Sports

6 Teams That Crushed the 2026 NFL Draft

By Luke Easterling Athlon Sports

The dust is still settling from the 2026 NFL Draft, but it's never too soon to hand out kudos to the teams that made the most of their picks.

True winners of any NFL Draft will be settled on the field in the coming years, but when it comes to matching their biggest needs while landing the best value at their respective pick slots, a handful of teams stood out above the rest.

Here are six teams who understood the assignment and delivered just what their fans needed with this year's rookie class:

New York Jets

For those who want to laugh at the Jets "winning the offseason" compared to what the on-field results have been recently, please remember how badly this franchise has drafted over the years. Baby steps! It's also easy (in theory) to "win the draft" when you end up with three first-round picks, but we've also seen what this team has done with FOUR of them.

The Jets kicked off their 2026 class with Texas Tech's David Bailey, the most explosive edge rusher this year's draft. He tied for the FBS lead with 14.5 sacks last season, and brings a ton of juice to New York's pass rush. Then came back-to-back pass-catching weapons in Oregon's Kenyon Sadiq (this year's top tight end prospect), and wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. from Indiana. Sadiq gives the Jets a matchup weapon at tight end (and some nasty two-TE sets with 2025 second-rounder Mason Taylor), while Cooper is a tough, reliable target who can line up everywhere and make clutch plays in key moments.

Despite having a former defensive back as their head coach, the Jets became the first defense in NFL history to get through an entire regular season without intercepting a single pass. That shouldn't be a problem in 2026 after they spent a second-round pick on Indiana cornerback D'Angelo Ponds, who was a big-play machine for the national champs. Florida State defensive lineman Darrell Jackson Jr. brings size, power and alignment versatility to the defensive front, and went about 40 spots lower than I had him graded.

By the time the Jets spent a fourth-round pick on Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik (a bit of a reach), I didn't really care what else they did. But Miami offensive lineman Anez Cooper was a solid value pick in the sixth round, and Kansas State safety VJ Payne was an absolute steal in the seventh.

The Jets landed multiple players on both sides of the ball who should have a big impact right away, and more importantly, they drafted players who know what a championship culture looks like. They matched need with value across the board for the most part, and now it's up to the coaches to maximize that new talent.

Cleveland Browns

All that stuff at the top of the Jets section? Yeah, ditto for the Browns. This organization has made some terrible offseason decisions in recent years (including arguably the worst one in the history of professional sports), but there's a lot about this draft class that could finally set them on a path to long-term success.

They moved down three spots in the top 10 and still landed their preferred offensive tackle in Spencer Fano, who can play multiple spots along the offensive line. They doubled-up at wide receiver with their next two picks, landing two pass-catchers whose skill sets complement one another perfectly in Texas A&M's KC Concepcion (undersized but explosive big-play threat) and Washington's Denzel Boston (big, athletic, above-the-rim red-zone weapon). They stole Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren, the No. 14 overall player on my board, at the 58th pick near the end of the second round.

Florida's Austin Barber could be their long-term answer at left tackle as a third-round pick, which would allow the Browns to keep Fano on the right side, where he has more experience. Cincinnati's Joe Royer was a heist in the fifth round as high-upside tight end to replace David Njoku, and Arkansas' Taylen Green has the most upside of any quarterback in this class, making him well worth a sixth-round pick.

This group has an ideal blend of hitting on multiple needs, filling different roles with ideal skill sets at the same position, and gambling on high-end potential in the later rounds while letting value fall to them with their top picks. If they can figure out the quarterback situation at some point, the Browns can build a foundation elsewhere with this group.

Dallas Cowboys

I hate praising Jerry Jones as much as the next guy, but the Cowboys put together one of my favorite classes in this draft. And honestly, had they stopped after landing Ohio State safety Caleb Downs outside of the top 10 picks, I would probably still feel that way.

The No. 1 overall player on my board throughout the entire 2026 draft process, Downs is a special player with instant All-Pro potential who is a perfect fit for the Dallas defense. While others will point to "positional value" to explain a safety not being worthy of a top-10 pick, the Cowboys will laugh all the way back to the playoffs with the difference he can make on that side of the ball.

With their other first-rounder, the Cowboys drafted another one of my favorite players in this class, UCF's Malachi Lawrence. My No. 3 edge defender in this draft (behind only Bailey and Miami's Rueben Bain Jr.), Lawrence has a ton of upside with his athleticism and explosiveness, and was drafted in the exact range where I would have taken him. They did it again with Michigan's Jaishawn Barham, a versatile edge rusher/linebacker hybrid with untapped potential as a late third-round pick.

The Cowboys' quartet of Day 3 picks was solid (Florida CB Devin Moore is a Day 2 talent who struggled with injuries; Alabama's LT Overton is a high-floor edge player who can line up at multiple sports), but class rides high on those first three picks for me. The pass-rushing upside of the Lawrence/Barham duo combined with getting the best player in the entire draft at No. 11 overall makes this a win, no matter what the other guys on their list do at the next level.

Baltimore Ravens

If you have quality (high picks) or quantity (lots of picks), it shouldn't be hard to come out of the draft happy. That's easier said than done, obviously, but the Ravens might take home the crown in the quantity department this year, thanks to impressive usage of their 11 total selections.

They started with the most Ravens pick humanly possible, grabbing this year's top offensive guard prospect in Penn State's Olaivavega Ioane. He was a top-10 talent (No. 8 overall on my board, and the Ravens stole him at No. 14 overall because some teams are still allergic to spending top-10 picks on interior linemen for some reason.

Missouri edge rusher Zion Young was a strong match of need and value halfway through the second round, and the back-to-back double-dip of USC's Ja'Kobi Lane (the most underrated receiver in this draft) and Indiana's Elijah Sarratt gives Lamar Jackson some much-needed size and contested-catch value at receiver. Duke cornerback Chandler Rivers was a fifth-round steal who could start right away in the slot, and Clemson running back Adam Randall is a converted receiver with intriguing upside who fits perfectly as an understudy to Derrick Henry.

Even if their Day 3 picks are a grab bag of hit/miss results down the road, I'm betting on all of Baltimore's early selections making a significant impact for a team that has Super Bowl aspirations if they can stay healthier in 2026.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Heading into this draft, everybody knew the Bucs had to find a high-impact pass rusher, but that was unlikely to happen at the No. 15 overall pick. That was until the 14 teams picking ahead of them decided to let the best edge rusher in this draft fall right into their lap.

Rueben Bain Jr. was the No. 4 overall player on my board, following a season in which he was arguably the most dominant defensive player in all of college football. Please direct any concerns about his arm length to the many offensive tackles who struggled to keep Bain from destroying their entire gameplan. He should be especially dangerous in Todd Bowles' scheme, where he'll get to attack from multiple alignments and set the tone for a defensive front that has struggled to maintain a formidable identity over the past few seasons.

He'll be joined by Miami teammate Keionte Scott, a fourth-round steal who had a second-round grade on my board. He's absolute terror against the run, and will give Bowles another valuable weapon for his creative blitz packages. Missouri linebacker Josiah Trotter gives the Bucs a high-upside playmaker to help alleviate the loss of future Hall of Famer Lavonte David, much like Georgia State wide receiver Ted Hurst brings size and big-play ability Tampa Bay lost with the departure of another Canton lock in Mike Evans. They added valuable depth in the trenches on both sides of the ball on Day 3 (Clemson defensive lineman DeMonte Capehart, Notre Dame offensive lineman Billy Schrauth), and got a stout blocker with athletic upside in LSU tight end Bauer Sharp.

Bain should be the steal of the entire first round, and Scott should be a Day 3 bargain who makes an immediate impact, even as a rotational player. The Bucs filled their biggest needs, got fantastic value across the board, and balanced immediate impact for a contending roster with long-term investment in traits and potential.

Carolina Panthers

Unlike the Bucs' class, there's no specific pick that sets the tone for Carolina's haul as a shocking headliner. But there's something to be said for simply nailing a combination of need and value across all seven rounds, and that's where the Panthers won this draft.

Georgia's Monroe Freeling gives them exactly what they need at left tackle so they can move Ikem Ekwonu inside to guard (where he always should have been), and he could have easily come off the board in the top 15, making him a solid value pick at No. 19 overall. Texas Tech defensive lineman Lee Hunter gave them similar value in the middle of the second round as a high-floor interior defender who dominates against the run. Tennessee wide receiver Chris Brazzell II needs a ton of work as a route-runner coming from the Vols' unique scheme, but you can't argue with his rare size/speed combo as a third-round value.

Day 3 was just one value pick after another for Carolina, loading up both levels of the secondary with Texas A&M cornerback Will Lee III and Penn State safety Zakee Wheatley, and adding versatility and experience for multiple interior offensive line spots with Kansas State's am Hecht. All three were drafted well below where I had them ranked on my board.

Even if this class never delivers any superstars, it should elevate the floor for Carolina on both sides of the ball. They're coming off a division title, and the NFC South should remain as winnable as any division in the league in 2026. This group should help them compete for that banner every year for the foreseeable future.

Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This story was originally published May 5, 2026 at 7:01 AM.

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