2026 NFL Draft Headquarters: Scouting Reports, Position Rankings, Big Boards
Welcome to Draft Season
This is the central hub for all of my 2026 NFL Draft work, updated regularly to provide convenient access to read scouting reports, boards and the supporting podcasts with Jon Ledyard. At the end of the process, I’ll post boards as stand-alone pieces. If you want full breakdowns of the top players (the strengths, weaknesses, and, most importantly, schematic fits) or to go scouring for late-round gems, this is the place to be.
This season, I’ll be putting out scouting reports and writing articles for prospects. If there is anything else you want to see or read, let me know in the comments section below.
As always, thank you for supporting The Read Optional. Draft season is where the majority of subscribers join. Jon and I like to think we do things a little differently on the pod, and this season I’ll be returning to my scouting roots for full reports on hundreds of prospects. If you haven’t signed up for a premium subscription yet, there has never been a better time
Scouting Reports
Linebackers:
Tier One — Impact Starters
Arvell Reese, LB, Ohio State (Grade: 8.83)
Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State (8.47)
CJ Allen, LB, Georgia (8.14)
Tier Two — Quality Starter
Tier Three — Solid Starter/Rotational/High-Value Sub-Package
Josiah Trotter, LB, Missouri (6.84)
Jake Golday, LB, Cincinnati (6.75)
Anthony Hill, LB, Texas (6.70)
Tier Four — Backup / Development
Tier Five — Camp Level
Safeties:
Tier One — Impact Starters
Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State (Grade: 8.74)
Tier Two — Quality Starter
Tier Three — Solid Starter/Rotational/High-Value Sub-Package
Tier Four — Backup / Development
Tier Five — Camp Level
Podcasts
2026 NFL Draft Tiers & Evaluations: Edges — Part I
2026 NFL Draft Tiers & Evaluations: Linebackers — Part I
2026 NFL Draft Tiers & Evaluations: Linebackers — Part II
2026 NFL Draft Tiers & Evaluations: Safeties — Part I
2026 NFL Draft Tiers & Evaluations: Safeties — Part II
2026 NFL Draft Tiers & Evaluations: Safeties — Part III
I have an idea for a draft related podcast. You guys do all this work evaluating, I think it would be really interesting to do a post-mortem on prior drafts and see what you learn. Like your biggest hits I.e. players you liked more than consensus and how they did. Biggest disappointments and why they may have flopped. Biggest surprises, players performing better in the NFL than they did in college. It always surprises me how much deviation there is between NFL and college performance- be interesting to look at some examples and try to understand what sort of things cause that. Maybe after you’ve done your evals for this draft (just to put it in perspective).
Imagine it will be included already but a generic outline highlighting key attributes needed to succeed at each position.
And details on the scheme that the draft prospect currently plays within (square peg round hole for drafting team, Hello Cincy)