Dec. 27-Jan. 2

Hard to believe we’re just days away from players reporting to Daytona, Fla., for the Hula Bowl, the first game in the 2026 all-star cycle (more on that later). It signals that the draft is on the horizon. It’s around this time each year that we take the temperature of the draft scene by reviewing the most recent mock drafts of some of the biggest names in NFL pick projection. It’s our third time reviewing things since this summer.

We broke it all down in a big grid today on the site. We included all the players that made at least one mock this time, as well as listing everyone who’s made even one appearance on a first-day forecast since June. As you know, it’s far from official, and not at all scientific, but it provides one look at how things shake out as bowl games wrap up. 

Here’s what we found.

• Last time we looked, quarterbacks occupied three of the top four spots, with Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza (average draft slot 3.43) on top, followed by Oregon’s Dante Moore (ADS 4.71) the consensus third pick and Alabama’s Ty Simpson (5.43) in fourth; the draftniks liked Ohio State OB Arvell Reese as the second pick. This time around, the top three picks remain, but Simpson has faltered. Though two services (CBS Sports and The Draft Scout) still list him at No. 5, Yahoo! Sports has dropped him to 20, ESPN’s Field Yates has him at 31, and PFF doesn’t list him at all. We’ll have to see if the cracked rib he suffered against Indiana hampers his fight to return to the top of the draft.
• Better get your QB quick. Mendoza, Moore and Simpson are the only three passers listed by the mock drafters this time.
• In June, defensive players occupied the top five spots and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier was the top QB on the board. These days, Ohio State FS Caleb Downs (the leader in June) is at No. 6 (ADS 7.0), Clemson DE TJ Parker (second in June) is only listed by four teams and Alabama OT Kadyn Proctor(No. 3 in June) is barely on all seven boards (ADS 18.7). While each of them has slid, that’s nothing compared to Nussmeier, who’s nowhere to be found these days after losing the starting job this fall. 
• Clemson DT Peter Woods was the top-ranked player in October, but a little more than two months later, he’s only on five boards. CBS Sports, which lists him at No. 4, is still a believer. However, Walter Football left him off its list entirely. 
• RB1 is, of course, Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love. WR1 is Ohio State’s Carnell Tate, followed by Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson. CB1 is LSU’s Mansoor Delane. OT1 is Miami’s Francis Mauigoa. Top defensive end is Miami’s Rueben Bain; PFF and CBS Sports had him at No. 1 overall in late November, but no one has him going first anymore (Yahoo! Sports has him highest at 4; Walter Football has dropped him to 29). Also, there are two other D-ends that were unanimous picks: Auburn’s Keldric Faulk (ADS 8.57) and Texas Tech’s David Bailey (ADS 10.71). TE1 (and only) is Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq.
• In addition to Mendoza, Reese, Moore, Tate, Bain, Downs, Tyson, Mauigoa, Faulk, Love, Delane, Bailey, Sadiq and Proctor, one other player, Washington WO Denzel Boston, is listed on all seven boards. His ADS is 18.29, just ahead of Proctor’s 18.71.
• At a similar juncture last year (Dec. 27), the top three picks per the draftniks were Colorado’s Travis Hunter, Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. As you know, Ward ascended and Sanders . . . did not. At the same time prior to the 2024 draft, USC’s Caleb Williams was first, followed by Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. LSU’s Jayden Daniels was No. 4. Finally, prior to the 2023 draft, it was Alabama’s Bryce Young, Georgia’s Jalen Carter and Alabama’s Will Anderson, followed by Ohio State’s CJ Stroud. We’ll have to see how things change over the next four months. 
• Nine players just missed being unanimous picks. In addition to Woods and Simpson, they were South Carolina DC Brandon Cisse, Utah OT Spencer Fano, Penn State OG Vega Ioane, USC WO Makai Lemon, Tennessee DC Jermod McCoy, Alabama’s Ty Simpson, Ohio State’s Sonny Styles and Clemson DC Aveion Terrell.
• The services that were willing to go their own the way the most were CBS Sports (Oklahoma DE R. Mason Thomas, Oregon OG Emmanuel Pregnon, Indiana OT Carter Smith, Arizona St. OT Max Iheanachor and Arkansas DC Julian Neal); The Draft Scout (Texas OT Trevor Goosby, Michigan DE Jaishawn Barham, Alabama WO Germie Bernard, Texas DC Malik Muhammad and Missouri DE Zion Young); and, of course, Walter Football (Clemson DE Will Heidt, Boston College OT Jude Bowry, Texas A&M DC Will Lee, Oregon OT Isaiah World and Alabama DE LT Overton).

Make sure to check out the breakdown for yourself here. Now let’s take a look around the game this week, on both the college and pro sides, with Ric Serritella of All Access Football.

Here we go: Ready or not, and for better or worse, the transfer portal opens for the only time in 2026 today, continuing through Friday, Jan. 16. Per this tweet, more than 1,000 FBS players entered the portal in the first seven hours it was open. The new reality of college football free agency has created a flurry of media. For ESPN’s ranking of the best the portal has to offer so far, click here. For predictions on where the top players will end up, click here. For an overview provided by 247 Sports, click here.

Cowboy gone fishing?: The Dolphins have hired Cowboys Hall of Famer Troy Aikman as a consultant to advise the organization on its general manager search process, according to a report by ESPN. Miami ownership was seeking outside perspectives from someone who had strong relationships across the league, and Aikman certainly fits the bill with over three decades of experience as a player and broadcaster. The temporary role is not expected to affect his Monday Night Football obligations. Miami fired GM Chris Grier on Halloween after a 2-7 start in 2025. He had been with the organization since 2000, serving as GM since the 2016 campaign. Now, nearly two months later, the search for his replacement begins. Miami is in the midst of a 25-year run without making the playoffs, the longest current drought in the NFL.

NIL frustrations mount: The College Football Playoff and bowl game season provided a platform for head coaches to voice their concerns surrounding the current structure of the NCAA landscape. Prior to the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was asked about the dynamics of the current transfer portal and NIL negotiations. His response was a real eye-opener. "I think it is all so strategic, right?,” he asked rhetorically. “Because it is one, about need. It is two, about money and the cost and where is the market. Which agent you’re dealing with. There are some agents that are rational, and there are some that this is their first time ever being an agent. I don’t even know if they are licensed to be agents, but all of a sudden they get to be agents, because we have no certification process in college football, where in the NFL you have to be certified. In college football, it might be their college roommate their freshmen year, who is their agent right now, and this guy is throwing numbers at you. It is like, we can’t even deal with this. You just move on. It is unfortunate, and we will get there in college football, but right now it is a tough situation." Without any regulations or requirements, any individual who wishes to become an NIL agent may do so with no barrier to entry. As opposed to the NFL, agents must pass a difficult NFLPA agent exam to become certified and pay a $2,500 fee for the right to take the exam. Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwicz also weighed in with his sentiments on the topic: “I just worry about there's gonna be players who leave our program,” he said, “and I love them dearly, and you know, they’re maybe not excited about their role or they're frustrated because they don't feel like they're being utilized the right way. Sometimes you just gotta keep growing, you know? And you know, sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side, and sometimes you're just trading one set of problems for another.” As frustration continues to mount within the college coaching community, it is abundantly clear that the NCAA needs rules and regulations to better police the NIL portal frenzy. 

New money invades NCAA: The Capital One Orange Bowl was appropriately dubbed ‘Nike Money’ (due to Oregon booster Phil Knight) versus ‘New Money’ with Texas Tech catapulting to amongst the college football elite after spending nearly $30M on transfers last offseason. But where did this newfound money come from? Meet self-made Texas oil billionaire Cody Campbell, the biggest football influencer the state has seen since Jerry Jones purchased the Cowboys in 1989. Since 2022, Campbell has been the chief architect of ‘The Matador Club’ NIL collective, which has paid more than $60M to Texas Tech athletes during that time. Campbell has also donated $25M to help rebuild the football stadium and has spearheaded fundraising efforts to help support football operations. In fact, Campbell has been so hands-on that he even compiles his own scouting reports on players in the transfer portal. So what’s next for the former NFL offensive lineman? Well, Campbell has his sights on attaining the impossible: getting the commissioners from the Power-Four conferences to join forces. His long-term vision includes the P4 conferences banding together for their TV rights licensing deals. While some conferences are under contract for the next decade, Campbell estimates that collectively, the TV rights deal for all four conferences would be worth roughly $7B, which is nearly double what the NCAA is making now. He argues that programs will not become so dependent upon millionaire boosters and would help fund the other sports at schools. College football leaders have been quick to shoot down Campbell’s proposal, labeling him as ‘unqualified.’ SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told The Associated Press in October that Campbell has a "fundamental misunderstanding of the realities of college athletics." As someone who has been as involved as Campbell, he finds that notion to be hogwash. "Everything has changed in the last four years, and I've been directly involved on an extremely detailed level for those four years," he says. "I'm not sure that experience gained 30 years ago in college sports is necessarily that relevant today. . .  To say that I'm not qualified to be involved in it is sort of an absurd thing to say." So will Campbell and his proposal ever make it to the negotiating table? All sides agree that Congress would likely need to get involved, and that adds to the layers of complication. For more on this story, check out this long-form story by ESPN.

A shining Signings Grid: In the last two days, we’ve updated the all-star status, signing status, or both for almost 200 players. Soon, we’ll be adding the players who’ve gotten first-wave NFL Combine invites, as well. If the agent choices or all-star status for members of the 2026 draft class are important to you, make sure you’re checking our grid regularly, as everyone else in the business does. It’s here.

Putting the pieces together: There has been rampant in college personnel circles over the last month-plus as college head coaches have arrived on new campuses with GMs and scouting directors in tow. In fact, it’s one reason we started tracking it all. However, simply making hires and handing out titles doesn’t necessarily ensure continuity and a clear command structure. This week in the Scouting the League Podcast, co-hosts Neil Stratton and Rodrik David tried to sort out some of the more muddy college front offices. Here are a few highlights. 

• Stratton on the personnel picture at UCLA (4:59): “UCLA is a little confusing . . . they’ve got Khary Darlington and Steven Price, who, last year at least, were the GM and AGM . . . and now the school’s going to hire Darrick Yray, who was just recently the GM at Florida State. I’ve been trying to gather information there. Haven’t had much luck. I don’t exactly know what the chain of command looks like or who’s calling the shots or how they’re going to divide up duties. . . . “
• Stratton on the chain of command at Florida (9:17): “There was certainly some confusion there last year, but I think (former Eagles executive Dave) Caldwell comes in as the GM. I think Nick Polk . . . is going to handle the contracts, and they’ve got Chris Prescott and Drew Raucina as DPP and Assistant DPP. Again, former NFL names. They have NFL experience. . . I think that’s going to be a bit more seamless than some of these other organizations.”
• David on the mess at Ole Miss (14:03): “Lose-lose situation for everybody involved. You can’t want (new LSU head coach) Lane (Kiffin) to stay knowing what it’s going to mean. But also, if he leaves, it looks bad for Lane, and Lane’s got to leave because he can’t afford at LSU to sit back. He’s gotta get this first-year roster right.”
• On the staff being assembled under new GM Gaizka Crowley at Arkansas (16:00): “Scott Gasper is going in. He was GM at Memphis. I think he’s an important piece for (new head coach) Ryan Silverfield.  And then you’ve also got (new Assistant DPP) Blake Moore . . . lots of scouts are big fans of Blake. . .  Blake’s really talented and has done good work.” 
• On the new start for head coach Drew Morris and his staff at Oklahoma State (20:00): “Forty-three players lost in the portal. I mean, that is crazy for an FBS team. Those are the kind of numbers we would expect for a G5 team.”
• On Texas Tech’s assembly of talent last offseason (26:34): “I give them a lot of credit because everyone knows they spent a lot of money, but I think they spent it in the right way. The way that defensive line and that front eight have all come together, I think, is just a testament not only to the job (GM) James Blanchard did with acquiring talent, but the job (head coach) Joey Maguire did putting it all together.” 

We’re far from seeing the last college staffer change addresses this offseason, but with the transfer portal roaring, we expect some semblance of order for the near future. We hope so, at least. Tune into this week’s edition, either via audio wherever you get your podcasts or via video here, for some analysis of how it all fits together. 

Next week’s all-star slate: Over the next week, players will report to Daytona Beach for the Hula Bowl and the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex for the College Gridiron Showcase and Dream Bowl. Here’s a preliminary look at all three.

• Hula Bowl: Todd Worly’s first roster as Executive Director of the Hula Bowl debuts next week. Players report on Monday. ITL’s Neil Stratton will be there Monday through Wednesday. Practices will be held at Daytona Stadium, home of Bethune-Cookman, and the team hotel is Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort. 
• CGS: Rosters of the CGS are still being adjusted and not yet available, but so far, the school with the most attendees (four) is Florida International; CGS co-founder Jose Jefferson is the Panthers’ GM. There are also three players each from NC State, Nevada, TCU and Wofford. As always, the CGS is where you go to find small-school sleepers. This year, 44 percent of the roster is from sub-FBS schools, with another 29 percent from G5 schools. There are also 13 participants from Canadian schools.
• Dream Bowl: Like the CGS, rosters are still fluid. However, with 117 players accepting invites so far, about 38 percent are from FBS schools. There are also two Canadian players and a handful of NAIA and D-III players. Leading teams are Campbell (5), followed by Ball State and North Alabama, both with four. Northeastern (La.) State and SMU are next with three each. 

A tough choice: Next week, we publish the five (OK, maybe six) finalists for the Best Draft Award and kick off voting by NFL scouts and executives. Normally, picking the five best teams is not that tough, but this is not like every year. In fact, we asked 10 people, most of them former NFL scouts, for their respective takes on which teams did best. Some of them gave us their opinions on which one should win. Here are a few comments:

• “The winner for me is the Panthers as they have completely outperformed expectations with the draft class leading the way.”
• “Just my opinion: Browns got the most bang out of their draft.” 
• “Bears turned it around . . . (their rookies have) been part of ascension . . . along with their great coach.” 
• “(Will) Campbell, (Treveyon) Henderson and (Craig) Woodson all starters (for the Patriots) and the reason why they are winning.”

We think there are 10 teams that have a case for the Best Draft Award, and we take no joy in having to cull that number. We break down the argument for all 10 in this week’s post at Succeed in Football. Who do you like? Which team or teams is not so deserving? Let us know on Twitter (@InsideTheLeague) or by responding to this email. We’ll have the finalists and ballots next week.

Speaking of ballots . . . : Though our four weeks of polling on the BART List Awards, we’re keeping the links open through the weekend. Though we won’t fill up your inbox again, if you’re a scout or member of the NFL analytics community, you should have an email somewhere in your inbox (or trash) giving you a chance to participate in our voting. We’d love to have your opinion. We got participation by almost half of the members of two divisions and more than a third for others, so our efforts at pushing out the ballots via social media DM, email and even LinkedIn worked. Make sure to get those votes in by Monday. Then, as we already mentioned, we’ll send out the ballots for Best Draft as well as a short salary poll to the scouting community next week. Thanks for your participation, and see you in Indy!

One more thing: If you’re an NFL scout, and you see ITL’s Neil Stratton coming your way sometime during all-star season (he’ll be at the Hula Bowl, American Bowl, East-West Shrine and Senior Bowls), it’s possible he’s not approaching you for his normal irritating reasons. He may be coming to congratulate you on winning a BART List Award for scouting excellence. We’re tabulating the votes next week and we’ll be letting the winners know soon. 

Transfer tips: NIL & NFL Agents Assembly is a new working community for football agents navigating the most complex and time-sensitive areas of modern player representation, with a core emphasis on NIL contract valuation, deal structuring, and market analysis. Powered by Stratic and Inside the League (ITL), the Assembly provides real-time guidance, shared intelligence, and practical resources across NIL, recruiting, the transfer portal, and the path to the NFL — with a specific focus on avoiding common agent downfalls during the portal window and recruiting cycle. Core access to the Assembly is free, including participation in a dedicated Slack channel, shared updates, community discussions, and regular Zoom sessions and agent town halls. Agents can engage at a foundational level while benefiting from collective insight and peer collaboration. For agents seeking deeper support, the Assembly offers optional paid programming and services, including advanced contract valuation and deal analytics, access to technology-driven negotiation and scenario-modeling tools, live Zoom sessions with subject matter experts across scouting, contracts, compliance, and player development, and CLE-eligible educational programming where applicable. To sign up or learn more, contact Shane Costa at shane@stratic.app, Christian Kranz at christian@stratic.app, or just respond to this email. 

Catching Up: Michael Huyghue, 64, spent 15 years associated with the NFL, either in stints with the Jaguars and Lions, helping run a WLAF team (Birmingham Fire) or just working in the league office. He even served as commissioner of an earlier iteration of the United Football League, and recently, wrote a book about his experiences called Behind the Line of Scrimmage: Inside the Front Office of the NFL. We caught up with him this week.

• Where are you living and what are you doing now?: I live in Jacksonville (Fla.), and I teach at Cornell and coach the sprint football team in a 185-pound limit league. We regularly play Army, Navy, and some of the (Ivy League schools). And I’m teaching at Cornell’s law school.” 
• Do you miss the job? What do you miss most?: “The competition. All of us that work in pro sports are there for the competition: building a team, being on a team, getting a team ready. Whatever role you play, that weekly competition is what drives us.”
• Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues?: “No question, and fortunately, I’m still doing some work for the league, so I get to screen candidates for coach and GM, and do interview prep for them at the (NFL) Combine and the league meetings. It’s a family you stay connected with, and I have for the last 30 years.” 
• Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)?: “I do, especially coaching at Cornell. We have our games, and recruiting at high schools, and of course, pro games and regular D1 college games and stuff, so I’m almost always around it.”
• Do you find yourself rooting for the NFL team in your region, the one you grew up rooting for, or the one with the most people you’ve worked with?: “Well, Jacksonville always because I’m still here, but when you work in the league, it’s usually the last team you were with. There’s so many you have where there are mixed loyalties, or coaches you enjoy, but I’m as much a fan of the game as I am any individual team.”

Review the latest from other former NFL scouts and executives by accessing our Catching Up archive here. Want to hear from a former scout, or know someone who may be interested in being interviewed? Let us know.

Registration begins: On Wednesday, the NFLPA begins accepting registration for the 2026 agent exam. As the leader and originator of exam prep, we will work with aspiring contract advisors again this year getting them ready for July. Our program begins in February, but if you’d like to get a jump on things, we’re here to help. This week is the last one offering the ITL Study Guide for $350; we’ll bump up the price for The Bible of exam prep starting next weekend. Ready to start readying for the toughest agent exam in the four majors? Need to know what we offer? Start here. Got questions? Reach us by responding to this email. As always, if you’re trying to live your football dreams, we’ll do everything in our power to make it happen.

Next week: It’s time to get out on the all-star trail, check out the players, talk to people in the game, and renew some acquaintances. With apologies to December, it’s the best time of the year. Here’s a look at what’s ahead.

• It’s not a day that we look forward to, but Black Monday is coming. We’ll debut the NFL Scouting Changes Grid next week, presuming there are new vacancies in front offices, and start working on the NFL Head Coaches-Agents Board next week.
• Every year, our most popular feature is our Signings Grid. If you care about the 2026 draft class, you should be checking it regularly. It’s got it all – where players are signing, where they’re training and which all-star game they are attending.
• While a lot of the action will be capture on the Signings Grid, the Rep Rumblings cover everything that doesn’t fit needly on a board. 
• Though the transfer portal is wide open, teams are still building their personnel offices on the fly. Make sure you know who’s going where by checking the College Scouting Changes Grid.
• We focus on how to break into the scouting industry, what people in the game are talking about, and how to look at football differently on our Succeed in Football blog. Make sure you’re reading it every week.
• If you’d rather listen (or even watch) instead of reading about the business, the Scouting the League Podcast should be on your radar. 
• The Emerging Players reports are finished, as Blake needs to rest his eyes a bit, but you can still review them if you’re looking for 2026 sleepers. Check out this week’s report here.
• Make sure to look for ITL’s Neil Stratton in Daytona this week. Say hey if you get a chance. 

It’s an exciting time in the game, and we’re here for it. Let us help you keep up with all the action.