Building the NFL’s all-seventh-round team entering the 2026 season

Brock Purdy is the consensus quarterback: Purdy's 8.3 yards per attempt are easily the most among any quarterback over the last four seasons.

The Rams have two secondary stars from the final round: Returning safety Kamren Curl and new cornerback Jaylen Watson each earn a spot on the roster.

Tackle, cornerback and linebacker feature household names: Jordan Mailata, Montaric Brown and Kaden Elliss have all turned into worthwhile players despite falling until the draft's final round.

Every year, even the most enthusiastic NFL Draft fans are absolutely spent by the time the seventh round rolls around. Aside from the marquee Mr. Irrelevant pick to close out draft weekend, the round goes by in a flash without much fanfare, and rightly so.

Only 13 players from the 2025 crop of seventh-round rookies played more than 100 snaps from scrimmage in their debut seasons, and that was a relatively strong rookie showing by seventh-round standards.

In the latter stages of the draft, teams are generally searching for developmental prospects capable of competing for a roster spot during training camp. These prospects are viewed as worth having on a budget four-year contract instead of the unstructured negotiations which take place with undrafted free agents.

History has shown that value can be found toward the tail end of the draft. While these late draftees may feel as though they’re playing catch up with their earlier-drafted counterparts, several players do find their footing in the league each year.

This exercise builds a starting lineup entering the 2026 season made up entirely of seventh-round selections. It ranges from established veterans to rising young talent. These players represent some of the best examples of scouting departments uncovering value deep in the weeds, and real-life success stories giving inspiration to every future prospect drafted in the final round.

Quarterback: Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers

There is no debate here. Only two other seventh-round passers even saw the field last year. Purdy is the gold standard for modern seventh-round picks, and will always be tied to the Mr. Irrelevant moniker given to him when he was selected 262nd overall in 2022.

Purdy is the ninth-highest graded quarterback in football since entering the league in 2022. His 8.3 yards per attempt over the last four seasons stands head and shoulders above every other regular starter.

Injuries have hindered Purdy for stretches of his young career, but he posted a career high 85.4 PFF passing grade after returning to action in Week 11 of last year. That ranked fourth among qualified quarterbacks to close out the season.

Running Back: Kyle Monangai, Chicago Bears

Running back is generally a position where teams feel they can find valuable commodities late in the draft, but very few seventh-round backs remain several years into their careers outside of Isiah Pacheco.

This was a close battle between Kyle Monangai and fellow 2025 rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt. The Commanders running back graded 0.3 points higher on rushing plays while forcing more missed tackles and gaining marginally more yards per carry. However, Monangai edges this thanks to his production in the passing game.

At the same time, Monangai still has plenty of areas to clean up. He had four concentration drops as a rookie and endured a disappointing end to his campaign with just 77 yards on 27 carries over his last three outings.

Wide Receivers

This is quite a nice trio of body types at wide receiver. Vele stands at 6-foot-4 and hauled in nine of his 11 contested targets last season. Jennings was equally a major factor in this area with 19 contested catches — tied for the fifth-most by any receiver in the league last year. With almost 1,700 yards over the last two seasons, the former 49er is clearly our WR1.

At 165 pounds, Tez Johnson is a perfect candidate for the slot role. His rookie season was somewhat up and down, but his four-game stretch from Weeks 5-10 — which included 247 yards and four of his five career touchdowns — had some analysts calling him the biggest steal of the draft.

Most contested catches, 2024-25

Player	Team	Number
Jauan Jennings	Vikings	39
Puka Nacua	Rams	37
Courtland Sutton	Broncos	37
A.J. Brown	Patriots	36
Drake London	Falcons	35

Tight End: Jack Endries, Cincinnati Bengals (rookie)

This is where things get a little bleak. No seventh-round tight end played 100 snaps last season. In fact, only one such tight end has experienced even 400 snaps over the last five seasons. That’s Geoff Swaim, who has caught one pass since 2023.

To save myself from choosing Saints fourth-string tight end Moliki Matavao — who led the way with 83 snaps and a 48.7 overall PFF grade last year — I figured I would take a chance with rookie Jack Endries from Texas.

Endries was mildly disappointing after transferring to Texas for his final season. While his 2025 campaign hindered his draft stock, I’m not ready to forget his 85.4 PFF receiving grade from 2024 when catching passes from Fernando Mendoza at Cal. With a 4.62-second 40-yard dash and a 36-inch vertical, Endries is at least a good athlete and reliability isn’t an issue — he dropped just one of his last 90 catchable targets in college.

Offensive Tackles: Jordan Mailata, Philadelphia Eagles & Rasheed Walker, Carolina Panthers

Leaving our tight end dilemma in the rearview mirror, the seventh-round team is stronger at offensive tackle than plenty of actual NFL rosters. Mailata is the second-highest graded offensive lineman in football over the last three seasons, behind Penei Sewell.

Rasheed Walker has posted three straight season grades in the 60.0s with the Packers, logging the 12th-most snaps of any tackle in that timeframe. He’s still only 26 years old and is consistently better in pass protection than on run plays.

I’m also not entirely opposed to bringing in veterans Kelvin Beachum or Trent Brown and allowing Mailata to split out at tight end for a few reps per game, either.

Interior Offensive Linemen

Three players all donning purple make up our interior. Vorhees may have lost his starting place in Baltimore to rookie Olaivavega Ioane, but he at least brings a full year of starting experience — which many others cannot.

The 26-year-old Jurgens is also not expected to start entering Year 3, but he logged 300 snaps at center last season and looked mildly respectable.

His teammate Will Fries is the highlight of our interior. He was excellent at the beginning of 2024 for the Colts with an 86.9 overall PFF grade before his season ended prematurely due to a broken leg. A solid return to full-time action with the Vikings last season can easily be built off entering his sixth pro campaign.

Interior Defensive Linemen

Veteran Zach Sieler of the Dolphins narrowly missed the cut here. I included three players because 338-pound Khyiris Tonga does not frequently play more than 30 snaps in a game, and also because I could barely decide between Ojomo and Briggs.

After being rewarded an expanded snap count in his third season, Ojomo maintained his overall PFF grade in the 70.0s, and his 54 pressures were the second-most on the Eagles defense. While he didn’t end the season in convincing fashion, Ojomo was the fifth-highest-graded defensive tackle in the league until Week 12.

Briggs is less heralded with just 721 career snaps across time with the Browns in 2024 and Jets in 2025, two teams that both went 3-14. But the 24-year-old has shown major promise. His 85.6 PFF pass-rushing grade from last season led the Jets by more than 14 grading points. Briggs’ 12.7% pressure rate was also among the top in the league for interior rushers, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Quinnen Williams and Chris Jones.

Edge Defenders: Jonathon Cooper, Denver Broncos & Desjuan Johnson, Los Angeles Rams

Edge rusher is considered a premium position, where it’s difficult to find talent beyond the early rounds. That’s quite evident here.

Cooper is the clear first-choice option, yet he hasn’t graded above 70.0 overall in any of his five career seasons. Cooper is a proven producer, though. Netting 176 total pressures and 27 sacks over his past three seasons in Denver is remarkable return on investment for a seventh-round pick.

It’s slim pickings elsewhere. I opted for Rams rotational rusher Desjuan Johnson. Drafted in 2023, Johnson has only played 414 defensive snaps over his three NFL seasons, but 20 pressures (and a 21.7% pressure rate) from last season were both promising signs for his pass-rushing upside.

Linebackers: Kaden Elliss, New Orleans Saints & Zaire Franklin, Green Bay Packers

The seventh-round squad has two seasoned linebackers with lots of versatility. Elliss is one of the very best blitzing linebackers in the league with plenty of edge-rushing experience to assist our shallow group of pass-rushers. His 73 pressures over the last two seasons lead all linebackers.

Zaire Franklin is coming off his worst season by quite some margin with a 38.4 overall PFF grade). But, he’s traditionally been a solid asset in run defense and brings tons of experience, which younger seventh-round picks simply cannot match.

The duo of Franklin and Elliss has combined for 9,113 career snaps. They ranked second and seventh, respectively, in tackles two years ago.

Cornerbacks

This triad of cornerbacks stands head and shoulders above all other options, yet they bring virtually no slot corner experience whatsoever. Montaric Brown has been a total success story in Jacksonville, transforming from a 37.3 PFF grade as a rookie to a 72.0 grade in Year 4 and earning a 3-year, $32 million extension in the process.

Carrington Valentine had some major tackling concerns as a prospect, which remain ever-present via his 18% career missed tackle rate. But, he’s a feisty competitor in coverage. Quarterbacks completed just 54% of passes when targeting either Brown or Valentine last season.

Jaylen Watson is now among the 20 highest-paid cornerbacks in football after receiving a 3-year, $51 million deal from the Rams this offseason. He featured on PFF’s list of players who have improved their grade in each of the last three seasons. Watson’s 83.5 PFF run-defense grade last season ranked fifth among his peers.

Safeties: Kamren Curl, Los Angeles Rams & Geno Stone, Buffalo Bills

The seventh-round secondary is certainly a level above the front seven. Kamren Curl can easily claim to be the best current defensive player in the league drafted in the seventh round. The 27-year-old was PFF’s third-highest-graded safety against the run last season. Aligned all over the Rams’ defense, Curl accumulated 36 defensive stops and three interceptions.

Elsewhere, we must look beyond 35-year-old seventh-round legend Jordan Poyer, but Bills free-agent acquisition Geno Stone hopes to carry on his legacy. Stone has played 1,000-plus snaps in each of the last three years, but he wasn’t quite as effective over the past two in Cincinnati compared to his prior time in Baltimore.

Tallying 13 interceptions in three seasons is an impressive haul, but Stone’s 18.7% career missed tackle rate only seems to be getting worse as time goes on. Panthers veteran Nick Scott was another player considered here.

Kicker: Harrison Butker, Kansas City Chiefs

Punter: Ethan Evans, Los Angeles Rams

The late rounds of the draft always lend themselves to some top specialists. Surprisingly, only a handful of kickers drafted in the final section played meaningful time last year — obviously far surpassed by the litany of undrafted free agents kicking field goals.

The last two years were two of the three worst seasons of Butker’s nine-year career based on field goal percentage. Yet, he has previously shown the composure to bounce back from a shaky 2022 season with a career year in 2023. There’s no reason he can’t do the same going forward into his 30s.

As for the other specialist slot, Ethan Evans has ranked around the middle of the league’s punters for three straight years in all sorts of metrics like yards per attempt, punts inside the 20-yard line and average hangtime.