The 2025 Heisman Trophy winner and national championship winning quarterback seems to be a slam dunk favorite as the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. He\u2019s the kind of player who can change a program\u2019s fortunes \u2014 just ask Indiana.<\/p>\n
In his lone year at Indiana, Mendoza threw for 3,535 yards and 41 touchdowns, against just six interceptions. He also ran for 276 yards and seven scores. The perfect candidate to lead off Daniel Jeremiah\u2019s mock draft.<\/p>\n
![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/David-Bailey-Texas-Tech-1024x537.jpg\")
\u00a9 Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
The Jets need help in several places, but shoring up the defensive front after the loss of Quinnen Williams<\/a> is a priority. Few better places to turn than David Bailey from a stout Texas Tech defense, even if it\u2019s at a different position.<\/p>\n Bailey was a first-team AP All-American this season. He also earned a slew of other awards after finishing with 47 tackles, 18.0 tackles for a loss, 13.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and three passes defended.<\/p>\n The offensive line is a hard-hit position in the top 10 picks in Daniel Jeremiah\u2019s mock draft, and the Arizona Cardinals are first to tap into the deep pool. Here, Francis Mauigoa comes off the board.<\/p>\n Mauigoa was the star of a very good Miami offensive line, one that helped the Hurricanes reach the national title game. At 6 foot 6, 335 pounds, Mauigoa is the ideal mold for an offensive tackle.<\/p>\n Tennessee already boasts one excellent defensive front player in Jeffery Simmons<\/a>. How about pairing one of college\u2019s top pass-rushers alongside him?<\/p>\n Bain racked up 15.5 tackles for a loss and 9.5 sacks en route to the national title game in 2025. During his three-year career at Miami he logged 33.5 tackles for a loss and 20.5 sacks. That\u2019s getting it done at a high level.<\/p>\n The Giants will be looking to grow the arsenal of weapons for quarterback Jaxson Dart<\/a> this offseason. Ohio State has been the place to go for wide receiver talent over the last decade, and Carnell Tate is next in line in this mock draft.<\/p>\n Tate finished his 2025 campaign with 51 catches for 875 yards. He also found the end zone nine times, showing he can be a big-play threat.<\/p>\n Cleveland needs help in plenty of places, but shoring up the offensive line is one of the top priorities for the team this offseason. Fano fits the bill to the letter there.<\/p>\n The Utah offensive lineman was an Outland Trophy finalist and a Lombardi Award semifinalist. He played in 37 career games with 35 starts, with a split between right and left tackle.<\/p>\n The third defensive player comes off the board to Washington, and Reese was the best that Ohio State \u2014 and possibly college football \u2014 had to offer at his position. He was absolutely everywhere in 2025.<\/p>\n This season, Reese logged 69 tackles, 10.0 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks. He also had two passes defended, showing some ability to be disruptive in the passing lanes.<\/p>\n 8. New Orleans Saints \u2013 WR Makai Lemon<\/a>, USC<\/a><\/p>\n New Orleans appears to have found its quarterback of the future in Tyler Shough<\/a>, one of the finalists for Offensive Rookie of the Year. Now he needs weapons.<\/p>\n Enter Lemon, who was a superstar while at USC playing in Lincoln Riley<\/a>\u2018s offense. Lemon is fresh off a 79-catch, 1,156-yard season in which he scored 11 times. He\u2019s big-play potential personified.<\/p>\n The first running back off the board goes to a team that has been searching for answers at the position for the last year or two. Kansas City could certainly afford to use a draft pick to grab the top available back in this mock draft.<\/p>\n Love is coming off a season in which he tallied 199 carries for 1,372 yards. He was great in the big games and against cupcakes, scoring 18 times \u2014 in every game but the season opener against Miami.<\/p>\n The trend turns back to defense to close out the top 10 in Daniel Jeremiah\u2019s mock draft. Cincinnati snatches arguably the best defensive back in the class with Caleb Downs out of Ohio State.<\/p>\n Downs emerged on the scene as a star freshman at Alabama before transferring to Ohio State. With the Buckeyes, he won a national title. This season, Downs tallied 68 tackles, 5.0 tackles for a loss, a sack, two interceptions and two passes defended.<\/p>\n Rest of Daniel Jeremiah\u2019s Mock Draft 2.0<\/p>\n Miami Dolphins \u2013 CB Mansoor Delane<\/a>, LSU<\/a><\/p>\n Dallas Cowboys \u2013 CB Jermod McCoy<\/a>, Tennessee<\/a><\/p>\n Los Angeles Rams \u2013 S Emmanuel McNeil-Warren<\/a>, Toledo<\/a><\/p>\n Baltimore Ravens \u2013 WR Jordyn Tyson<\/a>, Arizona State<\/a><\/p>\n Tampa Bay Buccaneers \u2013 LB Sonny Styles<\/a>, Ohio State<\/a><\/p>\n New York Jets \u2013 IOL Olaivavega Ioane<\/a>, Penn State<\/a><\/p>\n Detroit Lions \u2013 EDGE TJ Parker<\/a>, Clemson<\/a><\/p>\n Minnesota Vikings \u2013 S Dillon Thieneman<\/a>, Oregon<\/a><\/p>\n Carolina Panthers \u2013 EDGE Keldric Faulk<\/a>, Auburn<\/a><\/p>\n Dallas Cowboys \u2013 EDGE Akheem Mesidor<\/a>, Miami<\/a><\/p>\n Pittsburgh Steelers \u2013 WR Denzel Boston<\/a>, Washington<\/a><\/p>\n Los Angeles Chargers \u2013 TE Kenyon Sadiq<\/a>, Oregon<\/a><\/p>\n Philadelphia Eagles \u2013 OT Blake Miller<\/a>, Clemson<\/a><\/p>\n Cleveland Browns \u2013 OT Monroe Freeling<\/a>, Georgia<\/a><\/p>\n Chicago Bears \u2013 DT Peter Woods<\/a>, Clemson<\/a><\/p>\n Buffalo Bills \u2013 WR Malachi Fields<\/a>, Notre Dame<\/a><\/p>\n San Francisco 49ers \u2013 DT Lee Hunter<\/a>, Texas Tech<\/a><\/p>\n Houston Texans \u2013 OT Caleb Lomu<\/a>, Utah<\/a><\/p>\n Los Angeles Rams \u2013 CB Colton Hood<\/a>, Tennessee<\/a><\/p>\n Denver Broncos \u2013 LB CJ Allen<\/a>, Georgia<\/a><\/p>\n New England Patriots \u2013 EDGE Zion Young<\/a>, Missouri<\/a><\/p>\n Seattle Seahawks \u2013 WR KC Concepcion<\/a>, Texas A&M<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Super Bowl LX is in the books, with the Seattle Seahawks topping the New England Patriots. But who\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487826,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":["post-487825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487825"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487825\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Carnell](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OhioStatevsWisconsin-2-1024x538.jpg\")
(Mick Walker\/Lettermen Row)<\/p>\n![\"USC](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USC-Oregon-5-1024x538.png\")
(Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n