NFL Teams Underwhelmed With Depth of One Position in 2026 NFL Draft

The 2026 NFL draft may be thin at quarterback compared to years past (Indiana's Fernando Mendoza may be the only Round 1 QB), there's another position that has teams concerned about the lack of depth.

There could be six wide receivers, seven offensive tackles, eight edge-rushers, and five cornerbacks taken in the first round, but there's one position that may have one or possibly none.

According to NFL insider Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, teams are concerned with the lack of true first-round talent at defensive tackle - typically a premium position in most drafts.

"You would assume there may be plenty of interest at defensive tackle," Jones wrote. "While the interest is there, the players may not be. Teams do not love the defensive tackles in this year’s class. It may be the late 20s before we see a DT go off the board, and even that may not spark a run at the position based off what I’m hearing.

"Peter Woods, Kayden McDonald and Christen Miller are the three who are in contention to be the first defensive tackle taken, and I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of them have to wait to hear their names called Friday."

Most mock drafts have just one DT going in Round 1, and analysts seem split on whether it should be Woods or McDonald.

In his final mock draft, ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. had two DTs going in Round 1 - Woods to the Los Angeles Chargers at No. 22 overall and Miller to the Houston Texans at No. 28 overall.

Kiper predicted McDonald to go in Round 2 to the Los Vegas Raiders (No. 36 overall) along with two other second-round defensive tackles - Texas Tech's Lee Hunter to the Atlanta Falcons (No. 48 overall) and Florida's Caleb Banks to the Denver Broncos (No. 62 overall).

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This story was originally published April 18, 2026 at 6:20 PM.