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A look ahead to the 2026 Draft

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DMoney

DMoney

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The Canes produced seven picks in the 2025 NFL Draft. It was their highest total since 2017 and the sixth-highest total in the country this year (behind Ohio State, Georgia, Texas, Oregon and Ole Miss). This group included a Day 1 pick (#1 overall), a Day 2 pick and five Day 3 picks.

Can Miami exceed that number in 2026? Here are some names in the mix early.

OL Francis Mauigoa- Anything can happen in a year, but this looks like one of the safest picks in the draft. Mauigoa is a...

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I’m going to say 4. I think Francis, Bain, Beck and I like Daniels. I don’t see it with Bell at all. He is massive (immunity), but he’s slow, a waist bender, and doesn’t anchor well. I think he’s our biggest liability on the OL this year. I don’t think Fletcher gets drafted for the reasons you mentioned. In fact, I think he ends the year as RB3 but will get most of our goal line work. Moten has best shot of getting into day 3, but likely not.
 
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Will be curious to see Bell this year. People don't realize how raw kids are when they come from JUCO. To be so raw and to end up being a part time starter (good amount of games) is pretty remarkable. YEah, he struggled early on against speed rushes but he showed a big improvement over the course of the year. If he continues that trajectory, he's definitely a day 2 kind of guy.

Next year's draft class has a lot of guys who are up in the air. They could be drafted but may not:

Daniels, Mesidor, Moten and Blay all have great chances.

I don't see Fletcher getting drafted because I don't think he'll put up the production and he'll run average.

2027 draft class will be interesting. Also looking at that 6-8 range of possible draftees: Lofton, Scott, McCoy, Lyle, Poyser, Lucas, OJF.
 
cway313 said:
4 or 5 feels like the right answer based off body of work. The more important question is how many are drafted before Day 3. Stockpiling 7th round picks isn't how you build a contender. My guess would be 2 fall into that category which is severely lacking on a roster that is supposedly top 5 in spending.
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You need Day 1 and Day 2 picks to win big. I feel good about guys like Mauigoa and Bain with a few more who could move in that range.

But I’ve noticed that some on this board have a misguided idea of the NFL Draft. Getting drafted on Day 3 (or any other day) is extremely hard.

Only 2% of college players and less than 25% of four stars get drafted. Anybody who gets picked by the exhaustive NFL scouting process is a high-end college talent. We need those guys just like we need Day 1 and Day 2 guys.
 
DMoney said:
You need Day 1 and Day 2 picks to win big. I feel good about three of those guys with a couple who could move in that range.

But I’ve noticed that some on this board have a misguided idea of the NFL Draft. Getting drafted on Day 3 (or any other day) is extremely hard.

Only 2% of college players and less than 25% of four stars get drafted. Anybody who gets picked by the exhaustive NFL scouting process is a high-end college talent. We need those guys just like we need Day 1 and Day 2 guys.
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Having guys drafted on Day 3 isn't bad. Having the overwhelming majority of your players drafted on Day 3 is where the problem comes in. I've said before that 3-5 players should be the target. The floor has elevated (Day 3 guys), but the ceiling hasn't changed (Day 1 and Day 2 guys).
 
cway313 said:
Having guys drafted on Day 3 isn't bad. Having the overwhelming majority of your players drafted on Day 3 is where the problem comes in. I've said before that 3-5 players should be the target. The floor has elevated (Day 3 guys), but the ceiling hasn't changed (Day 1 and Day 2 guys).
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Ohio State and Georgia each had seven Day 3 picks. It's good to have a lot of Day 3 picks because those are really talented players.

Of course, those teams also had a lot of Day 1 and Day 2 guys. I agree we need more of those. We've gotten better there but there is a long way to go.
 
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DMoney said:
Ohio State and Georgia each had seven Day 3 picks. It's good to have a lot of Day 3 picks because those are really talented players.

Of course, those teams also had a lot of Day 1 and Day 2 guys. I agree we need more of those. We've gotten better there but there is a long way to go.
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More importantly Ohio State and Georgia each had 3+ 1st round picks and at least 5 drafted before Day 3 which feeds into my point. We haven't gotten better we had 2 players drafted in the first 3 rounds. In 2021 we had 2 players drafted in the first 3 rounds.
 
cway313 said:
More importantly Ohio State and Georgia each had 3+ 1st round picks and at least 5 drafted before Day 3 which feeds into my point. We haven't gotten better we had 2 players drafted in the first 3 rounds. In 2021 we had 2 players drafted in the first 3 rounds.
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In 2022, we had one player drafted in the 7th round. In 2025, we had the #1 overall pick and finished 6th in total players drafted. We've made progress. There is still a lot of room to go.
 
DMoney said:
In 2022, we had one player drafted in the 7th round. In 2025, we had the #1 overall pick and finished 6th in total players drafted. We've made progress. There is still a lot of room to go.
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I'm comparing year 3 Manny to year 3 Mario. I don't agree with using year 1 Mario to year 3 Mario. It's a metric, but it has to many flaws to be relevant. Hopefully, year 4 w/Mario is even better. That is something we both can agree on.


Edit: My dates are incorrect.
 
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cway313 said:
More importantly Ohio State and Georgia each had 3+ 1st round picks and at least 5 drafted before Day 3 which feeds into my point. We haven't gotten better we had 2 players drafted in the first 3 rounds. In 2021 we had 2 players drafted in the first 3 rounds.
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It all correlates with the raw talent they recruit

Miami has to keep landing elite talent like Mauigoa and Jackson Cantwell

2- first rounders, 2- second rounders and a 4th round just off this for Ohio State

IMG_6159.jpeg
 
DMoney said:
In 2022, we had one player drafted in the 7th round. In 2025, we had the #1 overall pick and finished 6th in total players drafted. We've made progress. There is still a lot of room to go.
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cway313 said:
I'm comparing year 3 Manny to year 3 Mario. I don't agree with using year 1 Mario to year 3 Mario. It's a metric, but it has to many flaws to be relevant. Hopefully, year 4 w/Mario is even better. That is something we both can agree on.
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Interested to see the NFL talent comparison to wins and due a progression test for each coach to see what NFL talent was left when they walked in and what talent was left once they left/fired. Now that Mario finished his third year at Miami, all have played similar amount of games.

Probably use avg recruit rating as the basis for prospective NFL talent (.90 as the baseline maybe)

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Quick screenshot from Wiki.
 
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A lot of these guys are too early to tell. I expect we'll be right in the same range as the 2025 draft. We still don't have enough difference makers among upperclassmen, but we all knew that. What we "should" have is more depth of talent and balance across the team. Regardless of how the draft plays out, we have more than enough talent to make the ACCCG and be a playoff team this season (just as we should have last season).
 
I'm more bullish on Bain than I have been, but I just don't see it.

Will he have the ability to be an impact Defensive End against every team this year? Will he have the speed and agility to finish sacks, or just hurry the QB out of the pocket into a play-extending scramble?

Will he get doubled-team manhandled by Notre Dame? That's the closest he's going to have to play against to NFL Offensive Line talent. I need to see him dominate in that game. If not, he has literally no role in the NFL.

Mauignoa will go high.

If Beck is 1/1 or top 10, and we have another 3rd place ACC year, that is going to raise some serious questions. (ie. What's its going to take?)

But I still see us having 5 or 6 guys drafted. And it will be a good look to see Mario's recruits getting drafted.
 
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