by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/24/2026 Photo Credits to Kevin Richardson via Baltimore Sun/Tribune News Services via Getty Images 100. Olaivavega Ioane Ravens Guard Last Year's Rank: Unranked And we start the Top 100 Players of 2026 with an immediate hot take as I have rookie Guard Vega Ioane with the #100 spot. As the clear #1 Guard in the 2026 NFL Draft and being drafted by one of the best running offenses in the league, I'm confident that Vega belongs on this list and I

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/27/2026 Photo Credits to Robert Alam/ISI Photos via Getty images 10. Christian Pulisic - United States The host countries for the 2026 World Cup are the United States, Mexico and Canada and of the 78 players on those rosters, none have the star power of AC Milan's and United States' Forward Christian Pulisic. Pulisic will be competing in his 2nd World Cup as a member of the United States team that was bounced out in the Round of 16 in 2022. Pu

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 5/13/2026 Photo by Chris Schwegler via Getty Images/ NBAE 1. Washington Wizards Darryn Peterson, Kansas, Guard So pick #1 and I'm already making waves but not only do I think Peterson is a much better fit in Washington than A.J. but has as much potential too. Peterson has been scrutinized because he "lost explosiveness in college" but I see it as a minor setback year for an amazing athlete who can get a bucket anywhere. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 4/27/2026 Photo by Sue Ogrocki/ Associated Press 1. New York Jets The Jets and the Giants had the best classes of all to me but I think the Jets just topped their cross-town rivals. With 4 picks in the Top-50, the Jets hit home runs with all of them including filling the 3 biggest needs of the team. David Bailey will be a force on the Edge for years to come. D'Angelo Ponds is a feisty leader on the outside or at slot corner. Then you get two dyn

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 4/24/2026 Photo by Kirby Lee/ Imagn Imgaes via CNN 1. Fernando Mendoza - LV Grade: A- The right pick. Mendoza isn't the perfect QB prospect but he's very good and the best of the class. He'll be under no pressure to start until he's ready with Kirk Cousins on the roster and is already surrounded by Jeanty and Bowers. 2. David Bailey - NYJ Grade: A I had Bailey as the 2nd pick all along and a much better fit for the Jets than Reese so I love the

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 4/23/2026 My Final Mock of the year will come with no trades. While I expect there to be more than a few trades going down today, today's exercise is all about rumors I've heard, team expectations and player evaluations. While I wouldn't make all of these picks myself, this is the full mock draft I expect to actually happen tonight. You can also check out: my What I Would Do Mock Draft here and my Top-150 Prospect Big Board. Happy Draft Day! -Z.

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 4/21/2026 Photo by Kirby Lee/ Imagn Images *Click For Final Top-150 Big Board *Click For Final Positional Rankings _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 1. Fernando Mendoza QB Las Vegas Raiders The Raiders need a Quarterback and Mendoza is the easy pick. Mendoza will get to sit behind Cousins for a few games before taking the reigns and becoming their Franchise guy for the next decade. 2. Arvell Reese Edge New York Jets The Jets have been linked to Bailey a

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 4/8/2026 Graphic by NFL For the first time in the 2026 Draft season I will be putting out a Mock Draft with trades. This exercise helps with 2 things, the first being it gives everyone an idea of the most likely candidates to move picks when it comes to the First Round on April 24 and also shakes up the normal routine of draft picks we see selected just about at the same selection just about every time. I will probably make a separate list just

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 3/30/2026 Photo by Steven Bisig/ Imagn Images Joe Pyfer vs Anthony Hernandez Zak Drapeau - Pyfer started his fight with Izzy slow but showed us all what he's capable of with devastating power and controlled grappling. Now it's time for him to get another Top-5 fight where a lot more will be on the line. I have him against Fluffy next as a more complete fighter than Izzy and one still in his prime. Hernandez's grappling will be a g

Photo graphic by Sporting News Selection Sunday consistently follows the same pattern for fans: the bracket is revealed, analysts begin highlighting potential upsets, and fans quickly start discussing which teams might make it all the way. However, for the players, March is about more than just the bracket; it's about the people alongside you in the locker room, teammates who motivated you during early morning workouts, coaches who supported you when the season became challen

by Zak Drapeau Sportz Nation - 3/14/2026 On Friday, March 13th Matt Hylen and myself did our first Mock Draft together of the 2026 season. Follow us on X for in podcast form if you want to listen in live as we'll do several more of these before the actual draft. This Mock Draft was an exercise we wanted to do because of Free Agency. While the period only technically started 2 days ago, "legal tampering" started Monday and we've seen the majority of the bigger moves take place

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 3/2/2026 Photo by Jeff Bottari/ Zuffa LLC Lone'er Kavanaugh vs Brandon Royval The performance Lone'er Kavanaugh just put on in enemy territory is inspiring. To beat up a former champion and tough guy like Brandon Moreno was awesome to see and should earn him a Top-8 ranking among the Flyweights. For his next fight, I can see him fighting either Brandon Royval or Amir Albazi. With both men on two-fight skids, I'd normally side with

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 2/23/2026 Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC Sean Strickland vs Title Holder Matt - We all know Sean Strickland is good, but I don't think anyone expected him to look that good. Strickland may have looked better than he ever has before, completely shutting down a monster in Anthony Hernandez. With Strickland snapping Fluffy's 8-fight winning streak, big things should be on the horizon for him. A third fight against Dricus Du Plessi

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen Sportz Nation - 1/30/2026 (All odds are via Caesar's Sportsbook on 1/29) Last week Zak went 5-1 and Matt went 4-2 in picking the winners of UFC 324 with both getting 2 methods right as well. For UFC 325 this week, the boys will predict __ fights in their ongoing series of UFC Predictions ALL YEAR Points To Date: Zak - 7 Matt - 6 Photo by Chris Unger/ Zuffa LLC C Alexander Volkanovski vs #2 Diego Lopes 2 Featherweight Championship (Volkanovski -

by Zak Drapeau and Matt Hylen 1/23/2026 - Sportz Nation Photo Graphic by UFC via ufc.com Justin Gaethje vs Paddy Pimblett Lightweight Championship (Pimblett -230) This should be an all-out war, even if it's between two fighters who aren't currently deserving of the title shot. Nonetheless, when the Highlight Reel and the Scouser come to blows, one has to assume that the veteran Gaethje should win the chess match when striking. The two have made claims that they plan to keep t

by Zak Drapeau 1/7/2026 Sportz Nation Note From Author: I will be drafting based on all ORIGINAL Picks. Meaning the Browns are back at number 2 with the trade between the Jaguars and them never occurring. I am also taking in account for future potential and not redrafting SOLELY on 2025 performance, although their 2025 season will be heavily impactful toward this exercise. This is NOT my picks for Rookie of the Year odds nor my opinion of who had the best rookie seasons, rath

C/O to talksport.com I have been covering the NFL Draft process and the Prospects involved for over 5 years now and in that time I have kept expansive spreadsheets in ranking every prospect based on their athletic ability, position skill, future potential and basement floor as a pro. With the 2025 NFL Draft set to add new NFL players and future integral pieces to teams in only 9 days, I thought it'd be a good idea to showcase some of the top incoming players by showing ju