NFL mock draft 2026: Combine risers shake up latest projection

The 2026 NFL Scouting Combine is in the books, and the sprint to Pittsburgh is on.

But how has the Combine changed the NFL Draft landscape?

Free agency begins next week, and the moves made by the 32 teams will have a huge impact on the NFL Draft picture, but what happened in Indianapolis is not to be ignored. Several prospects put in the types of performances that do move players up draft boards — as we will discuss in a moment — and hushed conversations at dinners each night offered insight into what various teams might be thinking later this spring.

At the top, nothing has changed. Fernando Mendoza looks locked into the first-overall selection by the Las Vegas Raiders, and general manager John Spytek seemed to be describing the Indiana quarterback when he met with the media earlier in the week.

But to dive into how the Combine moved the needle, here is our latest mock draft. After the picks, we’ll share some thoughts on some risers, one trade we have in this mock, and more.

Prospects up and down the draft board improved their stock in Indianapolis.

However, we want to focus on four in particular.

When you have a legendary Combine performance, it moves the needle.

That is exactly what Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles did in Indianapolis.

As we discussed on Friday, Styles blew the doors off Lucas Oil Stadium with his performance. He became the first off-ball linebacker in NFL Combine history to run a sub-4.5-second 40-yard dash, hit a broad jump more than 11 feet, top 40 inches in the vertical jump, and do so while weighing in at more than 240 pounds:

Indeed, this was an all-time performance.

Styles was already a first-round prospect when he arrived in Indianapolis. In our post-Super Bowl mock draft, we had him coming off the board at No. 20 to the Dallas Cowboys. But now? No. 5 to the New York Giants certainly feels like a possibility. We have him coming off the board at No. 7 to the Washington Commanders — where he would either get to learn alongside Bobby Wagner if Washington brings him back, or replace him if the veteran leaves in free agency — but now it feels like Styles is a top-ten lock.

Similar to Styles, Sadiq was already a first-round pick in our mind ahead of the Combine.

But what he did in Indianapolis probably earned him some money.

The Oregon tight end posted a 43.5-inch vertical, an 11’1 broad jump, and laid down a 4.39-second 40-yard dash, all while weighing in at 241 pounds and measuring 6’3. While that might solidify him as more of a “move” tight end — which was expected given what he showed on film — that athleticism could make him a nightmare for opposing defenders.

In our mock draft after the Super Bowl, we had Sadiq coming off the board to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at No. 15, but with what he did in Indianapolis, he moves up a few spots to the Miami Dolphins at No. 12. With the loss of Tyreek Hill, the Dolphins need new weapons in the passing game, and Sadiq is exactly that.

Styles was not the only defender to deliver a legendary performance in Indianapolis.

Let’s talk about Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman.

Thieneman posted a blazing 4.35-second 40-yard dash, while hitting 41 inches on the vertical and dropping a 10’5 broad jump. And the athleticism you saw on film during his time with the Ducks translated to his workout, as you can see the movement skills here:

Thieneman was trending toward the first round ahead of the Combine (with noted analyst Trevor Sikkema from Pro Football Focus saying he was a first-round pick already) but this performance might have pushed him over the top. With the Minnesota Vikings having a need at safety given Harrison Smith’s expected retirement, Thieneman seems like the perfect addition for defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

While the three previous prospects moved up in this mock draft due to workouts, there is an added layer with Akheem Mesidor’s rise in this mock draft.

While I was not able to attend the Combine this year, many analysts that I do trust were in Indianapolis, and some debriefing sessions indicate that the league might be higher on Mesidor than those of use in the media space are.

A lot higher, depending on who you talk to …

The Texans-Chargers swing a trade

Let’s drop a trade in to spice things up.

I know, I know, the Houston Texans and Nick Caserio often shy away from drafting offensive linemen in the first round.

Kenyon Green at No. 15 in 2022 might be a reason why.

So the thought of Caserio not only turning in a card with a tackle on it in the first, but trading up for one to do so, seems rather outlandish. But with a need to get the best five in front of C.J. Stroud, the Texans take advantage of some tackles sliding and move up to get ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles and take Georgia tackle Monroe Freeling in a trade with the Los Angeles Chargers. Freeling turned in a strong combine performance on Sunday, boosting his already climbing draft stock.

As for the Chargers, they slide back and also address offensive line, adding Oregon guard Emmanuel Pregnon. The Chargers also need offensive line help, but on the interior, so they can slide back a few spots and still address a big need.

Let’s talk quarterbacks

Finally, some thoughts on the quarterbacks.

Even with what we saw in Indianapolis, only Mendoza and Ty Simpson look to be first-round picks at this point. Mendoza to the Raiders at No. 1 seems set in stone, and Simpson could come off the board at No. 21 to Pittsburgh. However, we will keep mocking him to the Los Angeles Rams at No. 29, with their second of two first-round picks, for now. Simpson turned in a solid throwing session, which probably solidified his status as QB2.

But the fight for QB3 might be heating up. Drew Allar also threw in Indianapolis as he works his way back from a leg injury that ended his season, and his velocity on deeper throws certainly stood out. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, who was a preseason favorite in the scouting community, showed that he was also back after dealing with an oblique injury that hampered him throughout the year. He had one of the better throws of the day Saturday on a deep shot to Ja’Kobi Lane:

A little deeper on the board, we have two very athletic quarterbacks to talk about: Taylen Green from Arkansas and Cole Payton from North Dakota State. Entering the Combine, both were looked at as Day Three prospects, but you might want to nudge them a little higher in mock drafts. Green delivered one of the best Combine workouts we’ve seen from a quarterback, pairing a 4.36-second 40-yard dash with a 43.5-inch vertical and an 11’2 broad jump. According to ESPN, those are the numbers from a quarterback since at least 2003.

And he did that while measuring in at just under 6’6 and weighing 227 pounds.

The NFL Network broadcast speculated that teams may ask him to consider a move to tight end or wide receiver, but Green indicated that no team has inquired about a switch. His throwing session was not on the same level as what we saw from Simpson or Nussmeier, but the potential is there.

As for Payton, the lefty turned in a 40-inch vertical of his own, along with a 10’10 broad jump. He’s drawn some comparisons to Tim Tebow — perhaps due to his left-handedness — but the velocity and accuracy to the shorter areas of the field does stand out.