The opening round of the 2026 NFL Draft produced some quizzical queries that provide both instantaneous and far-off answers.
Football’s ultimate gamble is staged not in Sin City but rather Pittsburgh.
The 2026 NFL Draft is fully underway, with 32 dreams of professional stardom officially coming true on Thursday night. Friday and Saturday action will featured the latter six rounds but the first, obviously, draws the highest amount of scrutiny and will pave the way forward for the league’s immediate future.
Things started predictably enough with the Las Vegas Raiders’ opening selection of Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza but things quickly spiraled from there on out, granting the type of drama that the football-loving public craves and thrives upon.
With that in mind, TeamFB7 has seven questions after the first 32, queries armed with both instantaneous and patience responses …
Where do the Cardinals get off?
There’s a fine line between criticizing the prospect and criticizing the fit. That barrier is at its slimmest when it comes to Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love.
Love has done little to garner the former: even with the league’s generally sour approach to high-profile rushers, Love is such a sterling scoring threat (40 touchdowns in the last two seasons) that he was probably going to be the highest one at his spot chosen in the ongoing decade (replacing Ashton Jeanty from last year). He didn’t have to wait in the green room for long as the Arizona Cardinals welcomed him in with the third choice.
The moment the Arizona Cardinals selected Jeremiyah Love at No. 3 overall‼️ pic.twitter.com/uOvJvCmAgr
— ESPN (@espn) April 24, 2026
That, unfortunately, feels like the worst-case scenario for Love, who seems to be the victim of a team going best player available very early on despite being quite a ways away from obtaining that privilege.
Arizona is already packed to the brim with proven rushing talents (Tyler Allgeier, having freed himself from the Bijan Robinson show, has to be wondering where it went wrong) and it feels like the selection could’ve been better spent on the blind side or the edge.
Arizona does feel like a team that’s biding its time for the 2027 draft and its passing talents (apparently being totally comfortable with a Jacoby Brissett gap year under center) but subjecting Love and an eight-figure contract to growing pains (especially after Jeanty’s struggles in his own debut) left many believing that the Cardinals left round one with egg on their faces.
Were the Ty Simpson/Kenyon Sadiq selections really that bad?
What gives “Draft Day,” the 2014 Kevin Costner drama, a happy ending is the fact that the credits roll before any of the fictional Cleveland Browns’ picks take a professional snap. The Los Angeles Rams and New York Jets are among the teams quelling viral riots following their work in the middle rounds but it feels like practicality and rationality may reign.
The Rams rolled Tide and raised with the selection of Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson at 13th overall (using a pick acquired from Atlanta), denying themselves a potential game-changer in both the follow-up to an NFC title game showing and Matthew Stafford’s approaching twilight. The post-draft reaction from head coach Sean McVay went viral as a gridiron struggled to make sense of it.
THIS SEAN MCVAY VIDEO IS WILD TO WATCH…
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) April 24, 2026
You can basically see the steam pouring out of his ears after the #Rams drafted Ty Simpson with the 13th pick.
McVay wanted to add another weapon so they can win a ring in the final years of Matt Stafford’s prime. pic.twitter.com/cC8Oyy2vdw https://t.co/owlbGXx1sz
But it’s frankly a rather prudent move from a Rams group that became famous for its “f them picks” philosophy that produced a Super Bowl title that made it all worth it. Los Angeles is well-situated for both now and later as is, upping its cred for another title by raiding the Kansas City Chiefs’ secondary closet (Trent McDuffie/Jaylen Watson).
The Rams thus earned the privilege to stockpile a high-profile pick to use for later and Simpson now gets a consequence-free opportunity to learn under Stafford. It worked fairly well for a Green Bay Packers group that made the rumored reach for Aaron Rodgers in 2005 despite still carrying Brett Favre’s services. Los Angeles is much closer to is last Super Bowl title to warrant such a move and still has plenty left over (including both regularly-scheduled day two picks) to add an instant contributor.
The Jets almost yanked the satirical spotlight back from the Rams with the selection of Sadiq, an Oregon tight end who joins 2025 second-round choice Mason Taylor. Many felt that the explosiveness of Makai Lemon would’ve been the way to go but Sadiq’s red zone prowess and athleticism make him a worthy selection for a team that has had dire trouble scoring and gaining yardage. Perhaps aware of the reaction, the Jets traded back into Thursday and capped the day off with Indiana jaw-dropper Omar Cooper Jr., providing strong bookends to a day that started with David Bailey at second overall.
How is AJ Brown still on the Eagles?
Philadelphia’s wheeling and dealing produced another big-play receiver in Lemon, who in-state fate was nearly painted black-and-yellow before the Eagles let their rivalry guard down temporarily to trade with an NFC East companion (more on that in a minute).
It’s viewed as the latest example of general manager savvy from Howie Roseman, who has turned draft day into Christmas for adoring public in the City of Brotherly Love. But while the Eagles’ receivers’ room is stocked with name-brand talents (Lemon joins Hollywood Brown and Dontayvion Wicks as the new additions next to incumbent DeVonta Smith), it’s worth wondering what’s taking them so long to trade Brown, especially with potential further draft capital on the line in such a deal.
This is one we actually have an immediate answer for and it’s quite a familiar reveal: money. The Eagles would be poised to save more than half the charge in dead cap if they keep him around until June 1, the start of the new league financial year. They’d also save just over $7 million against the cap under a similar strategy. Roseman has made quite the perch as is. Calendar tactics are nothing to him at this point.
Why do the Cowboys still trade with the Eagles?
Kenny Rogers obviously wasn’t talking about the NFL draft when he advised listeners to “know when to hold/fold them.” But, like “Dark Side of the Moon” with “The Wizard of Oz,” the lyrics uncannily apply.
The Dallas Cowboys could’ve left with one of the top drafts on record: they immediately pounced when their divisional rivals, the New York Giants, passed on Caleb Downs in favor of Francis Mauigoa by swapping firsts and sending compensatory selections in a deal with the Miami Dolphins. All defensively-starved Dallas had to do was find a pass rusher to replace Micah Parsons and it would be a rare, unblemished victory for America’s Team.
Malik Nabers’ reaction to the Cowboys trading up and drafting Caleb Downs 👀 pic.twitter.com/dgyuC2ocJ5
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 24, 2026
Alas for Arlington, the Cowboys helped the Eagles leap pace the hosing Pittsburgh Steelers in the race for Lemon, engaging in another exchange of pleasantries between Roseman and Jerry Jones. The two sides previously engaged in an alliance that denied the Giants receiving help in 2021, one where the Eagles landed Smith and the Cowboys picked up Parsons. The subsequent trade of the latter renders the deal as bittersweet at best in North Texas circles.
Dallas still had a productive evening by using the 23rd choice acquired from Philly to select pass rusher Malachi Lawrence. The UCF alum has plenty of upside, but the Cowboys didn’t have to hold the double-edged sword of a deal within the division. Lawrence (or even Akheem Mesidor, who went to the Los Angeles Chargers at 22nd) could’ve just as easily gone at No. 20 and two day three picks (both in the fourth round) hardly seem like a fair payoff in helping Philadelphia reload.
What are the Bills planning?
Over 300,000 fans took in the draft proceedings in person just outside Acrisure Stadium. The small fraction of the group that supports the Buffalo Bills likely went home at least a bit peeved.
Buffalo entered the night as the original owners of the 26th pick but wound up trading it to Houston (who took guard Keylan Rutledge in that spot). The Bills then engaged in some divisional dealing by sending Houston’s 28th to New England (Caleb Lomu) before granting Tennessee the penultimate pick of the night, where Keldric Faulk’s green room wait was ended.
The Bills’ endgame has them holding each of the Titans’ picks toward the top of Friday’s second and third rounds, as well as nine to close out Saturday’s proceedings. It wouldn’t be shocking to see them take a gander on some of the first-round graded secondary prospects that fell beyond the first 32 (i.e. Colton Hood, Avieon Terrell), a linebacker ringer (Jacob Rodriguez) or give Josh Allen another surprise weapon (Denzel Boston).
Are the Chiefs … and Patrick Mahomes … back?
What the Kansas City Chiefs would do with an embarrassment of relative riches on day one was going to be the talk of the town no matter what.
The Chiefs first moved up the round one elevator to draft LSU secondary defender Mansoor Delane in a deal with Costner-less Cleveland (a pick that some saw as a reach, though Delane is enough of a talented athlete to contribute to a contending cause immediately) before using what was the Rams’ originally-scheduled pick to take Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods.
“They made the best move in the Draft.”
— NFL (@NFL) April 24, 2026
Mansoor Delane can’t wait to make his mark in Kansas City.
2026 NFL Draft starts on NFLN/ESPN/ABC
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/sXXsXY0Bzx
By getting fully defensive and angrily aggressive (the ballhawk Delane should help a defense that had big trouble generating turnovers last season), the Chiefs gave a strong hint that they have no intention of taking a gap year brought about by Mahomes’ late injury. There’s plenty of time between now and an official decision on Mahomes’ status, but addressing immediate needs aggressively suggests that the Chiefs aren’t waiting for the rest of the league to catch up to their relatively destitute status.
How will the Steelers salvage the weekend?
Keeping in tradition with previous hosts, the Steelers did a solid job with taking things outside, welcoming in the biggest draft crowd to date. The gate revenue should at least be some consolation for how the rest of the evening went.
After the attempt to draft Lemon went awry … in an all-too-public display that didn’t reach the big screens in Steel City … Pittsburgh pivoted by drafting tackle Max Iheanachor out of Arizona State.
The moment that Makai Lemon found out the Eagles were trading up to get him at No. 20 while he was the on the phone with the Steelers, who were planning to take him at No. 21. pic.twitter.com/Iqv7wfzbtu
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 24, 2026
That should come in handy enough whether the starting quarterback is Aaron Rodgers, Will Howard, or an unexpected third party, but Iheanachor was nonetheless viewed as a reach due to his relative in experience with the game and a low technique that leaves him susceptible to penalties.
Fortunately for Pittsburgh, fans have plenty of reason to stick around and watch the team try to make things eight: the Steelers have four picks at the start of day two (53rd, 76th, 85th, and 99th) and seven more in Saturday’s closer. Still, the dark side of Rodgers association continues to follow them and it’ll take more than a day of diamonds in the rough to find any sort of resolution to that issue.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
