being with his third program and voluntarily leaving USC after three games in 2024.

13. David Oke, Arkansas Razorbacks

Big board rank: 158

Oke hasn’t played football for long. Native to Nigeria, he didn’t know the rules of the game until his family moved to the U.S., and he started competing in his freshman year of high school. Now, his twitchy movements, violent and fast play style and red-hot motor make him an intriguing NFL prospect. His measurables and play style lend themselves to a 4-3 scheme where he can one-gap and stunt. He does need to play stronger versus the run and maintain a better pad level. Impactful play could lead to a high draft selection for the SEC standout.

14. Cole Brevard, Texas Longhorns

Big board rank: 178

Analysis Coming soon!

15. Tim Keenan III, Alabama Crimson Tide

Big board rank: 184

Keenan is a bowling ball of a traditional nose tackle who stops the runs with good strength and leverage, but he hasn’t shown much in pass rushing. His hands must be more active when rushing the quarterback, and he must lean more into a bull-rush move with good leverage to get the most out of his strengths as a player. If he doesn’t, he can still be a rotational run stopper as a nose in a 3-4 or 4-3 defense who plays with good effort.

16. DeMonte Capehart, Clemson Tigers

Big board rank: 187

Capehart is a sixth-year senior in 2025 who has spent most of his Clemson career as a backup and rotational defensive tackle. In 2024, he played a good amount at the nose tackle spot, which is likely his best role in the NFL. He boasts good size and length for the league, but he must maximize his length advantage with his arms more consistently when stacking and bull rushing. He isn’t overly twitchy, so block deconstruction is inconsistent and often slower than when the ball comes out. As a run-stuffing nose tackle in a 3-4 defense, he can provide ideal length in a rotational role.

17. Lee Hunter, Texas Tech Red Raiders

Big board rank: 205

Analysis Coming soon!

18. Zxavian Harris, Mississippi Rebels

Big board rank: 226

Harris is a massive defensive line prospect who is intriguing off those numbers alone. But, he must find a home-base weight (played at 330-plus pounds the previous season and closer to 300 in 2024) to truly assess where he fits in the NFL. He does have some nice cross-face reps when executing a club-arm over or swim move, but we don’t see it too often. Though his frame comes with natural pros, it also has inherent cons due to his high-waisted build. He also struggles to keep his pad level down. Right now, Harris projects to a rotational role in an odd-front scheme that maximizes his best traits: length and size.

19. Zane Durant, Penn State Nittany Lions

Big board rank: 234

Durant has been a consistent name on Bruce Feldman’s College Football Freaks List, thanks to his incredible feats of strength in the weight room. But that weight room glory hasn’t translated to on-field production. His pass-rush win rate was below 10.0% in 2023 and 2024, and his missed-tackle percentage was 20.0%. His measurables also make it tough to project him to a consistent-impact NFL role. He has the game of a nose tackle but the size of a player needing to play 3-technique. If Durant can improve his pass-rush production in 2025, we’ll have a clearer picture of what he can be in the NFL.

20. Rayshaun Benny, Michigan Wolverines

Big board rank: 241

Benny has been a solid rotational player in Michigan‘s defensive front for the last three seasons, with an outlook to be a starter in 2025. At 300 pounds, he would be on the lighter side for an NFL defensive tackle, but he has good overall mass and length for work as a 3-4 defensive end; he’s seen quite a bit there in the Wolverines’ front. He has a good understanding of pass-rush moves and hand usage, but his game seems to lack the violence and urgency to be a backfield difference maker. He projects as a versatile depth player for an odd-front defense.

21. Keanu Tanuvasa, BYU Cougars

Big board rank: 253

Tanuvasa will be on the older side of the 2026 NFL Draft class because of a two-year church mission after high school, before he began his college football journey. He was a rotational player for the Utes before transferring to BYU, hopefully for more playing time. He has been lined up as both a nose tackle and a 3-technique defensive tackle, but his best spot appears to be at 3-technique, given his play weight. He has good natural strength and strong speed-to-power conversion, but he must improve his balance, as he plays on the ground and out of control too often, as well as his hand usage to stay clean of blocks and utilize leverage as a run defender.

22. James Smith, Alabama Crimson Tide

Big board rank: 281

Smith is a former four-star prospect who should be a starter for the first time in 2025. He is similar in build to his teammate LT Overton, and because of that, Alabama likes to get versatile with the two of them as 3-technique defensive tackles and 3-4 defensive ends. He finished the 2025 campaign well with a good showing against Michigan, showcasing power against the run and some improved quickness when shedding blocks. Smith needs to build on that in 2025, as it appears he has shorter arms, which make it tougher for him to naturally disengage and finish tackles. Though Smith brings experience as a 3-4 or 4-3 defensive end, his lack of length will likely limit his success there in the NFL. His best spot is probably as a 4-3 defensive tackle, but he must get his pass-rush win percentage into the double digits to excel there.

23. Gracen Halton, Oklahoma Sooners

Big board rank: 285

Halton is undersized for an interior player and has a bit of a tweener build that might drop him down some draft boards. But for a front that likes to stay multiple and fluid with its defensive linemen, he can be an asset thanks to his quickness, cross-face moves, hot motor and pursuit speed. His drawbacks are evident when more strength is needed, particularly anchoring or bull rushing.

24. Keeshawn Silver, USC Trojans

Big board rank: 296

Silver is a massive, former five-star defensive lineman with impressive size and length, weighing over 330 pounds and boasting a 7-foot wingspan. He was primarily used as a head-up, 0-technique nose tackle in Kentucky‘s two-gapping, odd-front 3-4 defense. As a result, he lacks experience and production as a pass rusher. Instead, he is a stereotypical stand-your-ground type of nose tackle. He’s tough to get around and doesn’t yield much ground in run defense, but his lack of overall athleticism beyond his first step has offered low backfield production heading into his fifth season.

25. Landon Robinson, Navy Mishipmen

Big board rank: 307

Analysis Coming soon!

26. Brandon Cleveland, North Carolina State Wolfpack

Big board rank: 311

Cleveland is a well-built nose tackle in the Wolfpack defense who primarily plays as a head-up 0-technique right in front of the center. He has plenty of experience taking on double teams and knows how to use angles and techniques to stand his ground. He lacks imposing strength and explosiveness to be a solo-impact defender, evidenced by his sub-6.0% career pass-rush win rate, but he is a do-your-job type of dirty work defensive lineman who has a chance to make it in the NFL as a depth nose tackle.