The 2024 NFL Draft is barely behind us and 2026 NFL mock drafts are already popping up on the internet (along with 2025 mock drafts, of course).
DraftCountdown.com's Shane Hallam released his first 2026 NFL mock draft earlier this month and he has a big name getting selected in the top 10.
Hallam has Texas Longhorns quarterback Arch Manning getting selected by the Tennessee Titans with the No. 7 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Manning, a five-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, hasn't started a game yet at Texas. And if all goes to plan for the Longhorns, he won't start a game in 2024 while serving as the backup to starter Quinn Ewers.
Hallam's prediction assumes that Manning has a tremendous season in 2025 as the starter at Texas and then declares for the NFL draft. That's definitely a possibility for Manning, though I wouldn't be shocked if he stays at Texas for the 2026 season -- even if he has an incredible season in 2025 (sticking around for at least four years seems to be the Manning way...it's the path that Peyton and Eli, both No. 1 overall picks, took as star college athletes).
Arch Manning is putting on a show at the Texas Spring Game
— PFF College (@PFF_College) April 20, 2024
pic.twitter.com/5YWmxIwXPF
As far as whether or not Manning will be a first round talent, he certainly looked the part in the Longhorns' spring game last month when he passed for 355 yards and three touchdowns. I wouldn't bet against another Manning being a high selection in the NFL draft. I just don't know if it'll be in 2026 or 2027.
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As the college football season approaches, the Atlantic Coast Conference is set to welcome three new head coaches to the fray: Jake Dickert (Wake Forest), Frank Reich (Stanford) and arguably the National Football League's greatest coach of all time in Bill Belichick (North Carolina). CBS Sports analyst Chip Patterson recently ranked the coaches in the conference and surprisingly slotted the NFL icon-turned-college head coach 12th out of seventeen ACC head coaches. Is this a fair placement for Belichick as he enters his first campaign at Chapel Hill? Belichick is nothing short of a legendary figure in the football landscape. The former Patriots head coach led New England to six Super Bowl victories and won two more championships as a defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. After a 23-season tenure with the Patriots, Belichick sought a new challenge and signed with the Tar Heels in a surprising decision ahead of the 2025 campaign. One would wonder how a coach that has a combined eight super bowl championships and 12 super bowl berths is not even in the top 10 coaches of his own conference. So how does a coach of his caliber rank so low? One glaring reason Belichick is ranked low is because of his lack of experience in coaching at the college level. Belichick was a tight-end at Wesleyan University in the 1970s, but has since served as an assistant or head coach at the professional level. The 73-year old will have to adapt to coaching teenagers and young adults - a far cry from the seasoned pros he once commanded in the NFL. Belichick is known for a hard-nosed and structured coaching style. Whether that style will translate to the college level, particularly in today's landscape, remains to be seen. Another reason on why the NFL legend is ranked just five spots from the bottom is because of the other quality coaches in the ACC. Coaches such as Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Mario Cristobal (Miami), Rhett Lashlee (SMU) and Mike Norvell (FSU) are ranked ahead of Belichick on this list. Swinney has already won two national championships. Cristobal posted a 35-13 record in five seasons at Oregon before taking on the challenge of returning Miami to prominence three years ago. Lashlee was the 2024 ACC Coach of the Year and led SMU to a College Football Playoff appearance. Norvell was the 2023 ACC Coach of the Year. However, Belichick's football acumen is second to none and he has the capabilities to build a strong program at UNC. Belichick has welcomed over 70 new players to the roster and it will be interesting to see how the three-time NFL Coach of the Year can mold all the pieces together. Belichick has been a cornerstone for dynasties and showcased sheer dominance across football for over three decades. Now, as he embarks on a new journey at the collegiate level, there is no doubt his mindset and determination will reverberate in Chapel Hill. If there is any coach that can reinvigorate a program and hush the doubters, it is Belichick.
Quarterback Aaron Rodgers spent the bulk of the spring as an unsigned free agent and, thus, only began officially practicing with Pittsburgh Steelers teammates during the team's three-day mandatory minicamp in June. During a Monday appearance on Pittsburgh radio station 102.5 WDVE, Steelers reporter Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette addressed how Rodgers looked during his first few training camp practices with the club. "His release is just astonishing to watch," Dulac said about Rodgers, as shared by Ross McCorkle of Steelers Depot. "Everybody knows about it, and when you see it in person, you see it every day in practice, you just marvel at it. To me, he's the greatest thrower of the football I have ever seen, even at 41 (years old). That flick of that wrist and that ball comes out, it's moving and it is something to see." Rodgers was with the New York Jets when he suffered a torn Achilles four offensive snaps into the 2023 regular-season opener. He was then slowed by a nagging hip issue, injuries to both his knees, a low ankle sprain and a serious hamstring problem as the 2024 Jets went 5-12. According to Pro Football Reference, Rodgers finished last season ranked 28th in the NFL among qualified players with a 48.0 adjusted QBR and 26th with a 43.9 percent passing success rate. That said, he was also eighth with 3,897 passing yards and tied for seventh with 28 passing touchdowns. Rodgers and Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson endured some struggles during training camp sessions last summer before the two allegedly "never saw eye-to-eye" during the season. It sounds like Pittsburgh fans should be encouraged by how Rodgers performed in recent practices. "That guy can get rid of the ball as quick as anybody," Dulac added. "He made three throws in seven-on-seven (drills) the other day that the cumulative total I bet couldn't have exceeded 2.1 seconds. And two of those were for touchdowns." Rodgers wants to finish his career "the right way" and help the Steelers notch at least their first playoff win since January 2017. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Pittsburgh at -150 betting odds to miss the playoffs for the upcoming season.
One of the breakout stars of the offseason workout program for the Dallas Cowboys was tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford, who joined the team as an undrafted free agent following the 2024 NFL draft. Spann-Ford has been making plays and impressing the coaching staff throughout OTAs, minicamp, and the first week of training camp. Unfortunately, he will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. On Monday, Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer revealed the promising tight end is likely "out a few weeks" with an ankle injury. Spann-Ford had been locked in one of the most heated training camp battles with former second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker for the backup tight end job behind Jake Ferguson, who inked a contract extension with Dallas over the weekend. Ferguson agreed to a four-year extension worth $52 million in new money, with $30 million guaranteed, so there is no question about who the team's starter will be. Depending on when Spann-Ford is able to return to the field, however, could determine who locks up the TE2 gig for the start of the regular season. The Cowboys kick off the 2025 preseason on Saturday, August 9, before facing the division rival Philadelphia Eagles in the regular season opener on Thursday, September 4.
The Boston Red Sox, who haven't made the playoffs since 2021, recently got a taste of how the last four years could have gone. During Boston's nine-game stretch after the All-Star break against top National League contenders, one slugger stood out above the rest. Philadelphia Phillies star Kyle Schwarber pumped long home runs against Red Sox pitching on back-to-back nights, helping take two of three from his former team. Schwarber was phenomenal for the Red Sox for the two months he was there, posting a .957 OPS in 41 games and hitting some memorable playoff home runs as well. But there was no significant push from Boston's end to bring him back in free agency, so he signed a four-year, $79 million contract with the Phillies. That's been great for the Phillies and Schwarber, but the Red Sox have gotten far less production out of their designated hitter slot in that time span. And now that Schwarber is headed back to the open market, one Red Sox insider thinks Boston has an opportunity to right what once went wrong. On Sunday, Sean McAdam of MassLive encouraged the Red Sox to make more of an effort to bring Schwarber back to Boston in free agency the second time around. "We’re getting ahead of ourselves, of course, but there would be worse moves the Red Sox could make this winter than to sign free agent DH Kyle Schwarber," wrote McAdam. "To be sure, it would be an expensive investment, especially when you consider that they would have to eat most if not all of Masataka Yoshida’s remaining salary to make it work roster-wise." Yoshida is owed over $37 million over the next two seasons, but he and Schwarber are virtually the same age, and there's no question who the Red Sox would rather have DHing. Schwarber's 36 home runs this year are more than Yoshida has had in his entire big-league career, and as a matter of fact, only New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge has hit more home runs than the Phillies' slugger in the last four seasons. Manager Alex Cora also dropped a hint last week about the potential for a Schwarber reunion. If there's any way for Boston to make it happen financially, they should.
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