The 2026 NFL offseason is just a few weeks away from really heating up. NFL free agency officially begins on March 11th at 4PM ET at the start of the new league year. Then the next big tentpole event for many teams will be the 2026 NFL Draft. This year's draft class already has NFL insiders split on who the best player actually is.
ESPN polled eight NFL executives, coaches, and scouts on a few important questions ahead of the offseason.
One of those questions was who is the best prospect in the 2026 draft class, regardless of position? Some football fans may be surprised to learn that Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza did not crack the top two in the poll.
Ohio State linebacker/edge rusher Arvell Reese received five votes in ESPN's poll. The runner up was Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love with three votes.
Mendoza and Ohio State safety Caleb Downs finished the list with one vote each.
Reese is expected to be a top-five pick in the draft. He boasts excellent physicality and flexibility that should help him become a three-down defender in the NFL. Meanwhile, Love's 35 rushing touchdowns over the past two seasons should make him the top running back off the board. Many draft experts have Love being selected within the top 10 selections.
However, NFL insiders still formed a consensus that Mendoza will be the first overall pick even if he isn't the highest-graded player in the class.
“But it won't be a Mario Williams-type year,” one NFC general manager said. “I don't see many, if any, scenarios where [Mendoza] doesn't go No. 1, no matter where everybody is graded. There will be some grades a bit higher.”
ESPN's Jeff Legwold did not that 21 quarterbacks have been selected first overall in the last 28 drafts. In the most recent drafts, that figure is seven out of the last eight.
Mendoza will almost certainly land with the Raiders at the top of the draft. It shouldn't matter to Las Vegas if Mendoza is not the top player on every team's draft board.
That is, as long as he's the top player on their board.
