2026 NFL mock draft: Scouts, execs predict the top 10 picks - ESPN

This is the heart of mock draft season, with the 2026 NFL draft set to begin April 23 in Pittsburgh. My own final set of projections drops Wednesday. But did you know NFL teams conduct their own mocks in preparation, assigning staffers to rival teams in Round 1 to try to project what could happen at each pick? For the third year in a row, I'm doing the same.

I asked 10 anonymous scouts from around the league to each serve as the decision-maker for a team picking in the top 10. I'm letting them make the pick based on the roster needs of the team they were assigned and their own personal evaluation of the 2026 class. (Here are my previous scouts mocks for 2024 and 2025.)

A couple of rules:

The scouts are unaffiliated with the teams they were assigned. In fact, none even work for a franchise in the same division as the teams they were assigned, and in most cases, we gave them a team from the other conference. They were asked to make selections based on how they'd approach that pick and who was already off the board in this scenario.

Because the scouts are anonymous and did not collaborate on the exercise, we didn't allow any trades.

Here are how things played out in the top 10, starting with an evaluator from the AFC East making the (easy) call for the Raiders at first overall.

Jump to a team:
LV | NYJ | ARI | TEN | NYG
CLE | WSH | NO | KC | CIN

AFC East area scout's pick: Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana

There was no surprise at the top of this mock draft, as the AFC East area scout assigned to pick for the Raiders made the chalk pick of Mendoza.

«The Raiders really don't have a choice but to draft the quarterback with how the roster is structured now… and the fact they didn't make any moves for a young quarterback in free