Like something straight out of a Hollywood script, the No. 10 seed Miami Hurricanes will be playing for the national title in their home stadium Monday against Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza (a Miami native) and the No. 1 ranked Indiana Hoosiers. As if those storylines weren’t enough, the two programs are led by Mario Cristobal and Curt Cignetti — two Nick Saban disciples at powerhouse Alabama.
For NFL scouts, the bigger story is the budding talent on both rosters. There will be no shortage of angles explored in the buildup to the title game, but we’ve got you covered if your interest lies in the pro futures of these prospects.
We’ve ranked the 10 best among those expected to be eligible for the 2026 NFL Draft.
Few defensive backs in this class can match Scott’s combination of size, speed, physicality, instincts and versatility. He’s played in 46 games over the past four seasons at Miami (2025) and Auburn (2022-24), after beginning his college career at Snow College in Utah, where he was a two-time junior college All-American. The six-foot, 194-pounder has primarily played nickel, but he’s also lined up at safety, linebacker, outside cornerback and even punt returner over the past four seasons, taking one back 74 yards for a touchdown against Arkansas during his time in the SEC.
Despite missing the final three games of the 2025 season with a turf toe injury, Scott posted career highs in tackles (61), tackles for loss (13), sacks (five), interceptions (two) and forced fumbles (2). Scott returned both of his interceptions for touchdowns. His tape is littered with missed tackles — but many of those are explosive hits that force ballcarriers into the waiting arms of teammates. Scott will turn 25 years old before his first NFL regular-season game and that fact will likely push him into Day 3 of the draft, but his maturity and ability to play multiple roles will be valued by NFL coaches.
Current projection: Fourth/fifth round
NFL comparison: Coby Bryant, Seattle Seahawks
DB Keionte Scott runs the ball after an interception during the College Football Playoff Quarterfinal at the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic between the Miami Hurricanes and the Ohio State Buckeyes on December 31, 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Indiana and Miami each boast multiple draft-worthy defensive backs and, frankly, all of them offer better size than the diminutive Ponds, a Miami native himself who is listed at 5-foot-9, 173 pounds. Ponds, however, personifies the gritty Hoosiers, playing far bigger and more tenacious than his frame suggests. The third-year junior is instinctive and cat-quick, something that Oregon’s Dante Moore learned the hard way on the first play from scrimmage in last week’s Peach Bowl rout of the Ducks.
Ponds’ stature suggests a possible move inside to nickel cornerback at the next level. He possesses the awareness, agility and toughness to handle this transition, but he deserves a chance to remain outside, where he’s allowed just 52% of the passes thrown in his direction to be completed over the past two seasons. Ponds has actually scored more touchdowns during that time than he’s given up, taking back an interception in each of the past two seasons and surrendering just one TD grab (to Maryland in September 2024) in his past 27 games.
Current projection: Middle round
NFL comparison: D.J. Reed, Detroit Lions
In size, style and background, Moten couldn’t be much different than the aforementioned Ponds, checking in at a robust 6-foot-3, 300 pounds, according to Miami’s official roster. The redshirt junior looks at least 20 pounds heavier on tape, however, and while surprisingly quick for a man of his size, Moten’s game is power. He surges off the snap with impressive leg drive and bench presses would-be blockers aside on his way to the ball-carrier. He isn’t the type to chase down runners from behind, but he complements his upper body strength with good core flexibility to “get skinny” to penetrate gaps, registering an impressive eight tackles for loss in 13 games this season, including 4.5 sacks. Critics will argue that Moten’s production might be inflated by all the attention that Miami’s edge rushers receive, but he’s a stellar run-plugger, if nothing else, and worthy of top-100 consideration. Moten’s availability for the title game is in question, as he appeared to aggravate a nagging right ankle injury in the Hurricanes’ Fiesta Bowl victory over Ole Miss.
Current projection: Middle round
NFL comparison: Dalvin Tomlinson, Arizona Cardinals
Indiana wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. (3) catches a touchdown pass as Oregon defensive back Aaron Flowers (21) defends during the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl on January 9th, 2026, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
There is no denying that the key to the Hoosiers’ passing attack is their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, but Cooper is the sort of dynamic athlete that makes life easier for any signal-caller. Boasting a compact build (6-0, 204 pounds), the redshirt junior is a natural playmaker with more touchdowns scored (21) than games started (17). Though he’s averaged 15.7 yards gained over his 110 career receptions, Cooper is perhaps most effective on underneath routes, such as quick-screens and drags, where his vision, shiftiness and relatively low center of gravity help create yards after the catch. Because of his suddenness, Cooper is an effective combo-route runner, and he has a knack for making big plays in big moments, as evidenced by his 75-yard rushing touchdown against Ohio State in 2024 as well as his game-winning, toe-tapping score in the back of the end zone against Penn State from earlier this season.
Current projection: Middle round
NFL comparison: Christian Kirk, Houston Texans
Boasting prototypical size, plenty of arm strength and an 87:31 touchdown-to-interception ratio over a six-year college career spent at blue-blood programs Georgia (2020-24) and Miami, Beck is one of the most intriguing quarterbacks of this draft class. He is a gifted passer who is at his best feathering the ball over defenders and leading his receivers on the intermediate and deep passes so valued in today’s NFL. And with Monday’s game being the 55th contest of his college career — all against elite competition — Beck is certainly battle-tested.
His critics are quick to point out that when Beck runs cold, he can be absolutely frigid — as was the case in a four-interception meltdown this year at Louisville — but evaluating in the NFL is often about recognizing what a player can be at their best, rather than bemoaning their worst moments, especially given the way that Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones and Geno Smith have resurrected their careers in new locations in recent years. Should Beck play well against Indiana, it could trigger the same sort of late jump up draft boards as the one Tyler Shough enjoyed at the Senior Bowl and Combine a year ago.
Current projection: Day 2
NFL comparison: Geno Smith, Las Vegas Raiders
Miami’s Carson Beck (11) passes versus Ole Miss in the Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium. Glendale, AZ. (Photo by Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (Set Number: X164814 TK1)
One of the biggest mistakes skeptics of Curt Cignetti and his Indiana program have made all year long is the belief that this team lacks difference-makers along the line of scrimmage. That couldn’t be further from the truth, and in Smith, an athletic 6-foot-5, 313-pounder, the Hoosiers boast one of the nation’s elite pass protectors and a potential top-50 selection.
Though he’s just 21 years old, Smith actually joined the Hoosiers a year before Cignetti arrived from James Madison, redshirting his first year on campus before starting the past 36 consecutive games at left tackle. He did not surrender a single sack in 2025, according to PFF, and only four total over the previous two seasons on the blind side. Smith is more powerful and determined than the finesse pass blocker some have typecast him as. He is quick off the snap and plays with proper knee bend and a strong initial punch to jar opponents, though he appears to have just average arm length. Effective out of the two and three-point stance, Smith has the look of a longtime NFL starter with tackle-guard flexibility.
Current projection: Top 50
NFL comparison: Troy Fautanu, Pittsburgh Steelers
The aforementioned Smith and the Hoosiers will have their toughest matchup of the year with the Hurricanes’ gauntlet of future NFL defensive linemen, including Mesidor, a 6-foot-3, 280-pounder who led the ACC with 10.5 sacks in 2025. The 24-year-old Mesidor proved to be literally a man amongst boys at the collegiate level this year, with the sixth-year collegian also generating career highs in tackles (60), tackles for loss (15.5) and forced fumbles (four), along with his QB takedowns.
Mesidor’s stumpy frame and advanced age could push him down the board a bit, but he’s one of the best pass-rushers of this class, winning with burst, power and refined hand play, as well as a relentless motor. Equally effective out of the two- and three-point stance, he is the type of disruptive presence that is going to one day be considered a steal if he slips out of the first round.
Current projection: Top 50
NFL comparison: Frank Clark (retired)
Defensive end Rueben Bain Jr. (#4) runs up field during the CFP Quarterfinal Cotton Bowl Classic football game between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Miami Hurricanes on December 31, 2025 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, TX. (Photo by Matthew Visinsky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Though his battery-mate Mesidor topped him in sacks, tackles for loss and forced fumbles in 2025, Bain ranks as the top defensive lineman in this contest (and perhaps the country) for a very simple reason: He’s an absolute battering ram. It is fitting that his last name rhymes with pain, as the 21-year-old plays with a degree of violence that typically results in success at the next level. He times the snap well and has a short, powerfully built frame that allows him to dip his shoulder and slip by would-be blockers efficiently or simply bulldoze through contact with equal effectiveness. His production in 2025 (46 tackles, including 13 for loss and 8.5 sacks in 15 games), his true junior season, do not accurately reflect how disruptive Bain was for much of the season. Simply put, he was the most dominant defensive lineman in college football this season.
And yet Bain is a polarizing prospect in the scouting community as he looks even shorter (in height and arm length) on tape than the 6-foot-3, 270 pounds that Miami lists him at. While he has excelled as a hand-in-the-dirt and stand-up edge rusher for the Hurricanes, some believe he will be relegated inside to defensive tackle in the NFL. In terms of playing style, Bain reminds me of longtime Dallas Cowboys (and current Seattle) edge rusher, DeMarcus Lawrence, though the latter’s 33 3/4-inch arms might prove significantly longer than the precocious Hurricane, making another longtime NFC East standout perhaps the cleaner comp.
Current projection: First round
NFL comparison: Brandon Graham, Philadelphia Eagles
With the proliferation of spread offenses throughout high school, college and even the NFL, many of today’s offensive tackles have evolved to be pass protectors first and foremost, sacrificing bulk and physicality for quickness and agility. Mauigoa (and to a lesser extent the aforementioned Carter Smith) is a throwback — one who is quite effective at protecting the quarterback, but does so with brute strength and positioning rather than elite athleticism.
In some ways, Mauigoa is similar to the great Penei Sewell, a perennial All-Pro right tackle for the Detroit Lions, who, of course, played his college ball under Mario Cristobal at Oregon. Mauigoa signed with Miami out of the prestigious IMG Academy as a consensus five-star recruit and has more than lived up to his hype, starting all 41 college games of his career. Just 20 years old, Mauigoa might not be quite at Sewell’s level, but the 6-foot-6, 335-pounder is a virtual wall of granite who projects as an immediate difference-maker in the NFL and is the best blocker in this year’s draft class.
Current projection: First round
NFL comparison: Darnell Wright, Chicago Bears
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) drops back to pass against the Oregon Ducks in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
While Mendoza entered the season as a potential first-round pick, he’s climbed to the top of draft boards as the year progressed, showing off not only the physical traits teams expect out of a future franchise quarterback but intangibles such as leadership, poise and intelligence. The advances he’s made this season have been truly remarkable, illustrated in part by comparing his 2025 completion rate (73%) and TD-INT ratio (41:6) to his pre-2025 figures (66.5%, 30:16). That production — and, of course, Indiana’s rise to No. 1 overall — earned him the Heisman Trophy. An underlying factor in Mendoza currently tracking as the No. 1 overall pick this spring, however, is his deadly efficiency in the red zone, where he’s thrown 37 touchdowns without an interception over the past two seasons (while also rushing for eight scores).
The lanky, 6-foot-5, 225-pound junior has often been asked to make relatively simple throws, but there are plenty of legitimate NFL-type passes on tape. He reads defenses well, rarely putting the ball at risk against tight coverage, and throws a very catchable ball that allows his receivers opportunities to run after the catch. With Oregon’s Dante Moore opting to return to college, Mendoza is the obvious top candidate to be the first pick of the 2026 NFL draft.
Current projection: No. 1 overall pick
NFL comparison: Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
Rob Rang is an NFL Draft analyst for FOX Sports. He has been covering the NFL Draft for more than 25 years. He also works as a scout with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. Follow him on X @RobRang.
Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily.
