Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft delivered its share of surprises, but the real value starts Friday night.
Several projected first-round talents slid into Day 2 after teams prioritized scheme fit over consensus boards, and a few others never had the buzz to match their tape. The result is a Round 2 pool with legitimate starters, a handful of first-round grades, and at least one quarterback who will likely hear his name called inside the first 10 picks Friday.
Here are the best available prospects heading into Round 2, ranked by talent and projected landing range.
Who Are the Best Available Players After Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft?
Jerod McCoy, CB, Tennessee | No. 14 on PFSN Big Board
Jermod McCoy was a frontrunner to challenge for the CB1 mantle in the 2026 NFL Draft, but he missed the entire 2025 season amidst his recovery from a torn ACL. At 5’11”, 193 pounds, McCoy doesn’t quite have the desired size profile. But at his size, McCoy has solid proportional length, to go along with elite explosiveness, long-strider acceleration on the attack, and hyper-elite hip fluidity, deceleration, and malleability on transitions.
He’s an instant closer off his plant-and-drive, and a fleet-footed and fluid short-area mover with easy-matching athleticism. In press, he can stay square and dictate releases with physicality, and he’s a smooth mover in zone with tremendous throttle control, vision, and reactive coil over top route breaks. All this, and McCoy’s playmaking might be his most exciting trait; he snagged four INTs in 2024.
McCoy’s medical checks will be key, but if those prove sound, he’s a complete, scheme-versatile cover man and a turnover generator in the mold of Darius Slay.
D’Angelo Ponds, CB, Indiana | No. 21 on PFSN Big Board
D’Angelo Ponds may be undersized, but past the size, he’s an elite athlete with an elite technical skill set, a verifiable clutch gene, and projected slot-boundary versatility. Ponds tallied seven interceptions and 30 pass deflections over his last three seasons.
He’s an undersized cornerback at 5’9″ and 170 pounds, but he is a tremendous athlete with great coverage instincts and a scrappy demeanor near the line of scrimmage.
Kayden McDonald, DT, Ohio State | No. 22 on PFSN Big Board
Scouting Report: Kayden McDonald followed in first-round pick Tyleik Williams’ footsteps as Ohio State’s starting nose tackle, and now he’s on track to potentially mirror Williams’ draft capital in the 2026 NFL Draft. A former four-star recruit, McDonald tips the scales at 6’3″, 326 pounds, and at his size, he has awesome on-attack explosiveness and raw power capacity. Juxtaposing McDonald with Williams, Williams was visibly more flexible and alignment-verse.
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Nevertheless, McDonald serves his early-down purpose well as a double-team magnet, combo absorber, line reset specialist, and block shedder. Meanwhile, he has the high-level linear explosion and throttling point-of-attack power to cave in step-up space on passing downs, as well as the motor to finish plays.
While he’ll never be an elite pass-rush force, McDonald is an excellent orbit DT at 0-tech and 1-tech, with the overwhelming point-of-contact power to wreak havoc in the run game, and the juice to be a respectable three-down presence.
Avieon Terrell, CB, Clemson | No. 24 on PFSN Big Board
Scouting Report: Avieon Terrell wasn’t able to keep his family legacy alive by earning first-round capital in the 2026 NFL Draft, but he will likely be picked very early in Round 2. The younger brother of former Clemson great and current Atlanta Falcons starter A.J. Terrell, Avieon has carved out his own place as a stalwart secondary defender for the Tigers.
He stacked two interceptions and 21 pass breakups over his final two seasons, and also took on a penchant for “peanut punches”, racking up eight forced fumbles in the support phase. As a prospect, the younger Terrell doesn’t quite have the same size-speed combination his brother had, but Avieon is nonetheless a Round 1 talent in his own right. Terrell is one of the most technically and schematically-versatile CBs in the class.
With his fast feet, fluid mobility, recovery burst, and sound technique, he can play press-man, flawlessly orient to WRs in off-man and toggle through techniques, or manage route relationships in zone. Terrell also has actionable slot-boundary versatility on day one, and he’s a true two-phase playmaker with ball skills against the pass and unique turnover-generating potential in run defense. An up-and-coming young player with an unnaturally high floor, Terrell has instant impact starter ability.
Colton Hood, CB, Tennessee | No. 25 on PFSN Big Board
Scouting Report: Colton Hood began his collegiate career at Auburn, before transferring to Colorado to join a talented secondary alongside Travis Hunter and DJ McKinney. Rotating in between two high-profile NFL Draft prospects, Hood managed to produce on his own in 2024, earning honorable mention All-Big 12 recognition. He used that momentum to transfer a second time in 2025, making the move to Tennessee in the SEC.
With the Volunteers, Hood was again expected to be a CB2 playing across from Jermod McCoy, but McCoy’s early-season injury thrust Hood into a CB1 role, where he thrived. In 2025, Hood racked up an INT, eight pass breakups, and 4.5 TFLs, while earning a near-elite PFSN CB Impact score of 87.3. At 6’0″, 195 pounds, Hood has an enticing blend of explosiveness, corrective twitch, reactive coil, proportional length, and physicality.
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He’s still learning to play with more patience and discipline, but he possesses clear early-round ability, with his coverage mobility as the foundation. Hood can stick to WRs in press-man, as well as suddenly redirect and explode through breaks in off-man and zone. His playmaking ability is stamped at the catch point, and he’s a consistent tackler in support as well.
In time, Hood has the potential to become a high-end starter with inbuilt schematic versatility.
Christen Miller, DT, Georgia | No. 26 on PFSN Big Board
Scouting Report: Christen Miller isn’t quite the caliber of DT prospect we’ve seen from Georgia in years past, but he’s still a very real early-round candidate with an NFL-translatable superpower that underpins his game. At 6’4″, 315 pounds, with high-end natural leveraging, burst, and length, Miller has an eye-popping power profile that enables him to routinely reset the line in the run game. With sledgehammer hands, he can collapse blockers 1-on-1, and he has the raw power and strength to violently stack-and-shed.
Miller is still developing as a pass-rusher beyond quick swims and raw power, as evidenced by his lacking production, but down the stretch in 2025, he flashed promise as a pass-rusher with his short-area quickness and heavy hand torque. Miller’s slight hip flexibility deficiency does cap his pass-rush upside a bit, but his floor in run defense is sky-high with his reactive quickness and shedding ability, and he has the linear athleticism and point-resetting power profile to grow as a pass-down asset.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, SAF, Toledo | No. 27 on PFSN Big Board
Scouting Report: Emmanuel McNeil-Warren is in line to be the first lower-conference player selected in the 2026 NFL Draft. He doesn’t play the same position Toledo alumnus Quinyon Mitchell played, but is nonetheless a similarly dynamic prospect. At over 6’3″, 209 pounds, with over 32″ arms, McNeil-Warren has domineering size and length, which he pairs with wicked foot speed, bounding lateral explosiveness and agility, and terse two-phase physicality.
He’s a force to be reckoned with in support with his fast-flowing play style and closing burst, but he’s also shown he can manage short and intermediate zones in coverage with his smooth coverage mobility, process overlapping routes and keep spatial discipline in 2-on-1 situations, and make plays on the ball with his closing burst and proactive length usage. A strong fit for a traditional strong safety role, McNeil-Warren could be a value pick in the early Day 2 range.
Denzel Boston, WR, Washington | No. 32 on PFSN Big Board
Scouting Report: Denzel Boston entered his junior season at Washington poised to headline the Huskies’ receiving corps after waiting his turn behind NFL-bound stars like Rome Odunze, Ja’Lynn Polk, and Jalen McMillan. Standing at 6’4″ and 209 pounds, Boston broke out in 2024 with a 63-834-9 receiving line, thriving as a red-zone mismatch and showing off his expansive catch radius and reliable hands. While not an especially twitchy athlete, Boston moves efficiently for his size, stacks cornerbacks on the outside with smooth explosion and long-strider speed, and competes well through contact.
He boasted a miniscule 1.2% drop rate in 2025 per TruMedia, while hauling in 881 yards and 11 TDs on 62 receptions. Boston’s ability to high-point passes and make difficult grabs makes him a go-to weapon when space tightens, and he magnifies his vice-grip hand strength with intelligent timing control and catch-point positioning. With more than enough fluidity, tempo management skills, and zone IQ to function as a route runner, Boston has an appealing X-receiver profile, and has impact starter potential.
