The first round of the 2026 NFL Draft is behind us, and it was a chaotic night from start to finish. Carnell Tate ended up going No. 4 overall to the Tennessee Titans. Rueben Bain Jr. slid all the way to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 15. The Los Angeles Rams shocked the world by taking Ty Simpson in Round 1, and Jadarian Price snuck his way into the first.
Day 1 was a blast, and PFSN had a lot of fun streaming it live with the “Football Debate Club” crew of Jacob Infante, Ian Cummings, and Cam Mellor. However, we still have six more rounds of the 2026 NFL Draft to look forward to over the next two days, including Rounds 2 and 3 tonight!
Infante, Cummings, and Mellor will be live for all three days of the 2026 NFL Draft to grade every pick, react to every surprise, and debate all things NFL Draft (while mixing in some crazy surprises). Tonight, the “Football Debate Club” crew will go live at 7 p.m. ET, and you can watch it live here:
Who Are the Best Available Players Entering Day 2 of the 2026 NFL Draft?
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 and a handful of first-round grades. Here are the best available prospects heading into Round 2, according to PFSN’s NFL Draft HQ.
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.
MORE: 2026 NFL Draft Live Tracker
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.
