New 2026 NFL Draft Best & Worst Class Rankings Released by Dane Brugler, His Version of Grades

While most NFL draft experts typically release their overall grades for each team's class, The Athletic's Dane Brugler has a different system.

Rather than providing letter grades, Brugler ranks each draft class from 1 to 32, and he unveiled his list of the best and worst classes on Tuesday. The top five teams in Brugler's rankings are as follows:

• Cleveland Browns
• New York Giants
• Las Vegas Raiders
• Dallas Cowboys
• New York Jets

Conversely, the bottom five teams that Brugler determined to have the worst draft classes are:

• Atlanta Falcons
• Minnesota Vikings
• Los Angeles Rams
• Denver Broncos
• Jacksonville Jaguars

Brugler noted that the Cleveland Browns had a top-three draft class in his 2026 rankings as well. The Browns used their first three picks on offense this year, selecting offensive tackle Spencer Fano and wide receivers KC Concepcion Jr. and Denzel Boston.

Meanwhile, the Jacksonville Jaguars were slotted at the bottom of Brugler's rankings, as their first-round pick was owned by the Browns. Their first selection in the second round was tight end Nate Boerkircher, and they drew slight praise for selecting guard Emmanuel Pregnon in the third round.

B/R's Kristopher Knox had a similar evaluation in his list of draft grades, as the Browns were among the top teams with an A, while the Jaguars were near the bottom with a D.

As Brugler pointed out, the other teams in the top three of his 2025 draft class rankings were the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks, and they both went on to play in the Super Bowl. The teams at the top of this year's list will certainly be hoping that his evaluations can yield similar results during the 2026 campaign.