While the prospects in the 2026 NFL Draft class might not have been highly-touted, the first round of this year’s draft certainly brought the fireworks.
Of course, the Las Vegas Raiders took Fernando Mendoza with the No. 1 overall pick, but there were plenty of surprises after that. The Arizona Cardinals took running back Jeremiyah Love with the third overall pick. Not many had the Tennessee Titans drafting wide receiver Carnell Tate at No. 4.
No pick caused a greater shock, though, than the Los Angeles Rams’ decision to select Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson with the 13th overall pick. Why did Los Angeles add a backup quarterback with such a premium selection?
Here are our five takeaways from Round 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft:
1. Cowboys are an early draft winner with Caleb Downs
Ben Arthur: The Cowboys may have gotten the best player in this year’s draft. And they didn’t have to overspend to get him.
There was plenty of speculation pre-draft that Dallas, armed with two first-round picks (Nos. 12, 20), could be aggressive to move up. Instead, it let the board come to them, and traded up just one spot with the Dolphins at a relatively cheap price — pick 12 and two fifth-rounders (Nos. 177, 180) — to take Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, who was widely touted as a generational prospect.
Jerry Jones and Co. couldn’t have asked for a better scenario. Downs should immediately be one of the best players on a Cowboys’ defense that ranked last in points allowed in 2025.
Beyond his incredible instincts and skills, his football IQ can’t be ignored. Thirty-four-year-old Christian Parker will be a first-time defensive coordinator in Dallas. Downs was running Nick Saban’s defense at Alabama as a true freshman, so there’s reason to believe he won’t have the typical rookie hiccups. Parker’s extensive background as a DBs coach with the Broncos (2021-23) and Eagles (2024-25) should serve him in deploying Downs, who’s a safety by position but has the versatility to play all over the secondary.
And Downs wasn’t the only win for the Cowboys Thursday night. They traded back with the Eagles three spots to No. 23, which was used to select UCF edge rusher Malachi Lawrence, and picked up two fourth-round picks in the process. So essentially, Dallas gave up two Day 3 picks in the Downs trade but was later able to replace them, one round up.
To sum up, the Cowboys got two players who should immediately impact their defense. They moved up and down the draft order with prudence. Plus, star wide receiver George Pickens is signing his franchise tender. All in all, Friday night should be viewed as a success at The Star.
2. Even the Buccaneers were surprised to get Rueben Bain Jr., and now their pass rush is much better
Greg Auman It’s good fortune when the best player available can line up with a team’s most glaring positional need, and that was a pleasant surprise for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who did not expect Miami edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. to still be there when they picked at No. 15.
General manager Jason Licht said there were “very few scenarios” where they expected Bain to be there — he was widely projected as a top-10 pick, and only one of the last 80 mock drafts posted at NFLmockdraftdatabase.com had him around when the Bucs were picking.
Part of that drop could be the news last week that Bain was driving in a 2024 car accident that left one passenger dead. He was cited with careless driving, and Licht said the team had known about the incident long before it became public, saying “he’s a good person” and someone they had no misgivings about selecting.
The Bucs sorely need pass-rush help, and they’ll have three new impact players there, first in Bain, but also in free agent Al-Quadin Muhammad, who had 12.5 sacks off the bench for the Lions last year, as well as second-year pro David Walker, who missed his rookie season with injury.
Tampa Bay’s defense – and specifically its pass rush – disappeared down the stretch last year when the Bucs lost seven of eight and missed the playoffs for the first time in six years. The team’s success – and the future of head coach Todd Bowles – may hinge on the defense playing at a higher and more consistent level.
Licht said he hasn’t seen many draft rooms more excited than the Bucs were when Bain fell to them, and he’ll be a key part of their comeback efforts this coming season.
3. Giant surprise helps John Harbaugh build a dangerous pass rush in New York
Ralph Vacchiano: The best New York Giants teams in the Super Bowl era have had pass rushes that came at opposing quarterbacks in waves. That’s what they think they’ve built again, after Arvell Reese fell into their laps on Thursday night.
They were stunned, in fact, when that happened because they had Reese, the Ohio State edge rusher, rated as the No. 1 non-quarterback on their entire board. So when he was still available at five, the franchise that lives by the mantra “You can never have enough pass rushers” jumped at the chance to add another.
So now the Giants have a pass rush that includes Reese, All-Pro Brian Burns (16.5 sacks last season), Kayvon Thibodeaux (11 sacks in 2023 before injuries started to hurt him), and Abdul Carter, the No. 2 overall pick in the draft last year. That rotation may not evoke memories of Michael Strahan, Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck and Mathias Kiwanuka just yet. But they should be a lock to improve on their 38 team sacks last year.
And that could be enough to make one of the NFL’s worst defenses into a competitive unit, at least. No quarterback will be comfortable playing against this team.
That pick, plus the addition of Miami (Fla.) offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa with the 10th overall pick (which they got from Cincinnati for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence), played right into new coach John Harbaugh’s plan. He promised his team would be strong in the trenches. And in the first round, they got much stronger on both sides of the ball.
4. Makai Lemon will be Eagles OC Sean Mannion’s building block
Henry McKenna: It has been clear for weeks that the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles have essentially agreed to terms on an A.J. Brown trade, which will go through on June 1. Philly’s first-round selection only affirms what we already knew.
Makai Lemon, whom the Eagles traded up to get at No. 20 (stealing him away from the Steelers), will join DeVonta Smith, Hollywood Brown and Dontayvion Wicks, who the Eagles acquired from the Packers. It’s clear that general manager Howie Roseman is building a passing offense around what new OC Sean Mannion will need. And if Mannion has what he needs, it’ll set up Jalen Hurts for success.
This new vision started with the Wicks acquisition and it’ll extend to Lemon. By adding Lemon, the Eagles have admittedly brought in a deep pool of receivers with similar profiles. I don’t think that’s necessarily a problem. The Seahawks — who run a similar system to what the Eagles will likely run — powered their offense around Cooper Kupp and Jaxon Smith-Njigba, a pair of slot receivers (who can, realistically, line up all over the formation).
There will be a lot of pressure on Lemon. Just ask Treylon Burks — who joined the Titans as a first-rounder after Tennessee traded away A.J. Brown. But Roseman is as shrewd as they come.
Lemon is a really good yards-after-catch receiver. He’s fast. He was a high-production player at USC. And in this offense, I could see him being the most productive rookie wideout in 2026.
5. Rams pick Matthew Stafford’s successor when they needed to add another playmaker
Eric D. Williams: For the second time since Sean McVay took over as the team’s head coach in 2017, the Rams drafted a quarterback, picking Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson as the heir apparent for starting quarterback Matthew Stafford. The Rams needed a backup, with Jimmy Garoppolo mulling retirement and 2023 fourth-round selection Stetson Bennett the only other quarterback on the roster.
At No. 13, the Rams had the team’s highest draft selection in the first round since selecting Jared Goff at No. 1 in the 2016 draft. The last team to take a quarterback in the first round with the reigning league MVP on the roster was the Green Bay Packers in 1967, who took Don Horne at No. 25 overall to back up 33-year-old Bart Starr.
Ty Simpson in Joel Klatt’s top 50 players
At 6-1 and 212 pounds, Simpson is an accurate thrower with good movement skills who plays with anticipation. He should be a good fit in McVay’s offense and now has time to grow and develop behind the 38-year-old Stafford. However, the Rams finished a game away from the Super Bowl, losing a closely contested NFC Championship game in Seattle.
Yes, the Rams made moves in free agency to upgrade the defense by trading for versatile slot defender Trent McDuffie and signing cornerback Jaylen Watson, but the addition of Simpson doesn’t necessarily upgrade an offense in need of another playmaker, particularly with Puka Nacua dealing with off-the-field issues this offseason.
“I hate sitting here and going: we are a player away in the draft from a Super Bowl,” Rams general manager Les Snead said at his post-Round 1 press conference. “At the end of the day, what we want to accomplish in the draft and any acquisitions that we have is to try to engineer as competent a team as possible. And then let’s go to work.
“Let’s get through May. Let’s get through June. Let’s come back in August. Let’s then go to Australia and play Game 1. And try to be the best team, try to evolve and be playing our best football at the end.”
