The 2026 NFL Draft is about one month in the rearview mirror. For some, it means now is still time to debate their favorite team’s draft selections. For me, it means I’ve had one month to build up my board for the 2027 class.
Even if you’re a casual fan of the NFL Draft, you’ve probably heard some buzz about how good the 2027 class is supposed to be. While a lot can change between now and next April, my early analysis confirms that there’s a lot of potential for blue-chip prospects to arise in next year’s group.
There are a lot of talented running backs and wide receivers in college football, which bodes incredibly well for those of you in dynasty fantasy football leagues. There’s also an abundance of intriguing quarterback prospects. I don’t have a blue-chip grade on any QB yet, but a lot of guys have potential; there are currently nine quarterbacks in my top 70.
Heading into the summer, who are the big names to know? Which underrated prospects have the best chance of surprising everyone and becoming first-round picks? Join me as I break down my super early top 30 prospects in the 2027 NFL Draft.
1) Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State
It was genuinely difficult to find a weakness in Jeremiah Smith’s game last year. He’s a giant receiver at 6’3″ and 223 pounds with expected physicality and the ball skills and catch radius to win above the rim. However, he’s also an elite athlete with great deep speed, good explosiveness, shooting laterally out of his breaks, and good stem work early in his route.
Smith also has great hands and adjusts his approach to get open vs. man or zone. It’s rare to see a wide receiver as big as he is move so well and also be so smart as a route-running technician. Comparisons to Julio Jones are steep for most wide receiver prospects. They aren’t for Jeremiah Smith.
2) Colin Simmons, EDGE, Texas
In his first two seasons at Texas, Colin Simmons tallied 21.0 sacks and 29.5 tackles for a loss. He’s an elite athlete off the edge with ideal acceleration and flexibility to turn the corner and threaten on the outside speed rush. His pass-rushing arsenal runs deep, his motor is red hot, and he has good awareness against the run to free up his hands and make the stop.
The only major concern with Simmons is his average size, which could give some NFL teams some pause. However, we just saw David Bailey selected No. 2 overall this year with similar concerns. I think Simmons is the superior prospect at this stage, with the edge due to his bend at the top of his arc, so there’s no telling how high the ceiling is for him.
3) Leonard Moore, CB, Notre Dame
A unanimous All-American in 2025, Leonard Moore built upon his freshman All-American year by tallying five interceptions last season. The 6’2″, 194-pounder is a smooth mover with fluid hips, quick feet in his backpedal, and very good deep speed defending vertical route concepts.
Moore complements his athleticism and fluidity well with impressive route-recognition skills. He’s a quick processor who can keep receivers in his hip pocket easily, thanks to his movement ability and sharp coverage instincts. It would take a pretty big disaster for him not to be a first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft; he’s as legit as they come.
4) Dylan Stewart, EDGE, South Carolina
Dylan Stewart is a lengthy edge rusher with elite athleticism off the edge and a well-built frame that carries his 245 pounds very well at 6’5″. His bend at the top of his arc is great, and he does a good job of sifting through blocks in the run game. He’s also a capable turnover creator, having forced six fumbles in his first two years at South Carolina.
With how well Stewart carries his current weight, I’d like to see him add 10-15 more pounds and get a little stronger. As flexible as he is in his lower half, a lighter anchor can make it tougher for him to set the edge and eat up gaps. As a pass rusher, though, he’s factory-made and ready to contribute right away.
5) Dante Moore, QB, Oregon
Dante Moore started living up to that five-star pedigree in his first year starting for Oregon. He has an elastic arm that gets good velocity behind his throws off-platform, he’s creative out of structure, he has ideal athleticism for the quarterback position, and he demonstrated really nice timing on his downfield throws.
His post-snap processing was inconsistent in 2025, so I’d like to see him improve his composure under pressure. Part of his turnover-prone play can also stem from his skittish footwork. With another year to fine-tune his game, though, he has No. 1 pick potential.
6) David Stone, DT, Oklahoma
Oklahoma had some talented defensive linemen last year, as all of R Mason Thomas, Gracen Halton, and Damonic Williams went to the NFL. David Stone was easily the best of the bunch in 2025. He led the Power 4 with an 85.9 PFSN DT Impact Score, dominating the interior with elite first-step acceleration, pro-ready pad level, and quick hands that can shed blocks in many different ways.
Even as someone who doesn’t have the prototypical size for the defensive tackle position, Stone fares well in the run game off of instincts and technique. I think he has serious three-down potential at the NFL level, which should place him into top-ten pick territory if he continues to progress at his current rate.
7) Ahmad Moten, DT, Miami (FL)
With a 25.4% win rate against true pass sets in 2025, Ahmad Moten Sr. is a defensive tackle who can get it done on all three downs. He’s quick off the snap, low to the ground, powerful in his lower half, and has a diverse arsenal of moves he can use to stack and shed blocks.
The biggest issue with Moten is his missed tackles, having missed 21.1% of his career attempts going into 2026. If he can cut down on those, he has top-10 potential in this class. His disruptiveness is too much to ignore when you turn on the tape of that Miami defense last year.
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8) Jamari Johnson, TE, Oregon
Much like Kenyon Sadiq before him, Jamari Johnson showed elite traits as Oregon’s second-string tight end last year. He was particularly productive in the playoffs with eight catches, 149 yards, and a touchdown in the Ducks’ two games. He’s a sure-handed pass catcher with elite vertical speed, ball skills, and lateral quickness coming out of his breaks.
Even as a backup, Johnson showed first-round potential with what he put together on tape. His fluidity across the middle of the field is top-notch, and he can stretch the field at a very high level as a tight end much larger than Sadiq. The question remains whether he can translate those flashes into a full starting season, but, as I did with Sadiq last year, I feel confident Johnson will do so this year.
9) Ellis Robinson IV, CB, Georgia
With five interceptions as a redshirt freshman in 2025, Ellis Robinson IV has ball skills like a wide receiver. His body control, hands, and ball-tracking skills are all very impressive for a cornerback. Additionally, he’s an aggressive decision-maker in coverage who acts upon his reads decisively and shows willingness as a downhill tackler.
With an allowed passer rating of just 64.3 and an allowed completion percentage of his 42.9% in coverage, Robinson has demonstrated true shutdown cornerback capabilities. At 180 pounds, I’d like to see him bulk up a little, but he’s a playmaker through and through with CB1 potential in the NFL.
10) Jadan Baugh, RB, Florida
I absolutely love the 2027 NFL Draft’s running back class, and as of right now, Jadan Baugh has the higher grade for me. He’s 6’1″ and 231 pounds, and he uses that large frame well. He’s a tough, powerful runner who churns through contact and can run over smaller defenders with ease.
Baugh is more than just a typical power back, though. His tempo variance and vision out of the backfield is strong, and he’s such an explosive runner with better speed and first-step quickness than most his size. He also has strong hands and can catch passes out of the backfield well, making him a true three-down back.
11) Jordan Seaton, OT, LSU
A former five-star recruit at Colorado, Jordan Seaton is in good hands transferring to LSU this offseason. He had some rough patches early in his collegiate career, but evened out down the stretch in 2025. He has prototypical size and length for an offensive tackle, showcasing ideal physicality and tremendous mobility for someone who was listed at 330 pounds.
Seaton’s inconsistency on tape shows up in his upright blocking style and strike placement that doesn’t always work out. The hope is that a change of scenery will have him technically sound, as Will Campbell was coming out of LSU. Length and play strength aren’t issues for Seaton, though, so if he can iron out some parts of his game, the sky’s the limit.
12) KJ Bolden, S, Georgia
KJ Bolden is a versatile defensive back who can line up all over the defensive backfield and make plays, which speaks to his quick mental trigger. His coverage instincts are really impressive, demonstrating fluid hips, good longitudinal agility, proper form as a tackler, and range as a single-high safety.
Bolden has allowed a career passer rating of just 55.1 when targeted in coverage going into 2026. His versatility and athleticism should be extremely enticing to NFL teams. He looks the part of a first-round pick, but if he improves his physicality by taking blocks head-on, he could be a top-15 pick amidst all the quarterback chaos of the 2027 NFL Draft.
13) Arch Manning, QB, Texas
Projecting Arch Manning as the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft was incredibly unfair. It took him a while to get mentally acclimated as Texas’ new starting quarterback last year, but he found his groove down the stretch. He’s a well-built passer with a strong arm, impressive athletic ability, and a natural sense of timing down the field.
There were still instances down the stretch when Manning forced throws to covered targets, but that did improve as the season went on. He has a loaded group of wide receivers this year and another offseason to develop; he could finally reach his No. 1 overall pick billing if he continues to grow.
14) Ahmad Hardy, RB, Missouri
Ranking Ahmad Hardy is unfortunately a difficult task, seeing as though he got shot in the leg at a concert this offseason. With his 2026 season in jeopardy, it’s tough to project how big an impact the damage to his leg will have on him as a draft prospect. Above all else, I wish him a speedy recovery.
Hardy is an extremely talented back who had exactly 3,000 rushing yards between his 2024 season at UL-Monroe and his 2025 season at Missouri. He’s a stout back with elite pad level and the best contact balance I’ve seen in the 2027 NFL Draft. His physicality is unreal, and his ball-carrier vision in and out of the tackles is NFL-ready. Even with average long speed, his agility is great to the point where he can make defenders miss with ease.
15) Trevor Goosby, OT, Texas
Had Trevor Goosby declared for the 2026 NFL Draft, there’s a good chance we could’ve seen eight offensive tackles picked in the first round. His inexperience as a first-year starter showed sometimes last year, but he’s an incredibly nimble pass protector with prototypical size, length, and the core strength needed to absorb power.
I’d like to see Goosby’s spatial awareness in pass protection improve a little bit, but I’m confident he’ll become more comfortable facing exotic rush looks with more reps. He has all the physical tools of a long-term starting left tackle at the next level.
16) Mario Craver, WR, Texas A&M
At 5’9″ and 165 pounds, Mario Craver is certainly undersized for the wide receiver position. That said, he might be the most dynamic receiver in the 2027 class. He’s a speedy, twitched-up weapon who can create separation vertically and underneath with elite speed, sharp lateral cuts, and good stem work. He doesn’t have bad hands, and he’s quite tough after the catch.
Obviously, Craver’s lack of size and length make it tough for him to win in contested situations. Nobody’s going to be selecting him to win 50/50 balls, though. If you draft him, you’ll be expecting a dynamic weapon with elite athletic ability. He may be one-dimensional, but that one dimension is very strong.
17) Cam Coleman, WR, Texas
Cam Coleman was a standout at Auburn for two seasons and projects as Arch Manning’s WR1 at Texas this year. He’s 6’3″ and 201 pounds with the physicality and ball skills needed to win on the 50/50 ball. He attacks the ball in the air like a power forward, he bends the stem well to exploit leverage points, and he has better deep speed than most receivers his size.
I’d like to see Coleman shore up his drops a little bit. His 7.0% drop rate is a little high for a first-round prospect, especially one as big as he is. It can be tougher for him to sink his hips and explode out of his breaks, too. But similar to Craver, Coleman fits a specific niche of receiver in his own way, and I think that niche is worthy of a first-round selection.
18) Kewan Lacy, RB, Ole Miss
Kewan Lacy is an explosive running back with impressive creativity as a downhill runner, outside of the tackles, and out in the open field. His agility and full-field ball-carrier vision make him very tough to stop with the dynamic cuts he’s able to make. He’s also competitive as a pass blocker and tough to bring down with the ball in his hands.
Coming out of 2025, Lacy dropped 14.7% of his targets in the passing game for Ole Miss. He’ll need to prove himself a little more as a receiving back to solidify him as my bona fide RB1, but he certainly has the potential to be a high-volume contributor and a first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft.
19) Omarion Miller, WR, Arizona State
Had Omarion Miller had better quarterback play at Colorado in 2025, there’s no telling how productive he could’ve been. He’s 6’2″ and 210 pounds, showing off the size, physicality, and elite ball-tracking skills to win on the jump ball and contort himself to back-shoulder grabs. He has great vision and underrated agility after the catch, and he can identify soft spots against zone coverage and work himself open.
Because of the aforementioned quarterback struggles, Miller didn’t have as high of a reception volume as one would hope. His route tree wasn’t very deep, so I’d like to see more development from him as a route salesman at Arizona State. He also has a tendency to make the hard catches look easy and the easy catches look hard. That said, I think Miller has breakout potential and could thrive in a new environment.
20) Damon Wilson II, EDGE, Miami (FL)
Miami marks the third stop for Damon Wilson II, a five-star recruit out of high school who was quiet through two years at Georgia. He exploded for Missouri in 2025 to the tune of 9.0 sacks, and he now finds himself as a worthy replacement for the departing Rueben Bain Jr. and Akheem Mesidor.
Wilson is a tremendous athlete with a quick first step off the edge and impressive flexibility, turning the corner as a pass rusher. His toolbox shedding blocks looked much deeper in 2025, and though he doesn’t yet have an elite power aspect to his game, he showed improvement as a run defender at Mizzou.
21) Julian Sayin, QB, Ohio State
This early in the 2027 NFL Draft evaluation process, Julian Sayin is going to be a divisive prospect. A big part of that comes down to the physical aspect: he’s only 6’1″ and 208 pounds, he has an average arm, and his athleticism for the position isn’t out of this world. Because of that, he could struggle if drafted into a rebuilding situation.
As a later first-round pick, though, I love Sayin’s potential as a game-manager along the likes of Brock Purdy. He’s a cerebral passer with impressive touch at all three levels of the field, hitting his receivers in stride and anticipating them open with how he times his throws. He maintains his composure in a collapsing pocket and can make full-field reads. Sayin isn’t the flashiest passer in college football, but he sure is one of the most polished.
22) Zabien Brown, CB, Alabama
With an allowed passer rating of 71.0 in his first two seasons at Alabama, Zabien Brown is a playmaker in coverage who took both of his interceptions back for touchdowns in 2025. He’s sticky in man coverage and can stay in a receiver’s hip pocket with good hip fluidity and route-recognition capabilities.
The glaring weakness in Brown’s game I’ve noticed is when he has to play in off coverage, whether it’s a vertical zone shell or off-man. He’s a split second too late to shoot downhill and act upon his reads, allowing too much cushion off the line of scrimmage. That said, he’s a really impactful player the earlier he makes contact with a receiver. With further development, it’s possible he becomes a top-10 pick in 2027.
23) Ryan Coleman-Williams, WR, Alabama
Expectations were high for Ryan Coleman-Williams going into 2025, and he didn’t quite live up to them. His drops remain a big issue, and his skinnier frame proves to be an issue at times. However, he has phenomenal body control and impressive ball skills attacking the ball in the air.
Coleman-Williams is a high-level athlete with his explosiveness coming out of his breaks, great vision after the catch, and tremendous deep speed. Plus, he’ll only be 20 years old going into the 2027 NFL Draft. Not only does he have elite physical attributes and a high ceiling, but he offers plenty of longevity potential, as well.
24) Darian Mensah, QB, Miami (FL)
Darian Mensah is entering his third year as a collegiate starter, having improved each season between his 2024 campaign at Tulane and his 2025 campaign at Duke. Between those two years, he has 56 passing touchdowns to 12 interceptions, along with a 109.9 passer rating.
Though a little skinny, Mensah brings ideal composure and toughness as a pocket passer. He has a nice arm with good velocity behind his throws, as well as proper touch at all three levels of the field. He’s an accurate passer on the move, and he rarely makes haphazard decisions with the ball. I’d like to see Mensah become more creative out of structure and rely less on the 50/50 ball under pressure, but he’s an accurate, well-rounded passer with starting potential in the NFL.
25) Tae Johnson, S, Notre Dame
Considering the safety talent in the 2026 class, it’s even more remarkable that Tae Johnson led the nation in PFSN Safety Impact Scoring by a considerable margin last year. He’s a tall, lengthy safety with a large catch radius, and that size helps him as a tackler to the tune of a 3.6% missed tackle rate in 2025.
Johnson, at 6’2″ and 192 pounds, is a physical safety with a quick mental trigger in coverage. His versatility and ball skills will also entice NFL teams. I’m not sure he’ll test out of this world athletically, as his long speed seems to just be average. However, I see similarities to Malaki Starks coming out of college, who got picked late in Round 1 in 2025. I think Johnson ends up in a similar range.
26) Kade Pieper, C, Iowa
Early in the 2027 NFL Draft process, Kade Pieper is my top interior offensive lineman. Switching to center for Iowa this year, he dominated at guard with his elite athleticism, coordination, blocking on the move, and accurate strike placement at the initial point of contact.
Before he even cracked the Hawkeyes’ starting lineup, Pieper made an appearance on Bruce Feldman’s “Freaks List” with a reported 1.52 10-yard split and program records in the vertical jump and short shuttle. I’d like to see Pieper add more nastiness to his game, as his finishing ability is average on tape. Whether it’s at center or guard, though, he should be a Day 1 starter in the pros.
27) Sammy Brown, LB, Clemson
My early top linebacker in the 2027 NFL Draft, Sammy Brown, is a reliable, physical tackler who has combined for 186 tackles, 10.0 sacks, and 25.0 tackles for a loss in his first two years at Clemson. He’s a dense linebacker at 6’2″ and 235 pounds, and his combination of proper pad level, refined angles in pursuit, and raw physicality makes him as good a tackler as they come in this class.
Brown is still developing in coverage, as his agility and overall comfort level in zone shells across the middle of the field are pretty run-of-the-mill. But his straight-line athleticism, combined with his tackling form, play strength, and instincts against the run, project him well in the NFL.
28) Taylor Wein, EDGE, Oklahoma
As previously mentioned with Stone, Oklahoma’s defensive line was loaded in 2025. Defensive tackle Jayden Jackson is also a top-40 guy on my board, and he was a backup last year. It takes a lot to shine in that group, but Taylor Wein was able to do so. He ended 2025 with 7.0 sacks, 15.0 tackles for a loss, and 36 pressures.
Wein is a physical edge defender at 6’4″ and 266 pounds who can set the tone in the run game with a strong anchor, good hand placement, and ideal gap awareness. He plays with a high motor and has a deep arsenal of moves like swims, ghosts, cross-chops, and inside moves to win as a pass rusher. His athletic upside is lower than that of some other defensive ends in this class, but Wein’s floor seems to be quite high.
29) A’Mauri Washington, DT, Oregon
The 6’3″, 330-pound A’Mauri Washington is a squatty defensive tackle who has the frame of a nose tackle but the backfield penetration ability of a 3-technique. He was an All-Big Ten defender in his first year in the Ducks’ starting lineup, showing off tremendous anchor strength, a squatty frame that holds up well defending the A-gap, and quickness in a vacuum that’s better than many would expect.
I’d like to see Washington’s spatial awareness in the run game improve a little bit more. If he can do that, he’ll add more polish to a game that already shows off impressive first-step quickness and raw physicality in the trenches. I had him as a second-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft before he came back for another year; additional polishing of his game could bump him into the first.
30) Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State
Drew Mestemaker’s rise from a zero-star recruit to a potential first-round NFL talent says a lot about his work ethic. He dominated at North Texas last year, using his elastic arm and stellar deep touch to take the top off opposing defenses. For somebody who didn’t even start in high school, he showcased tremendous poise under pressure with the creativity to extend the play and make the right read, whether it was in or out of the pocket.
Mestemaker’s mechanics are a work in progress, and he’s inefficient throwing to his left, as he had an alarming 59.9 passer rating on all passes to the left side of the field past the line of scrimmage. It’s entirely possible he stays in school in 2027, develops further, and collects some strong NIL money. That said, his arm talent makes him worth watching early in case he does declare for the 2027 NFL Draft. He has the arm strength, timing, and mental toughness to project well in the pros in due time.
