UCLA defensive tackle Gary Smith III mocked to the Detroit Lions

The 2026 NFL Draft begins on Thursday in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania but don’t get your hopes up to see a handful of UCLA Bruins have their names called this week. After seeing five players get drafted in 2025, the Bruins might only have one UCLA alum get drafted this year.

In Dane Brugler of The Athletic’s full 7 round mock draft, Brugler has just one UCLA Bruin getting selected. Brugler has the Detroit Lions grabbing UCLA defensive tackle Gary Smith III with the 205th overall pick in the sixth round.

Smith was one of two UCLA players invited to the NFL Draft Combine this year, as he was joined by offensive linemen Garrett DiGiorgio. With the 2025 season being such a mess for the Bruins, it makes sense that they don’t have a long list of draftable players from their 3-9 season.

Coming off of a 5-7 season in 2024, UCLA had two players taken in the second round, with one of those picks being NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Carson Schwesinger. Schwesinger made an immediate impact at linebacker with the Cleveland Browns but it appears that this will be a quieter season for UCLA rookies.

Brugler has Smith as the No. 26 defensive tackle in this year’s class and as the No. 268 overall player. The six-year college player spent four years in Westwood, earning an All-Big Ten Honorable Mention during the 2025 season.

“Smith is a wide-framed nose with the body thickness and low pads to become a boulder in the trenches. But he doesn’t just take up room – he will use his aggressive hands and raw strength to deconstruct single blocks,” Brugler said of Smith. “Although his change-of-direction movements are stiff, his weight loss showed in the quickness he displayed pursuing ball carriers up and down the line (career-high 40 tackles in 2025). His pass-rush attempts stall out quickly, and he is much better at controlling the point of attack than generating movement.”