The Combine's Favorite Parlor Game
There are certain inevitabilities in life: death, taxes, and Fernando Mendoza going No. 1 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders. The Indiana quarterback's Heisman Trophy-winning, national championship-clinching, 16-0 masterpiece of a season has made the top of the 2026 NFL Draft about as suspenseful as a rom-com where you can see the ending from the opening credits. At -20000 odds on FanDuel, you'd literally have to bet $20,000 just to win $100 on Mendoza going first. That's not a bet. That's a math problem.
But here's where it gets fun. At this week's NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, FOX Sports' Greg Auman posed a deceptively simple question to 42 draft prospects: Take Mendoza out of the equation. Who goes No. 1?
The results? A fascinating window into how these players see each other and a reminder that even future NFL stars have their own fan favorites. Of the 42 surveyed, 34 cast a vote while eight abstained with refreshingly honest responses. Fair enough, fellas. You've been a little busy.
Let's break down the results.
The Runaway Winner: Rueben Bain Jr., EDGE, Miami - 11 Votes
Not even close. Bain ran away with this thing like he runs away from offensive tackles - violently and without apology. The Miami edge rusher collected 11 of 34 votes, and honestly, it's hard to argue with his peers.
Bain racked up 9.5 sacks this past season, with five of those coming during Miami's College Football Playoff run. The man simply decided that January was his month and dared anyone to disagree.
At 6-foot-3, 275 pounds, Bain doesn't fit the classic mold of a long, lean NFL edge rusher. He's built more like a wrecking ball that someone accidentally gave a first step to. His game is predicated on violence and we mean that as the highest possible compliment. He converts speed-to-power better than any prospect in this class, his hand technique is elite, and he plays every snap like the offensive lineman across from him personally insulted his family. CBS Sports compared him to Dwight Freeney, which is the kind of comp that makes scouts start loosening their ties.
There were some murmurs about his arm length measurements at the combine, but as one AFC executive put it, teams shouldn't be worried. When you're this productive and this disruptive, the tape tends to win the argument. Bain is a consensus top-five pick and the kind of defensive difference-maker that franchises build around.
The Versatile Weapon: Arvell Reese, LB, Ohio State - 7 Votes
Seven votes for Reese tells you everything you need to know about how much respect the Ohio State linebacker commands among his peers. Reese is the ultimate football Swiss Army knife - a player who spent his college career toggling between off-ball linebacker and edge rusher, and excelling at both.
In 2025, Reese produced 31 total pressures with 8 sacks, 6 hits, and 13 hurries while maintaining disruptive consistency on money downs. He registered 34 defensive stops and posted an 85.6 tackle grade with just a 6.0% missed tackle rate. For a hybrid player who regularly operates in space and forces pursuit angles, those numbers are absurd.
The knock on Reese - if you can even call it that - is that Ohio State's defensive scheme may not have fully unlocked his potential. Multiple analysts have suggested that the right NFL play-caller could turn Reese into something even more special by giving him defined roles rather than using him as a chess piece. In other words, the best version of Arvell Reese might be the one we haven't even seen yet. That should terrify offensive coordinators everywhere.
The People's Champion: Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State - 4 Votes
Some scouts believe Caleb Downs is the best overall player in the entire 2026 draft class, regardless of position. Let that sink in for a second. In a draft headlined by a Heisman-winning quarterback and loaded with elite defensive talent, a safety is in the conversation for the best prospect available.
Downs is the ultimate triple-threat playmaker: an outstanding ball hawk in coverage, a cleanup artist against the run, and a weapon in the return game. He posted an 85.0-plus PFF overall grade in each of the past three seasons. His football IQ is off the charts, and he's been called an unbelievable field general by Ohio State's coaching staff.
The only thing working against Downs is positional value. You don't usually see safeties go in the top five, and that's the only reason he isn't the consensus No. 2 prospect. But four of his fellow combine participants clearly don't care about draft conventions, and neither should NFL teams. In a league increasingly built around defensive versatility and playmaking from the secondary, Downs is exactly the kind of player who changes a defense overnight.
The Mauigoa Mystery: Francis Mauigoa, OT, Miami - 4 Votes
The best moment of this entire survey might belong to the anonymous prospect who voted for Mauigoa by saying, 61, whoever that is, however you say his name. That's the most relatable thing anyone has ever said at the NFL Combine.
Name recognition aside, Mauigoa is an absolute monster on the offensive line. The Miami tackle surrendered just 1 sack, 3 hits, and 5 penalties on 196 true pass sets in 2025, translating to an absurd 1% pressure rate. Miami's offensive line allowed the lowest pressure rate in all of FBS, and Mauigoa was the anchor. At 6-foot-6, 315 pounds, he combines prototypical tackle traits - mass, anchor, stability, technique - with a production resume that makes him one of the safest offensive line prospects in recent memory.
Getting four votes from fellow prospects is particularly telling. These are guys who played against offensive linemen all season. They know what dominance looks like from the other side of the ball, and they're saying Mauigoa is that guy.
The One-Vote Wonders
The remaining eight votes were spread across eight different players, and each one tells a story.
David Bailey, OLB, Texas Tech (1 vote): Bailey was the most productive edge rusher in college football this season, earning the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year award and an elite 93.6 PFF grade. He piled up 81 total pressures with 14.5 sacks, 23 hits, and 43 hurries. If you're looking for a pure production pick, Bailey is your guy. The fact that he only got one vote here might say more about Texas Tech's national profile than Bailey's talent.
Taylen Green, QB, Arkansas (1 vote): This one's a head-scratcher in the best possible way. Green is ranked as the No. 8 quarterback in the class by Mel Kiper Jr., but someone out there believes he's the whole No. 1 overall pick if Mendoza vanishes. Is this a teammate hyping his guy? A genuine believer? Either way, we respect the conviction.
Lee Hunter, DL, Texas Tech (1 vote): The Red Raiders' defensive tackle is a legitimate first-round talent. His lean muscle mass percentage reportedly sits at 77% at 6-foot-3, 315 pounds. Hunter has been a disruptive interior presence since his freshman All-American season and finished 2025 with a career-high production year. He's the kind of interior lineman who collapses pockets and makes everyone around him better.
Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, DB, Toledo (1 vote): Now this is a deep cut. McNeil-Warren is a rangy, playmaking safety out of Toledo who has been climbing draft boards thanks to being college football's highest-graded safety over the past three seasons according to PFF. He's not going No. 1 overall, but the fact that a fellow prospect knows his name and respects his game enough to vote for him here is a serious endorsement.
T.J. Parker, DL, Clemson (1 vote): Parker has accumulated 127 pressures and 24 sacks across three years at Clemson, and he impressed at the Senior Bowl with his long arms and ability to make life miserable for offensive linemen. He's an instinctual, quick, and highly productive pass rusher who also contributes against the run. A strong combine could push him firmly into the first-round conversation.
Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State (1 vote): Styles might be the most underrated prospect in this class simply because he shared a defense with Downs and Reese. A former five-star recruit and converted safety, Styles is an incredibly athletic linebacker with elite football IQ and tackling ability. PFF has one of the most impressive grading profiles in the class for him, and multiple mock drafts have him going in the top 20. He could end up being the steal of the first round if teams overthink his draft position.
Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State (1 vote): The Buckeyes' receiver turned 67 targets into 51 receptions for 875 yards and 9 touchdowns with a 0% drop rate. Zero. He didn't drop a single pass. Tate is one of the cleanest route runners in the class and has legitimate deep-ball ability with 11 deep receptions and 6 deep touchdowns. He's the next in Ohio State's legendary pipeline of pro-ready receivers.
Logan Taylor, OL, Boston College (1 vote): The biggest wildcard on this list. Taylor is a 6-foot-7, 312-pound Canadian offensive lineman from Nova Scotia who has started 36 games across multiple positions at Boston College. He's a late-round prospect by most accounts, which means this vote was almost certainly a teammate or training partner showing love. And honestly? That's what makes this survey great. It's not just about evaluations - it's about the bonds these guys form on the way to the NFL.
What It All Means
If you zoom out, the biggest takeaway from this survey is that defense rules this draft class behind Mendoza. Of the 34 votes cast, 28 went to defensive players. The only offensive players to receive votes were Mauigoa (4), Green (1), Tate (1), and Taylor (1). That tracks with what scouts and analysts have been saying for months: the 2026 class is historically loaded on the defensive side of the ball.
The other takeaway? Ohio State is a factory. Between Reese (7 votes), Downs (4 votes), Styles (1 vote), and Tate (1 vote), the Buckeyes accounted for 13 of 34 votes - more than a third. Four Ohio State players are projected to go in the top 20 of this draft, which would be an unprecedented feat. No school has ever had four players taken in the top 10, and the Buckeyes have a legitimate shot at making history.
Ultimately, none of this changes the fact that Mendoza is going No. 1 to the Raiders. But for a few minutes inside Lucas Oil Stadium this week, 42 future NFL players got to play armchair general manager. And based on the results, these guys clearly know their stuff - except maybe the one who voted for Taylen Green. But hey, we admire the audacity.
Trusted By Programs Across The Country
