2026 NFL Draft: Live coverage as it happens from Pittsburgh

Hello everyone and welcome to our rolling coverage of the 91st NFL Draft! The NFL off-season has two important dates. There's the day that free agency begins, where moves just fly in at incredible speed and the NFL takes over sports for about a week. And of course, there's the NFL draft, which is the Big Kahuna, and manages to bring the NBA playoffs to its knees despite the fact that not a single ball is thrown.

This year it's in Pittsburgh, so it gets a 12,000 square foot fan village in its Point State Park, a red carpet event, and a draft theater so big that it's inside the Acrisure Stadium (formerly Heinz Field) parking lot. The whole zone takes about a half hour to walk from one end of the event to the other, all along its famous Three Rivers area.

With the first pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, the Las Vegas Raiders select… Heisman Trophy winner, national champion and now no1 pick, Fernando Mendoza, quarterback, Indiana. Mendoza's close friends and family celebrate in his home as the QB dons a Raiders hat. It's a somewhat muted celebration for sure.

Mendoza tells ESPN TV that "the last five months have been such a blessing…now I step into a great game, the NFL and look forward to improving every day."

Ollie Connolly's verdict: Mendoza is a big-bodied, tough, accurate quarterback. He has the size of Carson Palmer with wheels that remind you of Daniel Jones: enough athleticism to stumble for first downs but not a five-alarm fire in the open field. As a passer, he wins with pre-snap recognition and accuracy. He doesn't have a cannon for an arm, but he can make all the throws. The knock on his game is the system he played in at Indiana – one drenched in RPOs – and his lack of quickness in the pocket. Mendoza can be a little robotic when navigating against pressure in the backfield. It will take some time for him to develop in a full-field, NFL offense, but he has the tools and intellect to be an upper-tier starter in the league. He will probably fall somewhere on the continuum between Matt Ryan and Kirk Cousins.

The New York Jets are on the clock! The Jets nab David Bailey, the linebacker from Texas Tech. He should help the Jets do SOMETHING on defense after they regressed significantly last season. Bailey had 14.5 sacks for Tech last year.

Ollie Connolly's verdict: Bailey is the most explosive pass-rusher in the draft. He is all about burst off the ball and flattening to the quarterback. Think Denver's Nik Bonitto. Speed-only pass-rushers have a dodgy history in the NFL; the bust rate is higher than that of players who rely on power. And Bailey's outlook is no different. Right now, he's a zero against the run, which could cap his ceiling. At times in college, he wasn't an every-down player but was used as a pass-rush specialist. Still, he has the league's most valuable commodity: unteachable hops. But he will need to develop as a run defender to become an every-down presence.

Are they going with Love? The pick is in! Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort select Jeremiyah Love, RB, Notre Dame.

Ollie Connolly's verdict: 48.5 percent of his career rushing yards have come on explosive runs of at least 15-plus yards, one of the highest marks in the history of college football. As a receiver, he averaged 10.4 yards per reception in his final year at Notre Dame. He is, in every sense, a chunk play waiting to happen. Oh, and he's also happy to stick his nose in and blast pass-rushers in pass protection. You can quibble about the value of running backs in the first round, but Love is more Jahmyr Gibbs or Bijan Robinson than he is Leonard Fournette or Najee Harris. He will be an instant-impact player as a runner and receiver.

Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State is heading to Nashville! He only caught 103 passes for 13 touchdowns in a powerful Buckeye attack. "Unselfish" and "safe pick" are some adjectives being used by ESPN TV to describe the wide receiver.

Ollie Connolly's verdict: Tate is a 6ft 2in, 192lbs jar of polish. He is a savvy receiver without any A-plus physical traits, coming from a long line of Ohio State-to-NFL receivers. He may never be "the guy" that terrifies opposing defenses, but he's a smart route runner who understands how to separate and who catches everything in his orbit. At Ohio State, he produced more consistently than Chris Olave, Marvin Harrison, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Emeka Egbuka. That's a pretty nice resume. He may not be dynamic, but he will be productive.

The Jim Harbaugh era is underway in NY! The losing and the Jets-like humiliation that has gone on for years and years, is it over? Their fans hope so. It's Arvell Reese, linebacker, all 6ft 4in of him.

Ollie Connolly's profile: Is Reese an edge-rusher or a linebacker? In the modern game, does it really even matter? At Ohio State, Reese played all over the defense. Largely, he lined up as a traditional linebacker backed up off the ball, while offering some thump up on the line of scrimmage as an edge defender. But he's yet to pin his ears back and play exclusively as a pass-rusher. When does rush, he plays with burst, power and flexibility. If he doesn't work out as an edge-rusher, he can always shuffle back to linebacker, where he ranks as one of the best prospects in a generation. Wherever he winds up lining up, Reese will be a game-wrecker.

Kansas City Chiefs trade up for CB Mansoor Delane. A ball stop corner from LSU to be avoided at all costs. Don't believe me? SI say that "to move from the No. 9 overall pick to No. 6, the Chiefs reportedly surrendered the No. 74 and No. 148 overall pick, a hefty haul for a short jump inside of the top-10."

Ollie Connolly's verdict: There are two kinds of cornerbacks: lockdown corners and playmakers. Delane falls into the first bucket. He's a small, smooth, explosive mover who has matched up with every conceivable kind of receiver in college. He might not be an elite playmaker on the ball, but he constantly forces opposing quarterbacks to look elsewhere. Delane is also the holder of the most bonkers stat in this draft class: he allowed just 13 catches in 2025, and no receiver caught two passes against him in a single game.