2026 NFL Draft: Highlighting positions of strength, weakness using PFF grades

Three offensive tackle prospects already project as first-rounders: Alabama's Kadyn Proctor, Miami's Francis Mauigoa and Utah's Spencer Fano don't need to do much more in 2025 to strengthen their draft stocks.

The 2026 wide receiver class' PFF grades are lower than we're used to: Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson leads the way after earning an 83.3 mark last season, but Indiana's Elijah Sarratt is the only other receiver on PFF’s 10 wide receivers to know list who topped 80.0.

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PFF grades can be a great indicator of the overall strengths and weaknesses of a draft class. Though it isn't an exact science, a position group with higher grades tends to be more potential-heavy than those that perform at lower levels.

Let’s look at some early positional strengths and weaknesses for the 2026 NFL Draft, using PFF grades as a starting point.

QUARTERBACK

The 2026 NFL Draft is littered with high-potential quarterbacks, but many are “in theory” players right now. Of the 10 quarterbacks on PFF’s “names to know” list, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik leads the way with an 87.7 PFF passing grade from 2024. Garrett Nussmeier, Sam Leavitt and Carson Beck also recorded PFF passing grades above 80.0, but each comes with drawbacks, too.

Cade Klubnik's Career PFF Grades

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Nussmeier racked up turnover-worthy plays in 2024, Beck was bad under pressure and Leavitt wasn’t asked to win with his arm very much. Arch Manning also earned an 80.0-plus PFF passing grade, albeit on a very small sample size.

The quarterback who could take the biggest lead is South Carolina‘s LaNorris Sellers, but his 70.6 PFF passing grade in 2024 ranked tied for 82nd among FBS quarterbacks. It’s an intriguing group, but it's hard to say whether it’s a strength or weakness right now. Too much needs to play out.

Strength or Weakness: Undecided

RUNNING BACK

The early projected names in the 2026 running back class enter the 2025 season with strong PFF grades. Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love earned a 91.8 PFF rushing grade last season — tied for the fifth-best mark in the FBS — and is the early RB1 in the 2026 NFL Draft. Makhi Hughes also earned an elite rushing grade at Tulane last season (90.9); we’ll see if he can replicate that production at Oregon.

Kaytron Allen, Nicholas Singleton, Darius Taylor, Jonah Coleman and Le'Veon Moss from PFF’s 10 running backs to know article all recorded 80.0-plus PFF rushing grades in 2024. But Love, Coleman and West Virginia’s Jahiem White were the only ones on that list to average more than 0.25 forced missed tackles per attempt. This group's efficiency metrics were generally lower than ideal, so it feels like a down year for the position.

Strength or Weakness: Weakness

WIDE RECEIVER

If looking solely at 2024 PFF receiving grades, the 2026 wide receiver class isn’t as strong as we’re used to. Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson leads the way after earning an 83.3 mark last season, with Indiana's Elijah Sarratt being the only other receiver on PFF’s 10 wide receivers to know list who topped 80.0.

Ohio State's Carnell Tate could engineer the biggest jump in PFF grade with Emeka Egbuka now off to the NFL. We know the league covets big-time playmakers in the passing game, and the position is wide open for unheralded players to soar up the rankings, even to WR1, in what appears to be a down year for the position.

Strength or Weakness: Weakness

TIGHT END

[Read More: 10 tight ends to know for the 2026 NFL Draft]

Though the 2026 tight end class doesn’t feature household names like last year, it's an intriguing group with high PFF grades. Among PFF's top 10 tight ends to know for the 2026 NFL Draft, Eli Stowers, Jack Endries, Tanner Koziol and Max Klare all earned 80.0-plus PFF receiving grades.

Highest-Graded FBS Tight Ends in 2024

All but Stowers are with new programs this season, and two consecutive years of success at two different spots would boost the outlook of this group. Georgia's Oscar Delp and Lawson Luckie, as well as Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq, could also be risers. There may not be two top-20 tight ends like in the 2025 NFL Draft, but it appears to be a deep class.

Strength or Weakness: Strength

OFFENSIVE TACKLE

Three offensive tackles already project to be first-rounders in 2026: Kadyn Proctor, Francis Mauigoa and Spencer Fano. Fano leads the way with an elite 93.0 PFF overall grade last season, powered by a 93.6 PFF run-blocking grade. He recorded a 21%-plus impact block rate while keeping his negatively graded run-block rate below 10%.

Proctor recorded a 72.4 PFF overall grade in his second season as Alabama's left tackle, while Mauigoa earned a 71.7 mark as Miami's right tackle. Both were five-star recruits in the 2023 class and are scheduled to be first-rounders due to their sky-high potential.

Strength or Weakness: Strength

OFFENSIVE GUARD

The 2026 guard class leaves a lot to be desired right now.

Texas A&M’s Ar'maj Reed-Adams is the only player from PFF's early top 10 list who earned an 80.0-plus PFF overall grade last season (82.3). Alabama's Jaeden Roberts, one of the strongest players in the country, posted just a 69.1 mark after allowing a career-high 11 pressures and getting tagged with four penalties. Missouri‘s Cayden Green was solid in both key facets, earning 73.0-plus PFF run- and pass-blocking grades, but isn’t a standout player yet.

Overall, this might be one of the weaker position groups in the class unless a new name emerges.

Strength or Weakness: Weakness

CENTER

Florida‘s Jake Slaughter leads the way by PFF overall grade among centers heading into the 2025 season. He is the only returning Power Four center to have recorded 80.0-plus PFF run- and pass-blocking grades in 2024.

Iowa‘s Logan Jones was also solid, earning an 83.6 PFF overall grade in 2024, but he may have missed out by not declaring for last year's draft. Oregon's Iapani Laloulu could rise up boards, as he earned an 80.6 PFF pass-blocking grade and allowed only four quarterback hits and no sacks on more than 500 pass-blocking snaps last season.

Then there are some familiar faces. Each of Missouri's Connor Tollison, Alabama's Parker Brailsford and Kansas' Bryce Foster was draft-eligible but opted to return for the 2025 season. I wouldn’t say center is a strength of the 2026 class, but it could be decent.

Strength or Weakness: Undecided

EDGE DEFENDER

It's early, but the edge defender group is impressive from top to bottom. LT Overton, Tyreak Sapp, Derrick Moore and Dani Dennis-Sutton are returning players whose 2024 tape was good enough for each to be picked in the first four rounds at worst, many much higher.

Clemson's T.J. Parker is the new name at the top of the list. He earned an 87.7 PFF overall grade in 2024, a top-20 figure among more than 500 qualifying FBS edge defenders. He also posted 80.0-plus PFF pass-rush and run-defense grades. Auburn‘s Keldric Faulk is a high-floor run defender whose 23 run stops ranked tied for 14th among FBS edge defenders in 2024. Indiana‘s Mikail Kamara earned an 88.5 PFF pass-rush grade in a career year.

This looks to be one of the 2026 NFL Draft's strongest position groups.

Strength or Weakness: Strength

Interior Defender

Clemson's Peter Woods is a first-time draft-eligible player who earned an 83.8 PFF overall grade in 2024 and can play almost every position on the defensive line. Alabama's Tim Keenan III garnered a 90.1 PFF run-defense grade last season, even on the Crimson Tide's crowded defensive line.

Cincinnati‘s Dontay Corleone is back for another season, and though he didn’t post an elite PFF run-defense grade in 2024 like he had in years past, he is still capable of wreaking that type of havoc. Similar to the edge defenders, the interior defender class seems to make up one of the strongest position groups in the early 2026 NFL Draft scouting process.

Strength or Weakness: Strength

LINEBACKER

Several newly draft-eligible prospects headline the 2026 linebacker class. Texas A&M's Taurean York (one of my favorite prospects so far), Kansas State‘s Austin Romaine and Texas' Anthony Hill Jr. could very well be the first linebackers drafted.

Romaine boasted the highest PFF overall grade of the group last season (90.1), followed by Notre Dame's Drayk Bowen (80.7). Then there are the undersized speedsters from Pittsburgh in Kyle Louis and Rasheem Biles, who earned 83.4 and 82.9 PFF overall grades, respectively. Most of the linebacker class graded very well in run defense but fared worse in coverage. The group's performance in the latter will tell us whether it's a position of strength or weakness in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Strength or Weakness: Undecided

CORNERBACK

This year’s cornerback class looks good on paper. Tennessee‘s Jermod McCoy recorded an elite PFF coverage grade last season as a true sophomore. He tore his ACL in January but should be back at some point in 2025. Duke's Chandler Rivers earned a strong 89.8 PFF coverage grade, ranking eighth among nearly 500 qualifying FBS cornerbacks.

Texas' Malik Muhammad recorded a 71.8 PFF coverage grade but will now have the chance to step into a full-time starting role. Clemson's Avieon Terrell, NFL cornerback A.J. Terrell’s younger brother, earned a 77.7 PFF coverage grade last season to rank eighth among ACC cornerbacks. Finally, Penn State's A.J. Harris sported an 81.3 PFF coverage grade in his first year with the Nittany Lions after transferring from Georgia.

I like how the 2026 cornerback class is shaping up. It could be one of the better position groups.

Strength or Weakness: Strength

SAFETY

[Read More: 10 safeties to know for the 2026 NFL Draft]

The safety class boasts perhaps the No. 1 overall player in the class: Ohio State‘s Caleb Downs, who has recorded 85.0-plus PFF overall grades at two schools in each of the past two seasons.

Oregon's Dillon Thieneman earned a near-elite 89.5 PFF coverage grade as a true freshman at Purdue but took a step back last year. Michigan‘s Rod Moore is a top-tier athlete for the position when healthy. Texas' Michael Taaffe, a former walk-on, earned an 84.4 PFF overall grade as a starter last season, placing fifth among SEC safeties. Duke‘s Terry Moore recorded a 90.1 PFF overall grade to rank second among all FBS safeties.

The safety position is a sneakily strong group in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Strength or Weakness: Strength