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March 14-20
The Combine is over. Free agency is (essentially) over. Pro days are winding down. It’s mock draft time.
On one hand, we don’t take such exercises too seriously. On the other hand, with a few exceptions (cough-cough, Shedeur Sanders, cough), they’re pretty accurate, some of them especially so. Anyways, let’s dig in. Here are a few thoughts on seven top mock draft services (all the services with all the picks are here) and what they say about the 2026 draft class.
Free-Styling: Granted, it’s been three-plus months since we took measure of the mocks, but it’s truly remarkable to see the rapid climb of Georgia OT Monroe Freeling and Ohio State OB Sonny Styles. Freeling was on just one board in our last review (kudos, Dane), but today, he’s a unanimous first-rounder with an Average Draft Slot (ADS) of 12.4. Three services (Yahoo! Sports, PFF and ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr.) have him at 6, with Walter Football rating him lowest at 24. Depending on how you define the position for Miami’s Francis Mauigoa, Freeling is either OT1 or OT2. Then there’s Styles, who’s breaking all the rules about high an off-ball linebacker should be selected. Right now, he’s got an ADS of 5.0 with Yahoo! slotting him at 3 and five services calling him the fifth pick. If the draft were in June, they might go 1-2.
How many QBs?: While Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is the chalkest of chalk picks at No. 1, the real suspense is whether or not two QBs will go on Day 1. The draft services say . . . not likely. With a month to go, only Kiper (one of the most strident voices supporting Sanders as a first-rounder last year) and The Athletic’s Dane Brugler have him going in the first 32 (with Brugler seeing him barely there at 28).
Who’s No. 1?: Several wide receivers have jockeyed for WR1 status, but the mock draft services say it’s Ohio State’s Carnell Tate (ADS 8.57). He’s pulled away from Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson (ADS 15.3), the only other unanimous first-round pass-catcher. However, as they go down the stretch, Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion and USC’s Makai Lemon are gaining, with both showing up on six of seven boards. Only PFF snubs the Aggie, though It’s worth noting that none of the services has him higher than 26, and four have him 30 or 31. The mocks are much more bullish on Lemon, who was passed over only by Yahoo! Sports. Pro Football Focus has him at No. 7, while four other services have him in the first half of the round. Then there’s cornerback, which has a similar glut of talent. As of now, LSU’s Mansoor Delane has pulled into the lead (ADS 10.6), though Tennessee’s Jermod McCoy isn’t far behind (ADS 14.0). Also, don’t count out Clemson’s Avieon Terrell, who’s on six of seven boards (Eric Edholm of NFL.com is the outlier). Tennessee’s Colton Hood and South Carolina’s Brandon Cisse also show up in three mocks each.
Pleasure meeting you: Three players showed up for the first time in first-round mocks, but only one had the votes of four services. That’s Indiana’s Omar Cooper, who PFF, CBS Sports, NFL.com and The Athletic’s Brugler see as a first-day proposition. On the other hand, 20 prospects were shown the figurative door by the mock services, including five offensive tackles and seven defensive ends. They still have time to rebound, but we’ll only survey the seven services once more before the big weekend.
Big Men: Incidentally, nine of the 19 players who were unanimous first-rounders came out of the Big Ten, including the top pick and three of the top five. The SEC had only five.
There are plenty more interesting things to see on our big board. Make sure you check it out for yourself. Now let’s take a look at the biggest stories in college and pro football this week, courtesy of Ric Serritella of All Access Football.
New director, same vibes: The announcement of new NFLPA Executive Director JC Tretter earlier this week has been met with mixed reactions. He becomes just the fifth executive director in the history of the NFLPA and, perhaps, the most important one yet with the CBA expiring in 2030. With new television deals looming and owners continuing to push for an 18th game, negotiations are expected to be intense. However, bad PR seems to follow the PA, from the resignation of former executive director Lloyd Howell to the anointing of Tretter, which has met with criticism for a number of reasons. One reason is that Tretter previously stepped down from his NFLPA post as chief strategy officer, claiming that he had no interest in the permanent executive director position. Also, while serving as NFLPA president from 2020-24, he suggested that players may want to ‘fake’ injuries in order to create leverage. Perhaps most damning is that he was part of the NFLPA brass that seemed to cover up findings that owners colluded to restrict teams from signing QBs to guaranteed deals. Still, he was adamant that he’s the man for the job this week. “There are times in your life when you know that you are exactly where you’re supposed to be. That’s where I am today,” Tretter said in a statement. “I understand the responsibility that comes with this role and how important it is to stand shoulder to shoulder with player leadership. This union has always played a critical role in shaping the game, and that work is as important now as it’s ever been.” Unfortunately, not everyone shares those sentiments. “The same guy that had no interest in being the Executive Director in July of 2025! Yea congratulations @NFL yall will get everything yall want in the new CBA,” former All-Pro NFL DE James Harrison posted on social media. Sam Acho, another ex-player and former member of the NFLPA executive committee, warned current player reps that Tretter "seems just as culpable (if not more) than Lloyd Howell." Meanwhile, others praised the selection of Tretter. “Bright future for our union! One of our own leading the way,” Bears QB Case Keenum posted on social media. Keenum, who played with Tretter on the Browns from 2020–21, has been a VP of the NFLPA’s executive committee since 2024. Vikings OB Jonathan Greenard, a newly elected executive committee VP, wrote that he “can’t wait to get to work. Real change is coming.” The decision to hire Tretter comes after an eight-month search. With a considerable number of players still on the fence on Tretter, it’s up to the new executive director to deliver. The good news is that he’s got ample opportunity to reset the narrative as he prepares for a high-stakes talks in a few short years. “We have worked with JC for several years, first as union president when he helped the league and the NFLPA successfully navigate through COVID during the 2020 season,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “We look forward to building upon that relationship to further our shared priorities, including our commitment to advancing player health and safety and ensuring the global growth of our game for our fans, the players, and our clubs.”
No vacancy in the Steel City: With the 2026 NFL Draft about a month away, Pittsburgh is bracing for what will be the largest sporting event the city has ever hosted. Some are concerned. The NFL is expecting approximately 700,000 fans to converge on the downtown area during the April 23-25 festivities, testing the city’s hospitality bandwidth. The biggest issue could be the lack of hotel rooms, with “rack” rooms priced at $650-$1,000 per night; luxury and closer-proximity options well into the $2,000 per night range; and some rental homes charging upwards of $5,000 per night, all according to TribLive. City officials, however, take it all in stride. "We do, in fact, have the capacity to host,” Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato told Axios. “Green Bay hosted last year and they are the smallest market of any NFL team." While conceding that lodging opportunities might be limited downtown, Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O'Connor said the city has a key advantage: walkability. Guests have the ability to get downtown on foot rather easily, whether from the North Side, South Side or Strip districts. "We have the hotels,” he said. “If just thinking about downtown proper, obviously we don't have enough hotels, but within the entire region, we do." One thing is certain – the city has worked hard to put its best foot forward as the downtown area has undergone mass renovations in preparation for the event. Upgrades to Point State Park are complete and ready, while Arts Landing construction is on schedule, according to the Culture Trust, and a preview of the park is scheduled for March 30. Last year, Green Bay reportedly drew over 600,000 fans during the 2025 NFL Draft. The record for the most fans to attend the NFL Draft came the previous year, in 2024, when over 775,000 fans descended on Detroit.
Tracking the transition: The front office moves keep on coming across college front offices.
All these moves have been added to the College Scouting Changes Grid.
Tall in the pocket: In a story that flew under the radar this week, Oregon QB Dante Moore opened up about his battle with mental health issues and how it has impacted his young career. "Early in my college career, I found myself deeply . . . depressed,” Moore admitted in a letter to Oregon Mayor Tina Kotek. The Ducks’ $7.5M signal-caller conceded that “the pressure and expectations that come with playing quarterback at a high level felt overwhelming at 18.” That pressure didn’t just come from external forces: around that same time, his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Doctors detected the deadly disease in Jera Bohlen-Moore in 2023 during Moore’s first spring at UCLA before she was declared cancer-free in the summer of 2024. The purpose of Moore’s letter was to argue for governmental expansion of mental health services. "In my life, what made the difference was support," Moore wrote. "Support from my friends, love from my family, and access to the resources I needed to get better. As a young black man and athlete, reaching out for help can often feel like climbing an uphill battle. It required vulnerability and trust, and I was fortunate to get the care I needed." He wrote that he’s grown from the experience: "Learning how to care for my own mental health made me a better leader, teammate, and student. I know what it feels like to struggle in silence. I also know what it feels like to be supported and to come back stronger. That support saved me."
Still competing: The embers of a Bay Area QB controversy four decades ago still burn – far less brightly, and with much less heat – between 49ers greats Steve Young and Joe Montana, but in a new arena. Both took advantage of years playing in the shadow of Silicon Valley by building post-NFL careers in private equity and venture capital. In fact, interests associated with Young recently closed a $3.2 billion fund. The BYU product and USFL icon admits his playing days with the Niners played a key role in where he is today. “If I played for the Vikings, I don’t think this goes the same way,” Young told Front Office Sports. Along with Young and Montana, former 49ers TE Brent Jones, FB Tommy Vardell (who further reinforced his Bay Area roots with four years at Stanford) and OT Harris Barton have all founded private equity and venture capital firms. For Young, who earned $49M in contracts during his playing career, per FOS, his firm now manages over $10 billion worth of assets. For Montana, who earned a little less than $26M during his playing career, his firm, launched in 2015, has raised more than $239M to date. Let the quarterback competition continue!
Laura Shiver, 1958-2026: Thursday, family, friends and a good number of football people gathered to pay last respects to Laura Shiver, wife of Bears Executive Scout Jeff Shiver. Hers was a life well-lived, and if you don’t believe that, check out her obituary here. A tweet earlier this week garnered almost 45,000 views, more than a hundred likes, and several well wishes, which is emblematic of the respect the football world has for the Shiver name. Please lift up the family of Jeff and Laura in prayer as they suffer from her loss.
All prospects are not the same: About half of all players signed to SRAs with NFLPA-licensed contract advisors this year finished at FBS schools, while about a quarter each played at G5 schools or sub-FBS schools. Obviously, in the day of the transfer portal and the $$ being paid at the P4 level, most of the talent is gathered on the top floor. Still, some agents seek shortcuts, and every once in a while, they hit paydirt. To find out which agents are courting players from one of the Big Four conferences and which ones are shopping the bargain rack, we broke down the 2026 draft class SRA list as of March 1 Thursday per NFLPA numbers. While the NFL Draft is all about beating the odds, and long shots have lengthy careers all the time, it’s interesting to see who’s playing the odds and who’s trying to beat the odds, based on the names and players reported by the Players Association in their March 1 report. Check out our big grid here.
Putting in the time: Thursday, we had our second Zoom session with Chicago-based NFL agent Ian Greengross, who spent hour on key concepts in advance of the 2026 NFLPA Exam set for July 20. While it’s still four months away (122 days, to be exact), it’s not too early to start digging into the CBA and focusing on what’s testable. We did that, with a concentration on:
- Eligibility (accrued, credited for salary, credited for benefits)
- Free agency (tenders, tags and tiers)
- Split contracts, a favorite source of questions each year
- Termination pay, another nuanced topic that annually confounds people
Maybe you didn’t make it, but wanted to. No problem. We’ve got the video available for $50 plus tax and can get you access promptly. Or, if you were with us last year and you’re back for more, we’ve got better news – your rate is $25 plus tax. On the other hand, you might need a tutorial on how to calculate rookie salary given signing bonus and cap number, or you might be seeking help on how to calculate agent fees for different contract advisors post-termination. Maybe the June 1 rule crosses you up. We covered all those topics in our February Zoom (also available for $50 plus tax). Bottom line, if you need it, we got it, and at a more affordable price than anything you’ll find on the market. If you’re hoping to pass the exam this summer, give us a shot.
The good of the game: In many ways, college football has never been more prosperous as the CFP, transfer portal and expanding broadcast platforms have made the game more exciting and more accessible than ever. On the other hand, for those trying to make do with (comparably) less, there are tremendous challenges to success. This week, Kansas GM Rob Ianello joined Scouting the League co-hosts Rodrik David and Neil Stratton for an honest conversation about the business similar to what guests experienced at the 2026 Dropback ITL Symposium last month in Indianapolis. Here are a few highlights:
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On his relentless pursuit of a job at the University of Alabama when he was starting out (4:38): “So, a great gentleman by the name of Jack Fligg, who has since passed, I always told him, ‘just let me talk you into hiring me, right?’ I had somebody different call him for a week. I just don’t think he wanted to hear from people back East much any longer, so he hired me as a recruiting GA, and so I got my feet wet in the recruiting part of it.”
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On crossing over from the coaching side to the front office and how his job has evolved (9:48): “In the beginning, honestly, I was reluctant to do it, right? I always felt there would be a time when I would potentially do something like that, but I still felt like I had a lot of juice in my coaching game, you know? But as we looked at coming to Kansas after they had been 0-9 and not had a lot of success for over a decade, there was a lot of work to do and there had to be a lot of hands on deck. So as we looked at the GM role, we kinda took that title . . . From a standpoint of football involvement . . . I’d say a lot of the ‘player’ things in our program, if it’s going to be involving a player, touching a player, you know, those would be some of the things my tentacles would touch.”
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On how he determines best practices in such a new and expanding field (17:53): “When I talk to somebody that’s just taken over, like, John Garrett took over (as GM) at Florida State, Dave Peloquin took over (as GM) at Michigan. Dave worked for me at Notre Dame. That’s what I ask them, when they first take over, is, how are you setting it up? You get to do it right from scratch now, in this era. How are you setting things up? That’s what I’m interested in more so than what their grading scale is.”
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On breaking ties when there’s a difference of opinion in recruiting (24:32): “In the high school end of it, I really do err more on the side of, OK, if you have seen them, if you’ve seen them practice, or you’ve seen him play, and I haven’t, because you’re out there, I err more obviously toward the person who saw him live . . . that trumps everything, if you’ve seen him live.”
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On trying to respect agents’ boundaries during the transfer portal (38:10): “I’d like to feel like I haven’t had that issue (contact at outrageous times) with agents . . . I don’t need a guy calling me at 11:30 at night, either . . . I try to give them space.”
In a field with few rules and no template, Rob made a lot of good points about the business of college football from the GM’s chair. If you’re in the game, or just interested in the game, do yourself a favor and check out this week’s episode, whether via audio anywhere, or via video here.
Understand this: It’s this time of year that football fans love to “play scout,” i.e., get on social media to discuss what their “boards” look like and spout opinions on the most overrated and underrated prospects in the 2026 draft class. Often, however, their thoughts don’t come off as well with people who actually understand the profession more than the common fan. We reached out to several active scouts for the biggest misconceptions about their respective jobs this week. This is what they told us:
- “Scouts are underpaid (because they’re) operating out of sight/out of mind by a lot of owners or leadership . . . combined with suppressed salaries due to contract structure and essentially a non-compete league policy. Fans assume an NFL job like that is a high-paying job. For a lot of teams, it’s not.”
- “There is very little glamour. It’s gritty, it’s travel and it’s behind the scenes of the behind the scenes.”
- “Scouts on different teams are not adversarial with each other the way their teams would be on game day (and) often work together or parallel to each other, fairly common practice.”
- “It’s not glamorous. Many hours in the car away from wife and kids. Multiple hotels. Eating fast food. Finding a place to work out or not LOL. Lotta time away from loved ones. . . Gotta be a self-starter, too. Nice creating your own schedule but you have to keep yourself disciplined.”
- “It’s difficult to make trades. Everybody (talks) about moving down or out of the first round and that requires a trading partner that wants to move up. It’s not fantasy football and an easy process. . . Another aspect of the business is, you need to have the owner’s blessing on a lot of things as they are putting up the capital. Just because you are the GM it doesn’t mean you can do anything you want.”
- “Every player who ends up on most teams’ draft boards has been seen by an area scout, a cross-check scout, a director (all if he’s a top 3 round guy), a pro scout (to comp whats already on the roster), the GM (same as directors), the position coach, the head coach, and at least one other pair of eyes on the coaching staff (ie assistant pos coach or quality control). It is NEVER a lone wolf scout who ends up with the final grade or influence on a guy, no matter how much that gets reported …: truly a team effort and decision.
- “The things you hear about prospects/the draft during the spring are often not news. Scouts have known it or held opinions about it since the fall (but) it’s just now reaching the media. Several times, a player is perceived to have ‘fallen’ in the draft, when in reality the league saw that player in that area the entire time, but the media’s perception of him was higher, making it look like a fall.”
- “You don’t actually have to ‘know the sport’ any longer to really be a scout . . . That’s the biggest misconception in my opinion . . . .”
- “How much of a profession it is. The amount of time, detail, ‘homework’ that goes into investing in a high draft pick. It’s like inspecting a house on steroids. We gather intel from 20 different ppl for big time players. Background checks. Academic checks. Medical. Mental.”
- “Biggest thing I would say is that how little of the evaluation is based on the player’s film. That is the starting point, but we do so much more research on the player that really dictates who we end up taking in April.”
- “The perceived best players in college don’t always equate to what is successful in the NFL (and) the fastest and biggest guys aren’t always the best players. Would just draft off the all-conference teams, bench press or 40 if that was the case.”
- “The sacrifice we make for our families . . . We miss a lot of time on the road, average 130 days in hotels. Time you never get back.”
We had a few thoughts of our own about scouting and how it differs from what fans think, and we put them in this week’s blog at Succeed in Football. Check it out.
Catching Up: Nick Polk, 61, spent 23 years in the NFL between his five years in NFL Europe and 18 with the Falcons (he also spent three-and-a-half years representing coaches and executives with Athletes First). We caught up with him this week.
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Where are you living and what are you doing now?: “I’m the Assistant GM for the University of Florida football program, the Associate AD and Assistant GM for football. So I live in Gainesville, Fla.”
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Do you miss the job? What do you miss most?: “I think the relationships and the people. I was very fortunate in Atlanta. I had great ownership, great people in the organization. It wasn’t hard coming to work every day. Where I was really fortunate was, between Mr. (Arthur) Blank, (former GM) Thomas Dimitroff,(former team president) Rich McKay, (president/CEO) Greg Beadles, all of the coaches I was fortunate to work with. You miss the relationships. And then, you build a lot of relationships as the Director of Football Operations. I handled contract negotiations, the salary cap, all that, and there’s relationships you build with agents, too. It’s a relationship business, and fortunately, in some ways, I’m still dealing with some of (the agents) here at Florida.”
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Do you keep in touch with any of your former colleagues?: “I try to. There’s a lot of crossover between the new challenges we’re having here in the college football landscape and what’s going on in the NFL. I do try and keep in touch with my former colleagues in Atlanta and really across the league, and they’re a great resource because it’s a new frontier with what’s going on in college football. The beauty of this job . . . the thing that excites you about this role, it’s uncharted territory. A lot of the unknowns about revenue-sharing, the NIL landscape -- it’s just becoming bigger and bigger as far as an operation, and everybody’s running it differently. Here at Florida, the approach has been trying to be collaborative with the coaching staff, trying to work toward that. The big difference at the college level, obviously, is that you have to recruit, as opposed to the draft, and the unknowns of the market is a lot different because, in the NFL, we had access to all the contracts.”
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Do you go to any live games (HS/college/pro)?: “Because of the off-campus recruiting rules and everything, we have to designate who can go, so I do not go to high school games. Mostly coaches going out to games for in-person recruiting. I catch a game or two (in the NFL). When I was in the agent world, I was at a game every weekend. In the NFL, you could always go visit a client, but now we have our own games here in The Swamp, and with our SEC and non-SEC schedule, I get to go to a game every weekend. The hard part about it in the agent world is, you woke up on Sunday mornings, and you didn’t feel great, but you didn’t feel bad. It wasn’t as much about the results on the field. But the one thing that you learn (working in college) is that you get evaluated on 12 Saturdays here, hopefully more, and you’re back to every game being important.”
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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?: “Tough question. No. 1, I’ve found since being here, not a lot of time on Sundays to watch games. I’m more concerned with what’s going on in the SEC and across the country in college football. We’re gonna watch the Sunday night, Monday night, Thursday night games. I grew up a Redskins/Commanders fan, so I still keep an eye on them, especially with (head coach) Dan Quinn there. . . I enjoy watching a lot of people that I’ve got relationships with. I just like watching both college and NFL football, so I wouldn’t say there’s any one team. Obviously, Mr. Blank and the Falcons did a lot for my family, so I always keep an eye on the Falcons.”
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.
Next week: It’s getting closer. We’re 34 days away from the first round of the 2026 draft. While there’s no consensus on who the top picks will be, that’s kinda what makes it fun, right? Will it be another 2013 draft, a year when future starts were sparse? Or more like 2016, a class with a significant number of players who carved out HOF resumes? The first step in the process is just over a month away. We’ll help kill the time with a full week of content. Here’s what’s ahead.
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We’ll have both the Agents by Total Clients and Agent Changes lists next week. This time of year, both lists should be ample.
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If there are any moves in college or NFL front offices, we’ll bring them to you (including breaking news like we had on Monday). It all goes into our NFL and college scouting grids.
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As we move closer to the draft (and scout hiring/firing season), we’ll have tips on how to “break in” on our Succeed in Football blog.
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If you’re seeking discussions with people who make the football world go – like this week’s discussion with Kansas GM Rob Ianello – you’ll want to tune into the Scouting the League Podcast next week. More great guests are ahead.
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Our Rep Rumblings are our most popular feature, and for good reason. Make sure you’re reading them regularly.
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Our 2026 NFL Local Pro Day slate is (finally) complete. Still trying to get a player into a workout? Start here.
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Maybe your client needs a traditional pro day better and you need to get a look at what’s ahead next week. You need our 2026 Pro Day Grid.
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Don’t forget about this week’s Zoom session with Ian Greengross in preparation for July’s NFLPA Exam. The recording – in which Ian goes over free agency, eligibility, tenders, split contracts and termination pay – is available for $50 plus tax, and we will get you access ASAP. While we’re at it, our February session (cap numbers, June 1 rule, calculation of agent fees post-termination) is also available for the same price. There’s also our Study Guide and Practice Exam 1 if you’re really ahead of things.
We’ve got plenty of content to keep you productive and make you think. Try us.
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