NFL Draft Day 1 recap: Mendoza goes No. 1, Dolphins make 2 picks, 3 Canes taken
The 2026 NFL Draft is here.
The three-day, seven-round event kicked off with Round 1 Thursday — and saw plenty of news involving the Miami Dolphins, Miami Hurricanes and South Florida as a whole, including Miami native and Columbus High alumnus Fernando Mendoza being the No. 1 overall pick.
The Miami Herald will be tracking any and all things South Florida-related with the draft over the next three days.
Miss anything from Day 1? Catch up below, with the newest information always being updated at the top.
We’ll be back on Friday for Rounds 2-3 and again on Saturday to wrap things up with Rounds 4-7.
Dolphins trade up to 27, make second first-round selection
The Dolphins moved up three spots from No. 30 to No. 27 to make their second first-round selection.
And with that pick, Miami chose San Diego State cornerback Chris Johnson.
The full trade between the Dolphins and San Francisco 49ers for the Miami move up: Miami sent picks Nos. 30 and 90 to San Francisco for Nos. 27 and 138.
Akheem Mesidor to the Chargers
And a third Miami Hurricanes player is off the board.
Edge rusher Akheem Mesidor went No. 22 to the Los Angeles Chargers.
First Florida Gators player off the board
After seeing a run of five consecutive years with a first-round selection snapped last year, the Florida Gators once again have a player taken in the opening round.
The Minnesota Vikings selected defensive tackle Caleb Banks with the No. 18 overall pick.
Bain goes to Bucs
Rueben Bain Jr. stayed home to play at the University of Miami with the goal of bringing the Hurricanes back to national relevance.
He did just that over his three years at UM, living up to the hype as a top edge rusher and being what coach Mario Cristobal called one of the team’s “agents of change” that culminated with the Hurricanes reaching the College Football Playoff National Championship in Bain’s final year.
Now, Bain has the chance to be a game-changer at the NFL level.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Bain, the former Miami Central standout who continued to make a name for himself with the Hurricanes, with the No. 15 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on Thursday.
The Dolphins’ first pick is in
The Miami Dolphins begin their 2026 NFL Draft — the first draft under new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan — by selecting Alabama offensive lineman Kadyn Proctor.
Here’s the instant story on the news from C. Isaiah Smalls.
Dolphins trade down
The Miami Dolphins traded the No. 11 overall pick to the Dallas Cowboys for picks Nos. 12, 177 and 178.
Francis Mauigoa the first Hurricanes player off the board
Francis Mauigoa came to the University of Miami with high expectations and exceeded them.
On Thursday, his success on the gridiron for the Hurricanes paid off.
The New York Giants selected Mauigoa with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. He is the first Hurricanes offensive lineman selected in the first round since Erick Flowers went No. 9 overall in 2015 and the sixth ever, also joining Vernon Carey (No. 19 in 2004 to the Dolphins), Bryant McKinnie (No. 7 in 2002 to the Vikings), Leon Searcy (No. 11 in 1992 to the Steelers), and Dennis Harrah (No. 11 in 1975 to the Rams).
Miami native Fernando Mendoza drafted No. 1 overall
It’s official: Miami’s own Fernando Mendoza is the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, taken by the Las Vegas Raiders.
Mendoza, who graduated from Columbus and played his college career at California and Indiana, is the first player from Miami to ever be taken No. 1 overall in the draft and just the second from South Florida. He joins Hollywood native and South Broward High alumnus Tucker Frederickson, who the New York Giants took out of Auburn University in 1965.
Mendoza also joins Cam Newton (2011), Jameis Winston (2015) and Joe Burrow (2020) as starting quarterbacks since 1967 to win the Heisman Trophy, win a national championship and be the No. 1 overall pick.
Mendoza was surrounded by family and friends at home in Coral Gables as his dream became reality.
A quick reminder of draft timing
With the draft about 20 minutes from commencing, a reminder that each team has up to eight minutes to make their selection when on the clock for the first round.
So if everything starts promptly at 8 p.m. (which ... yeah), that would put the Dolphins on the clock tentatively around 9:30 p.m. for the No. 11 pick and potentially as late as midnight for the No. 30 overall pick.
What Hurricanes are wearing at NFL draft
Rueben Bain Jr. and Francis Mauigoa are both in Pittsburgh for the NFL draft.
Here’s a look at what they’re wearing for their big night.
Praise for Hurricanes’ Rueben Bain Jr.
Hurricanes edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. is practically a lock to be a first-round pick on Thursday and has a better-than-average chance of being taken in the top 10.
And one of ESPN’s top talents raved about Bain during the network’s leadup to the draft despite one of the lingering story lines surrounding him: His short arms.
Bain’s arms were measured at 30 7/8 inches at the NFL combine, which clocks in at the third percentile.
But Marcus Smith, speaking on NFL Live, completely shrugged off the notion that Bain’s arm length should impact his draft stock.
“Turn the tape on,” Smith said. “That’s what we always say. Turn the tape on. It has not affected anything about how he plays football. And at times, he’s a smart enough and a cerebral enough D-lineman and D-end to understand that that could be impacted. So his pass rush move that he uses [when he’s facing] long tall guys, he understands the bend. This is where you win anyway.”
Smith goes on to say he spent time with Bain in Dallas and watched film with him.
“It’s cerebral,” Smith said. “He is not just going on the field saying, ‘I’m gonna run around and make plays.’ He’s diagnosing plays, understanding the formation tendencies, and then in this pass rush, he’s a staunch technician. That comes from Jason Taylor, but also him understanding where his limitations are and not allowing people to take advantage of it.”
Mendoza experiencing draft night from home
The three-day NFL draft is taking place in Pittsburgh, and 16 of the top prospects are set to attend the event, including two of the Miami Hurricanes’ projected first-round picks in edge rusher Rueben Bain Jr. and offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa.
But among those not going? Quarterback and projected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, who opted to watch everything unfold with his family and friends at the comforts of home in Miami.
Mendoza, who graduated from Christopher Columbus High and won both the Heisman Trophy and a national championship this season with the Indiana Hoosiers, told Rich Eisen on ESPN earlier this week the decision to stay home had to do with family. His mom, Elsa Mendoza, has multiple sclerosis, so the extra travel to go to Pittsburgh for the draft and then immediately go to (presumably) Las Vegas after (again, presumably) being taken No. 1 overall by the Raiders would have been burdensome.
“It’s a dream for a lot of guys,” Mendoza said to Eisen on Monday. “However, my mom really wanted to do it at home and so did my parents. It’s a lot easier for us, especially with the family situation. We have to hop in a plane the next morning anyway, and for that travel, it’d be a lot easier to stay home.
“I wanted to stay and make the memory with everybody who poured into my football journey,” Mendoza continued. “Mentors, coaches, family, friends. To be able to share that moment with all of them, is going to be the best memory that I can make, rather than limiting it to 10 or 12 people in Pittsburgh.”
While it’s a dream for a lot of guys, it also would have been the NFL’s dream to have its presumptive top pick on site for the draft.
Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning, who was the No. 1 overall pick in 1998, told reporters Wednesday that the NFL reached out to him and he then reached out to Mendoza to “maybe encourage him to go to the draft.”
“I know he’ll be staying home with his family, which will be fine,” Manning said. “But it is special to be there, and when I got drafted, there were only four of us there. I only got to bring like three people—my mom, my dad, and my brother.
“And I remember getting drafted, and I flew to Indianapolis for a little press conference, and then the coach flew me to Knoxville, where they had a draft party. So, that was my message to Fernando – you can do both. You can go to the draft and have a good party outside of Miami. But yeah, hard to believe it’s been a way back since 1998 and a fun day.”
Mendoza has made his rounds throughout South Florida leading up to the draft. He attended the Miami Heat’s regular-season finale on April 12 and threw out the ceremonial first pitch at a Miami Marlins game on Tuesday.
On Thursday night, he’ll be surrounded by family and friends at home as he almost assuredly is announced as the No. 1 overall pick of the NFL Draft.
For more on Mendoza’s journey, here is Andre Fernandez’s profile on Mendoza that published ahead of the College Football Playoff National Championship Game.
Some pre-draft reading
Want to get caught up on everything you need to know about the draft before it starts up? Here’s the latest from the Herald’s sports staff.
Who the national evaluators have the Dolphins selecting in their final mock drafts
Why the Dolphins’ Day 2 picks could be more important than the first-rounders
A look at the draft prospects who the Dolphins have brought in for 30 visits
Mock drafts from both Greg Cote and Omar Kelly
Where are Miami Hurricanes expected to be drafted? What mock drafts are saying
This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 3:25 PM.
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