It’s only the second week of the 2025 NFL season, but we’re already starting to see some needs for teams making themselves clearly known at this point. We’re also starting to see some fascinating prospects emerge quickly at the college level.
The 2026 NFL Draft looks like it’s going to be loaded on the offensive line, but teams will also be hunting for future franchise quarterbacks. The big question about the young quarterbacks right now is whether or not the players we expected to be 1st-round caliber actually are 1st-round caliber.
Using our latest 2025 NFL Power Rankings for the draft order, we’re taking another way-too-early look at the 1st round of the 2026 NFL Draft. Which teams are bold enough to take quarterbacks off the board early? Which teams cash in on the depth of the offensive line class? What needs are forming early on?
2026 NFL Mock Draft: 1st-round predictions after Week 1 action
1. New Orleans Saints: Garrett Nussmeier, QB, LSU
We saw a decent debut in Week 1 for Spencer Rattler, and the jury’s still out on both him and Tyler Shough as franchise options going forward. If the Saints end up with the #1 overall pick, however, the decision on position will be easy. They will need to reset at quarterback. It feels like a good time to remind everyone that Garrett Nussmeier’s dad – Doug – is the offensive coordinator for the Saints right now.
2. Miami Dolphins: Peter Woods, DL, Clemson
You could really go on either side of the line for the Dolphins here. We saw Miami go after Kenneth Grant with their top pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, and here they take Peter Woods to pair up with him. The Dolphins could be looking at a reset next offseason if they finish this poorly, and they would have needs all over both sides of the ball.
3. Carolina Panthers: LaNorris Sellers, QB, South Carolina
If the Panthers finish with the 3rd-worst record in the league, there’s almost no scenario in which Bryce Young comes away completely unscathed. This bad of a finish would likely mean a hard reset at quarterback, though the Panthers also have so many needs right now on the defensive side of the ball.
4. New York Giants: Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama
We’ll see how the Giants handle the situation right now with veteran quarterback Russell Wilson and the promising rookie Jaxson Dart. It seems likely we’ll see Dart sooner rather than later. If he can show the Giants something this year, they don’t need to be overly impatient. Get him some help on that offensive line and keep building.