6 Elite Athletes With Potential to Skyrocket During 2026 NFL Draft Cycle

Unsurprisingly, the NFL prefers elite athletes. Organizations are going to take chances with prospects who present immense physical upside in nearly 100 percent of cases, because the room for error is much greater.

To illustrate this point, Kent Lee Platte noted almost half of all draft picks posted an eight (out of 10) or higher relative athletic score since 2015.

NFL evaluators are more than willing to take a risk on an elite athlete based on the potential reward if they fulfil their potential. Thus, those prospects who may not have a long record of production at a high level can still shoot up draft boards and be an early first-round selection.

Using Bruce Feldman's 2026 list of outstanding athletes and the NFL Draft Mock Database's consensus big board as guidelines, the following six prospects combine elite athleticism and under-the-radar status but could go higher than expected in next April's draft.

WR Bryce Lance, North Dakota State

AP Photo/Julio Cortez

Let's start by going way off the board with an FCS prospect.

North Dakota State has become a pipeline for NFL talent, with seven draft selections over the last five years, including five first- or second-rounders.

Trey Lance started the current run when the San Francisco 49ers traded up to select the former Bison quarterback with the third overall pick in the 2021 draft. His brother, Bryce, should be next in line.

The younger Lance isn't a quarterback, though. He's a standout wide receiver with the type of traits to become an NFL squad's top target.

Obviously, Trey's disappointing career may creep into the upcoming evaluation for Bryce. However, the younger Lance is an exceptional deep threat, with the explosiveness, leaping ability and body control to be a standout vertical option.

Last season, the 6'3" receiver led the FCS (and FBS) with 17 touchdown receptions. In his breakout season, he averaged 14 yards per reception. He returns to North Dakota State as arguably the 2026 class' top small-school product with the upside to be make a gigantic leap up draft boards, as his brother once did.

WR Nyck Harbor, South Carolina

Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

South Carolina wide receiver Nyck Harbor is college football's greatest "what if" among active players.

What if he played to his physical potential? What if he dominated like other wide receivers built like him? What if his track speed consistently showed up on the football field?

Harbor wasn't Feldman's No. 1 overall athlete going into the 2025 season, but he held that distinction during the previous two seasons.

Prior to the wide receiver's true freshman season, Feldman wrote for The Athletic:

"Earlier this month, I asked one of his coaches at South Carolina, Jody Wright, who has coached in the NFL and with Alabama—where he worked with both Julio Jones and Derrick Henry—how he compares. 'I would say a taller Julio with a Derrick Henry-type build is a great comparison,' Wright says. 'He has the potential to develop into a mismatch nightmare with his size and speed.' Harbor is much taller and heavier than both former Alabama stars, and yet his 100 time in high school was almost a full second faster than both of theirs."

Harbor has yet to develop into a mismatch nightmare, though. The 6'5", 235-pounder must turn his prodigious physical traits into dominant play. He's caught only 38 passes through his first two collegiate seasons.

However, a highly productive performance this fall can easily propel him into the top-10 conversation, because everyone is just waiting for those natural talents to translate.

TE Kenyon Sadiq, Oregon

Dylan Buell/Getty Images

Early projections of the 2026 tight end class aren't promising. The position group needs a prospect to step up as a legitimate threat to earn first-round status. Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq has the profile to do just that.

The 6'3", 235-pounder waited his turn to be a focal point within the Ducks offense, and the coaching staff plans to highlight the outstanding athlete on this year's squad.

"He's a star," head coach Dan Lanning told reporters. "Maybe the world doesn't know about it, but Kenyon Sadiq is a star. And he will be."

He added: "We get to see it every day. You guys don't necessarily get to see it every day. But you'll get to see it this season."

Sadiq is a natural receiver and a fluid athlete working in space, but he caught only 29 passes through his first two collegiate seasons. The Ducks featured the underclassman more a year ago, though Terrance Ferguson clearly served as TE1.

After the Los Angeles Rams selected Ferguson in this year's second round, the Ducks' newly featured TE has a chance to have an even bigger impact both for the team and in the draft.

OT Trevor Goosby, Texas

Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Some prospects need some time to develop before they can fully assert themselves into a lineup and on the field.

Case in point, Trevor Goosby needed to go grow both physically and mentally before taking over a starting spot for the Texas Longhorns this fall.

"When he arrived, he was around 270 pounds," Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian said, per KXAN Austin's Billy Gates. "Here he is today, just under 320 pounds. He still has his athleticism, and he plays tough and physical. He's very mature and he's grown into a natural leader for us."

Goosby is taking over at left tackle for Kelvin Banks Jr., who won the Outland Trophy last season and became the ninth overall draft pick by the New Orleans Saints this spring. It's no small feat for the 6'7" redshirt sophomore to step into those shoes and still excel.

"I think I’m taking a lot more pride being the starter," Goosby said. "Every little thing matters, what time you go to bed, how much you hydrate, and just being prepared."

The starting left tackle on the nation's No. 1-ranked team will be under heavy scrutiny, especially when he's protecting a quarterback blindside that includes the name of Manning.

As long as Goosby continues to show good movement skills and consistency with his protection, he has all the ability in the world to impress NFL evaluators.

DL A'Mauri Washington, Oregon

Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images

Oregon is loaded with talent capable of breaking out this fall and becoming prospects of note within the NFL draft cycle.

The latest Duck on our list is defensive tackle A'Mauri Washington, who presents as much upside as anyone in the class regardless of position.

"To be that massive (6'3", 338 lbs) and clock 20.89 mph and vertical jump 36 inches is mind-blowing," Feldman wrote. "Washington squatted 755 pounds, bench pressed 475 and power cleaned 385."

Derrick Harmon transferred to Oregon a year ago, and the Ducks coaching staff helped him develop into a first-round draft pick. He dominated at the point of attack and consistently created havoc in opposing backfield.

Washington's explosiveness off the snap gives him the opportunity to position himself as a similar type of player and draft talent. The junior will now get to be the tip of the spear defensively instead of being part of the rotation.

"Watching them (Harmon and Jamaree Caldwell), they used to play the run really well last year," Washington said in April. "I feel like taking that and adding it to my game is a big help."

DL Zane Durant, Penn State

Scott Taetsch/Getty Images

Two types of defensive tackles exist.

Either a team is looking for the prototypical 320-plus-pound war daddy who can physically dominate at the point of attack or an undersized but physical athlete with the ability to penetrate and consistently disrupt opposing backfields.

The latter can be more difficult to find simply because most NFL squads don't prefer undersized options, though obvious exemptions can be mentioned, such as Aaron Donald and Kendrick Clancy.

Zane Durant shouldn't be overlooked because he's listed at 6'1" and 294 pounds. He has the explosiveness and power to hold up against larger NFL offensive linemen. More importantly, his movement skills make him extremely difficult for blockers to get a good fit on him at any point.

A season ago, he registered 11 tackles for loss and three sacks for Penn State.

"It changes the way you can play defense," Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jim Knowles said when discussing Durant's ability to make tackles instead of just eating space. "And Zane's that guy."

When asked about what makes his teammate so difficult to block, center Nick Dawkins said: "His twitchiness off the ball. It's the lateral movement. It's his 'get-off,' it's his (football) IQ … it's his mentality."