We are five days away from the deadline to declare for the 2026 NFL draft, and many top prospects have already announced they will return next season. In a draft class already weak overall, the announcements that several prospects will be returning have a significant impact on this year’s outlook. Scouts have already raved about the 2027 class, and as next year’s draft continues to strengthen, the 2026 draft is slowly losing its appeal across the league.
Today, we heard from several running backs, including Justice Haynes, LJ Martin, and Jeremiah Cobb, all highly anticipated prospects who have announced their return for the 2026 season. All these prospects represent just one position group with a star (Jeremiyah Love) at the top of the class, but it lacks depth and shows no late-round promise. All three of these backs had day two potential, but their return to school signals a lot more than just a weak RB class.
This year’s class is thin at QB as well, and the top two QBs – Dante Moore and Fernando Mendoza – in the class have yet to declare. Ty Simpson is the only other QB to have received somewhat consistent first-round grades from scouts, but behind him things get shaky. I was excited about Brendan Sorsby, Josh Hoover, Arch Manning, and LaNorris Sellers, all of whom chose to return, leaving the 2026 class looking very weak.
The best positions in this year’s draft are reciever, linebacker, and corner, and while there are several promising edge prospects, the rest of the draft is heavily lacking. Even in a thin class, players are still returning to school, and the NFL’s outlook on this year’s class is wearing thin. In a college football landscape where players are receiving lucrative contracts to return to school, the NFL’s appeal is slowly fading, and that is now showing in this year’s draft.
At this point, I would even make the argument that 2027 draft picks have more value than 2026 ones, even when you consider that it is over a year down the line. It is already shaping up that the 2027 class will be stronger at QB, RB, WR, OT, DL, and maybe even corner. So… how will NFL scouts respond?
I previously wrote that teams will look to trade down, but GMs will have to assess the true value of their 2026 picks. Trade offers for top picks this year are going to be far less enticing than years prior, but at the same time, those top picks are less valuable. Scouts, fans, and GMs will hunt for prospects they can fall in love with, but this class is weaker than most, and that is unlikely to change overnight. Even if a team falls in love with a prospect, realism will need to set in across the NFL, and scouts should advise their franchise staff to hold off on aggressiveness in 2026.
Several teams will push to be aggressive in the 2026 draft, and taking advantage of that will be key to winning it. There are several GMs who have their jobs on the line and will try to leverage this draft to hang onto their position. At the same time, many GMs will look to utilize that by adding picks for 2027, which have turned into gold across the NFL. This is not to say that the 2026 draft is all bad, and there are several great prospects, but if I had to bet, I would rather put my career on 2027 than 2026.
With several talented prospects still weighing whether to declare for the 2026 draft, this class is weak and getting weaker. This makes this class very unique, and seeing how it is managed by scouts and GMs will be fascinating. But the point of this article is to explain that when draft season rolls around, people get giddy about new players entering the league. But it should be established early that while this draft has plenty of talent, it is weaker than most, and being realistic will be important on draft day.
