And then the NFL season begins just a few days after that. That means we can really start looking ahead to the 2026 NFL draft. For this exercise, I used ESPN's Football Power Index -- which uses thousands of simulations to predict the entire NFL season -- to project where every team will make its pick. play 1:45 Mel Kiper Jr.'s top players to watch for the 2026 NFL draft Mel Kiper Jr. breaks down his top prospects to watch for the 2026 NFL draft, including Penn State quarterback Drew Allar,Austin Barber, OT, FloridaWe got a new QB for the Browns at No. During his breakout 2024 season, the younger Terrell intercepted a pair of passes, broke up 12 more and forced three fumbles.