2026 NFL draft grades for 32 teams: Winners, losers, steals - ESPN

The 2026 NFL draft wasn't short on excitement. Quarterback Ty Simpson to the Rams midway through the first round? Big defensive additions for the Cowboys? A dynamic running back to the Cardinals? Two brothers going to the same secondary? Eight trades on Day 1 and 41 across all three days? That was fun.

Now we take it all in and try to make sense of the picks. Which teams nailed their selections from start to finish, tackling needs, sticking to the board and actively getting better? Which teams found steals in some places but reached in others? And which teams made real head-scratching moves, missing big opportunities to get value or fill a hole on the roster?

Here are my annual NFL draft grades, where I size up all 32 teams' classes. I evaluated each front office's haul across the 257 selections, pulling in my own Big Board rankings and positional grades to see how efficient each franchise was in maneuvering the board. Trades — both up and down the draft order — were also factored in; that's all part of the overall value. I recapped Round 1 on Thursday night and Rounds 2 and 3 on Friday evening, but I'll go a little deeper here and touch on every team.

We'll start with the best report cards (I handed out four «A» grades) and go to the worst (yes, there is a few «C» marks). Teams that have identical letter grades are listed in alphabetical order. For more on how these rookie classes stack up, check out «NFL Draft Daily» and listen to the final episode of the «First Draft» podcast this week.

NFL draft coverage:
Kiper's Day 1 winners | Kiper's Day 2 winners
Pick-by-pick takes | Overreactions | Every pick

Jump to:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | MIA |