New Todd McShay NFL Mock Draft 2026 Drops for Round 1 With Latest Rumors From Expert

The Ringer's Todd McShay unveiled his latest mock one day before the start of the 2026 NFL draft, with three straight defensive players coming off the board after Fernando Mendoza at No. 1.

Among the notable early selections in McShay's mock is Jeremiyah Love going to the New York Giants at five and the Kansas City Chiefs giving Patrick Mahomes another pass-catching option with Jordyn Tyson at No. 9.

Here are the top 10 projected picks, per McShay.

Team	Pick
1. Raiders	Fernando Mendoza, QB
2. Jets	David Bailey, EDGE
3. Cardinals	Arvell Reese, EDGE
4. Titans	Sonny Styles, LB
5. Giants	Jeremiyah Love, RB
6. Browns	Kadyn Proctor, OT
7. Commanders	Mansoor Delane, CB
8. Saints	Rueben Bain Jr., EDGE
9. Chiefs	Jordyn Tyson, WR
10. Giants	Francis Mauigoa, OT

In the debate between David Bailey and Arvell Reese at No. 2 for the New York Jets, McShay noted general manager Darren Mougey views Bailey as the "safer pick" at this spot.

The first potential trade domino could be at three, where McShay pointed out the Arizona Cardinals' top priority is finding a deal to move down, take an offensive tackle later and add more capital they can use to build a separate trade that could move into back end of round one to select Ty Simpson.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, the Simpson scenario doesn't play out in McShay's mock because he has the Los Angeles Rams using their first-round pick at No. 13 to get Matthew Stafford's successor.

McShay noted the Rams think "extremely highly" of Simpson and he seems likely to go "earlier than expected" in the first round.

The lone trade prediction in McShay's mock has the Philadelphia Eagles swapping spots with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to take Georgia offensive tackle Monroe Freeling at 15. The Bucs move back to No. 23 and land Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq.

After trading Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals for the No. 10 pick, McShay has them going offense with both of their first-round selections by getting Love at five and Penn State offensive tackle Francis Mauigoa.

The Chiefs taking Tyson in this scenario is interesting because McShay said earlier this week that Andy Reid is "hellbent" on addressing the offensive line to protect Patrick Mahomes.

Wide receiver is also an area of need for Kansas City, but the biggest reason that the Chiefs maintained a high level of play back when they traded Tyreek Hill prior to the 2022 season was because they invested a lot in their offensive line.

The line is better now than it was after the 2024 season, so perhaps the next best way to protect Mahomes is by giving him another outlet alongside Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce.

B/R's NFL scouting department projected Rueben Bain Jr. to the Chiefs in its most recent mock, but McShay has the Miami star off the board to the New Orleans Saints at eight.

Tyson seems to be making a late push to be the top receiver in this class. He is B/R's No. 1 wideout and ninth-ranked player overall, with the primary concern about him going forward is his extensive injury history that includes a torn ACL, MCL and PCL in 2022 and hamstring issues in 2025.