The winners & losers from the 2026 NFL Draft

It's a flier with a big upside if McCoy's knee is right, which he insists it is. He's got tremendous ability, and with fellow draftee Treydan Stukes at safety could add some much-needed playmakers in the secondary.

Mendoza has first-round picks around him already with running back Ashton Jeanty and Brock Bowers at tight end, while the Raiders splashed out big money to grab centre Tyler Linderbaum to add yet more assistance.

Whisper it quietly, but the Raiders are heading in the right direction and could be the biggest winners of the draft.

New dawns in New York?

The Giants have made the play-offs just twice in 14 seasons, while the Jets have the longest active play-off drought in American sports with 15 seasons on the outside looking in. So fans in the Big Apple needed a big draft.

They had five first-round picks between them and both teams, for once, seem to have emerged as draft winners.

Signing John Harbaugh as new head coach was already a win for the Giants, and getting edge rusher Arvell Reese at pick five was another big victory, which adds to what's looking a scary Big Blue defence.

Quarterback Jaxson Dart got a new weapon in third-round receiver Malachi Fields, who combined with superstar Malik Nabers gives the Giants the look of a side capable of making a leap this year.

The Jets are behind in their transition but pass rusher David Bailey, tight end Kenyon Sadiq and receiver Omar Cooper all add star talent as first-round picks.

Quarterback Cade Klubnik was a bit of a flier in the fourth round but one worth taking if veteran Geno Smith struggles. Still, there are positive signs for a change with the Jets.

Pittsburgh sets NFL Draft record

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A record crowd of 802,000 watched the three days of the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh

You have to hand it to the NFL for making three days of reading names off cards into the second-biggest event on the league calendar.

A record 805,000 fans visited the three-day event in Pittsburgh, with a single-day attendance record of 320,000 for Thursday's first round.

Only the Super Bowl is bigger, and even then that's only of serious interest to two teams, but all 32 are involved in the draft for one simple reason - hope.

The worst teams get the best picks of the college superstars and that gives them hope of a magical turnaround - and the NFL has managed to market it all as a must-see experience.

Detroit hosted 775,000 fans in 2024, Green Bay had 600,000 last year, and both were topped by Pittsburgh.

Washington DC will hope for even more next year and commissioner Roger Goodell revealed cities were lining up to win hosting duties in years to come - with representatives from 10 on scouting trips in Pittsburgh this weekend.

The NFL Draft looks set to get even bigger.

NFL Draft 2026 talking points

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GB's Traore drafted by Miami Dolpins in NFL Draft

History was made by the International Player Pathway (IPP) as Britain's Seydou Traore and Nigerian Uar Bernard were selected by the Miami Dolphins and Philadelphia Eagles respectively.

Tight end Traore came through the NFL Academy but Bernard has never played American football before - his physical attributes have earned him a shot at making it with the Eagles.

The gazumping of the draft came in the first round when Makai Lemon was on the phone to the Pittsburgh Steelers being informed they were drafting him at spot 21, only to then see the Philadelphia Eagles trying to call him.

The Eagles in fact traded up to number 20 to pinch Lemon from under the noses of their fellow Pennsylvanians - a move that did not go down too well with the home fans in Pittsburgh as they certainly lost that one.

Possibly both winners and losers, the Cleveland Browns made six trades in the first five rounds and became the first team in 30 years to draft two receivers in the top 40 - KC Concepcion at 24 and Denzel Boston at 39.

The Browns are also the first team in 15 years to draft three quarterbacks in two years as they added Taylen Green to a crowded four-man line-up including Deshaun Watson and last year's two draftees Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.

For all of Cleveland's good draft work, they will head into the season with another confusing four-way quarterback battle.

Had LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier entered the draft last year he may well have been a first-round pick. Instead he was only pick number 249 in the seventh round this year.

That's the downside. The upside is that he was picked by the Kansas City Chiefs and has only Justin Fields to battle for the job of backing up the injured Patrick Mahomes. That's turning a loss into a big win.

Billed as the biggest losers of the draft, the San Francisco 49ers and Jacksonville Jaguars were among the more underwhelming teams - with both accused of 'reaching' when drafting players higher than their consensus rating.

San Francisco traded out of the first round then picked receiver De'Zhaun Stribling with the first pick of the second - much higher than he was expected to go.

They then added running back Kaelon Black - who did not even get an invitation to the NFL Combine - in the third round. The Niners have a poor recent record both with second round picks and running backs, so neither bodes well.

Jacksonville may have picked up steals with their first four picks, but all four were drafted miles ahead of where they sat on most pre-draft rankings. General manager James Gladstone is still only 35 but in his second draft he's either pulled off some masterstrokes or made some huge errors.