NFL Draft Day 1 live updates: Who will Dolphins take? Mendoza’s journey. Canes should be busy
The 2026 NFL Draft is here.
The three-day, seven-round event kicks off with Round 1 at 8 p.m. Thursday.
Miami native and national champion quarterback Fernando Mendoza is all but a lock to be the No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders. The Miami Dolphins have two selections in the first round (No. 11 and No. 30) as their new regime led by general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan makes its first selections. And perhaps as many as three Miami Hurricanes could hear their names called before the opening round comes to a close.
The Miami Herald will be tracking any and all things South Florida-related with the draft over the next three days.
Follow along for live updates on Day 1 below, with the newest information always being updated at the top.
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.
.JPG)
