The 2026 NFL Draft is in less than 48 hours and the picture of what could happen before the L.A. Rams are on the clock at pick 13 is becoming a little bit more clear. Although nothing is more than a rumor at this point, the consensus on what is expected to happen in the first dozen picks is far ahead of where it was a week ago.
And the Rams might want to trade up if they want to land a blue chip prospect this year.
Advertisement
1. Raiders, QB Fernando Mendoza
Nothing to say here.
2. Jets, EDGE David Bailey or EDGE Arvell Reese
Nobody knows who the Jets are going to pick outside of the top few people in the franchise and even they could be changing their mind. Todd McShay has changed his prediction to Reese, but the entire CBS Sports crew thinks it will be Bailey.
For the purposes of this article it does not really matter because both Bailey and Reese are expected to go off in the top-5 picks.
3. Cardinals, trade back/RB Jeremiyah Love/Reese or Bailey
Arizona wants to move back, according to everybody, but does anyone want to move up? Is it worth it to trade up for a running back? The Chiefs are rumored as a team that could be interested in moving up for Reese.
4. Titans, Love out, Styles in?
After days of speculation that Tennessee will take Jeremiyah Love, Peter Schrager insists that the Titans absolutely will not take Love.
The CBS crew believes Sonny Styles is Robert Saleh’s “Fred Warner” but Love is still the betting favorite to go to the Titans now.
Advertisement
5. Giants, WR Jordyn Tyson/Carnell Tate or S Caleb Downs?
After acquiring a second top-10 pick over the weekend, the Giants are believed to be leaning towards a receiver, specifically Tyson, at pick 5. Tyson had dinner with the Giants brass last week and reports from his private workout at ASU were all positive regarding his health. Tyson is the favorite to be the first receiver drafted, however that could still be Carnell Tate and Tate could be the Giants pick here instead.
If it is a receiver to New York, there could be a run on receivers in the top-8 that ends up wiping all the first round options off the board for L.A. and that could be why we keep hearing rumors that the Rams want to trade up for a receiver, such as Tyson. Could the Giants be trying to trade back with L.A. by sparking rumors of interest in Tyson?
Advertisement
Beat reporter Connor Hughes insisted that it is Caleb Downs, however.
And McShay is certain it’s not Styles.
6. Browns, will work hard to trade back (OT and WR)
Let’s say that the first five picks are Mendoza, Bailey, Reese, Styles, and Tyson. Where does that leave the top prospects remaining at six? Love, Tate, Downs could all go in the first five picks. Everybody else left on the board here is not as surprising, including tackle Francis Mauigoa, a probable pick if Cleveland doesn’t trade down.
Adam Schefter hears that the Browns are dying to trade down. Will this be where the Rams could trade up?
If the Browns are dying to trade down then the cost to move up couldn’t be that bad. To go from 13 to 6, would it really cost next year’s first round pick? And who would the Rams be trading up for?
Advertisement
If Jeremiyah Love is available at 6, is he good enough for L.A. to trade pick 13, 93, a 2027 second rounder, and Blake Corum to go up for? I don’t even know if that’s realistic. Do the Browns need those extra picks that badly?
They might insist on pick 61 and that could be too rich. But don’t put anything past Les Snead.
Even though some injury concerns reappeared this week on his back, I’m going to push Mauigoa here if the Browns don’t find a trade partner. But maybe the Giants would come up here for Love and then they’d be giving Jaxson Dart two new weapons.
7. Commanders, WR Tate or RB Love or LB Styles
Schrager isn’t the only one who has heard that the Commanders want Carnell Tate, but he also mentioned that GM Adam Peters, a former 49ers guy, could be enamored with Sonny Styles.
But Adam Schefter has said that pick 7 is “the floor” for Love, implying that Washington will run to the podium if he falls this far.
Advertisement
8. Saints, Not OL, but any WR or S Downs or CB Mansoor Delane
Schrager says there’s a 0% chance that the Saints pick an offensive lineman here. They’ve been linked to Tate and Tyson, as well as Downs and cornerback Mansoor Delane. In this scenario though, Jeremiyah Love could be available at pick 8 if teams are wary of positional value. However, Schrager notes that he’s been told to “throw positional value out the window this year” by an executive.
Okay, but it’s not that hard actually to see Love get past the Cardinals, Titans, Giants, Browns, and Commanders, is it? He could go third overall or he could drop to this pick. And if he does, Love could be the best all-around player in Kellen Moore’s offense, somewhat similar to Bijan Robinson in Atlanta.
If Tate and Tyson are off the board, do the Saints like Makai Lemon enough to take him this high and if not, perhaps Caleb Downs is off here. He could go as high as 5.
Advertisement
9. Chiefs, trade up or take BPA
Earlier I said a top-5 of Mendoza, Bailey, Reese, Styles, and Tyson. Then we could theorize Mauigoa, Tate, and Downs as the next three picks. There is talk of Kansas City being interested in moving up for Arvell Reese. If that happens and the Cardinals move down to three, imagine their luck of JEREMIYAH LOVE falls to pick 9. They’d get the guy they wanted at 3 all the way down at 9.
If that trade doesn’t happen though, do the Chiefs draft Love after they just signed Kenneth Walker? Probably not. Here the Chiefs could take Rueben Bain or Delane or Lemon or they might just shock everybody with a surprise pick that nobody is expecting to go this high like Dillon Thieneman or Cashius Howell or Kenyon Sadiq. You just never know until you know.
Advertisement
At this time though, maybe the safest bet if the Chiefs are on the clock at 9 with this board is Lemon or Delane or Baine. But I don’t know. If it’s the Cardinals and Love has made it this far, then it has to be Love.
10. Giants, Offensive Line (G Ioane?)
If the Giants don’t trade up for Downs or Love to pair them with their pick at 5 (Tyson or Tate), the general expectation is that they want to come out of this first round with an offensive lineman. It’d be hard to resist the temptation for a Tyson/Downs or Tate/Love draft or some combination of those two.
If Mauigoa has not made it to pick 10, then there’s a debate between Monroe Freeling and Spencer Fano as the next-best tackle. However, wouldn’t it be just like John Harbaugh to draft Penn State guard Vega Ioane?
Advertisement
Unless New York just sees a higher ceiling with Fano or Freeling or even Kadyn Proctor, then Ioane could be their safe home run pick. But maybe the Giants can secure their top-2 choices at pick 5, which might be Downs and Tyson.
Imagine if Cleveland and New York trade places (so the Giants take Tyson and Downs back-to-back) and the Browns come down to 10. Then Cleveland might actually still get Mauigoa at 10.
11. Dolphins, Mauigoa or BPA
It’s hard to find anything about the Dolphins that isn’t related to Mauigoa, so if he falls because of his back then Miami might trade up for him with the Browns at 6 or the Saints at 8 if they have to do that. It wouldn’t be that hard to do because the Dolphins have the most top-100 picks in the league by two whole picks:
If the Dolphins don’t trade up for Mauigoa or he doesn’t fall to them at 11, then they have needs that could mean anything for them, including Fano, Freeling, Lemon, Keldrick Faulk, Bain, Delane, etc..
Advertisement
In fact, I’ll project that Miami does trade up for Mauigoa and this pick ends up being the Browns or Saints and they take Makai Lemon.
12. Cowboys, trade up (Downs, Bain)
McShay has hesitantly cited Dallas as a team that could move up but hedged his bets by saying that that is so unlike the Jerry Jones family to do in the draft. If they move up, the two most rumored names are Downs and Bain, but couldn’t they also be just as interested in Tyson or Love? If the Cowboys are really desperate for a blue chip prospect, why not just move all the way up to 3 for Reese or Bailey?
If we theorize a world where Dallas trades up for Arvell Reese at pick 3, then Cardinals move down to 12 and then they select … QB Ty Simpson?
Advertisement
I don’t know but they are a team rumored to be interested in moving back into the first round for Simpson in the 20-32 range. Well, given that it’s the Cardinals, can we rule out that they’d take Simpson a lot earlier than people expect him to go? Not really.
Even so, a possible top-12 picks: Mendoza, Bailey, Reese, Styles, Tyson, Tate, Downs, Love, Mauigoa, Lemon, Bain, and Delane. I’m just saying, it’s possible those are the first 12 picks.
Where does this leave the Rams at 13?
The best available players per big boards:
-
CB Jermod McCoy (injury issues could drop him to round 2)
Hmm, I wonder if this is why we keep hearing that the Rams want to trade up.
It’s feasible that all three receivers and Love are all off the board in the top-10 picks. Should the Rams trade up to secure a play maker on offense or be patient and hope a star falls in their laps?
Advertisement
Schrager has had Makai Lemon going to the Rams in his mock draft throughout the entire process, but now says he is changing that away from Lemon at the last minute. What does he know?
The Rams might move up for a player, but will it be Lemon? Could it be Tyson or Love? Maybe Mauigoa?
With how the board appears to be falling in the days before the draft, he might have to.
Read the full article here