Top Sleepers in the 2026 NFL Draft: 8 Potential Steals in This Class, Including WR Germie Bernard and TE Eli Stowers

Kaleb Proctor is a prospect who isn’t getting enough buzz in the lead-up to the draft. Proctor is currently listed as the 208th overall prospect in the Consensus ratings on the PFSN Mock Draft Simulator, placing him early in the sixth round.

The defensive tackle from Southeastern Louisiana has elite measureables, scoring a 9.51 on the Relative Athletic Score. He pairs his physical traits with power, explosion, and violence at the point of attack. He shows impressive bend and short-area quickness, making him a legitimate interior disruptor.
He’s not a perfect prospect by any means, but getting a player that has rotational ability on day one and can develop into an effective interior pass rusher in the 5-7th round presents significant value and upside.

I think Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne has plenty of sleeper potential. He’s a smaller running back, but he’s a big play waiting to happen. His breakaway speed, short-area acceleration, ball-carrier vision, and agility in the open field make him very difficult to catch.

My favorite potential steal in the 2026 NFL Draft is Arizona DB Treydan Stukes. He'll be over 25 years old as a rookie and has a medical history, and those two factors may push him down the board. But at a lower price point, he's an instant impact player with slot-safety versatility, elite explosive athleticism, keen football IQ and route vision, and the physicality and trigger to play fast and forceful in run support. For win-now teams that need either a nickel or a safety on the back end, Stukes is one of the best players available. If he can stay healthy, he can be an invaluable fusing presence for an NFL secondary.

Georgia State wide receiver Ted Hurst provides the premier height-weight-speed combination to outperform his draft position. After shining at the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine, he projects to be a Day 2 pick. Hurst's 6'4 height is in the 96th percentile at his position, his 11'3" broad jump is in the 99th percentile, and his 4.42-second 40 is in the 78th percentile. In terms of his testing, his closest comp in PFSN's database is Green Bay Packers WR Christian Watson. Hurst posted an elite 60.4% contested catch rate, while totaling 1,965 yards and 15 TDs over the last two seasons. In PFSN's Mock Draft Simulator, Hurst is currently the WR12 and No. 67 overall prospect, and he seems to have a lot of fans around the NFL.

I think draft evaluators and NFL teams are overthinking Dani Dennis-Sutton. At this moment, his bend isn't great on tape, but this is a 6'6" EDGE with ideally sized hands and arms. He lit the combine ablaze with, most notably, a near 11-foot broad jump. I also just want to bet on his football character; he recorded two sacks in the Pinstripe Bowl, a game that almost anyone else in the draft would have opted out of.

With how good the WR class is this year, there’s bound to be some prospects that get lost in a sea of names. This could cause a potential fall, and one of those names so far in 2026 is Germie Bernard. In an offense, Bernard can be utilized everywhere, and his ability after the catch is stellar. If he ends up going mid-2nd to early-3rd, a team will get one of the steals of the draft.

I seem to be on an island here, but I don’t think Eli Stowers is all that far behind consensus No. 1 tight end Kenyon Sadiq. In fact, as a fantasy analyst, I actually prefer Stowers as an all-around receiving tight end with outstanding ability to read zones and Velcro hands at the catch point.

Stowers’ record-breaking vertical jump at the combine suggests he’ll also prove a capable man-beating end zone target in the NFL. Provided he doesn’t get stuck in a Rams-like committee at the next level, the Vanderbilt product could immediately become a No. 2 pass catcher for an NFL team.

Jake Slaughter, the center from the University of Florida, stands out for a couple of reasons. First, his level of play never diminished. The Gators made one bowl game and lost countless games they should have won. Slaughter isn’t going to wow anyone with measurables. However, his tenacity and feistiness helped him succeed in the SEC. He stood nose-to-nose with Texas NT Hero Kanu, one of the better run stuffers, and Slaughter dog-walked him.