Nfl Combine 2026 Preview: Mock Drafts, Top Prospects and Coverage

A fresh mock draft from Gennaro Filice has intensified the lead-up to the nfl combine 2026 by placing high-profile prospects in early slots and sketching potential team fits ahead of live coverage starting Feb. 26 (ET). The mock — which stretches through an entire first round — highlights positional debates that will be a focus during the combine and in the weeks before the draft.

Nfl Combine 2026 coverage timing

Live coverage of the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine will begin Feb. 26 (ET). That scheduled coverage creates a clear calendar marker: evaluations and measurements revealed at the event will arrive before teams finalize pre-draft boards and could alter the narrative Filice laid out in his initial mock. The combine’s timing makes it a near-term inflection point for players trying to climb into first-round consideration.

Mock draft spotlights top prospects

Filice’s mock places several unconventional positional standouts near the top of the board. Running back Jeremiyah Love is shown cracking the top five, while off-ball linebacker Sonny Styles and safety Caleb Downs also rank among the most acclaimed players in the class. Filice’s choices echo initial prospect rankings that already listed those players among the top 10, reinforcing the idea that this class features highly regarded talent away from the traditional premium positions.

The mock also projects a clear QB1 in Mendoza, noting that he checks multiple boxes for the presumed top pick: He won major awards and titles at the college level and is described as fitting with a particular team’s needs and coaching style. Mendoza is characterized in the draft narrative as a 6-foot-5, 225-pound quarterback whose work ethic and skill set align with the prospective team’s offensive approach.

Roster fits and positional value

Positional value — the tendency of teams to favor certain positions at the very top of the draft — is a recurrent theme in Filice’s mock. The draft tale acknowledges the longstanding reluctance to spend top picks on running backs, off-ball linebackers and safeties, yet this particular class places three highly regarded players at those spots.

The mock uses team-specific context to justify selections: one franchise that finished near the bottom of the league in sacks last season is presented as having incentive to pursue an explosive edge rusher; a pass rusher named Bailey is noted as tying for the FBS lead with 14. 5 sacks, a statistical indicator teams will weigh. In another projection, a 6-foot-6, 335-pound lineman is depicted as a plausible pick to form a young bookend duo alongside a 24-year-old blindside starter already on the roster.

On the Tennessee projection, the mock references a coaching emphasis on protecting and supporting a young quarterback, citing a recent remark that building a structure so the quarterback does not have to be a one-man solution will be a priority. The projection notes that Tennessee previously added complementary pieces in a past fourth round and suggests that adding a multi-faceted weapon like Love could provide a needed sidekick.

Key takeaways

• Filice’s mock elevates non-premium positions, placing Love, Styles and Downs among top prospects.
• Mendoza is presented as a clear QB1 and a likely top pick based on college résumé and fit.
• Live combine results beginning Feb. 26 (ET) represent a near-term test that could reshape first-round thinking.

Filice’s mock offers an early template for how front offices and scouts might view this class, but the upcoming combine and the measurements, drills and interviews it produces will be the next observable inputs. Teams and evaluators will have a concentrated window — beginning Feb. 26 (ET) — to confirm physical traits and situational fits that could nudge players up or down ahead of draft night.