The 2026 draft was held April 23-25, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It opened with Fernando Mendoza going first overall to Las Vegas Raiders. Across 7 rounds, 257 players were selected and 159 of those picks were made by a team other than the one that entered the weekend holding the slot.

That last number is the one worth sitting with. Draft order published in March bears only passing resemblance to the order teams actually pick in, and the 42 trades executed over the weekend are what separate the two. The full ledger is in the analysis section.

How we cover a completed draft

Every figure on this site is computed from the pick data published here rather than repeated from elsewhere, which means any claim we make can be checked against our own results tables. The reference point for all of it is the consensus big board, assembled from the major public boards before the draft, so comparisons against it are fixed rather than retrofitted.

We do not grade draft classes. A grade issued days after a draft is a guess about the next four years dressed up as a verdict. Measurable claims are less satisfying and considerably more likely to be true.

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