16 prospects will attend 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh - TribLIVE.com

Presumed No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza won’t be attending the 2026 NFL Draft, but 16 other prospects will make the trip to Pittsburgh, the NFL announced Thursday. The list includes five Ohio State teammates: Caleb Downs, Kayden McDonald, Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles and Carnell Tate. Also confirmed to attend are Alabama’s Kadyn Proctor and Ty Simpson, Miami’s Rueben Bain Jr. and Francis Mauigoa, Texas Tech’s David Bailey, LSU’s Mansoor Delane, Auburn’s Keldric Faulk, Tennessee’s Colton Hood, USC’s Makai Lemon, Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love and Arizona State’s Jordyn Tyson. Mendoza, who quarterbacked Indiana to a national championship, will reportedly watch the draft with family. The number of prospects attending the draft has declined since the NFL hosted a record 30 players at New York’s Radio City Music Hall in 2014. The pandemic forced the event to go entirely virtual in 2020. A year later, 13 prospects attended the draft in Cleveland. The drafts since drew 21 players to Las Vegas in 2022, 17 to Kansas City in 2023, 13 to Detroit in 2024 and 15 to Green Bay last year. Some prospects in recent years, like Mendoza, chose to spend the draft with family rather than in the draft “green room,” where a television audience watches them wait to hear their name called. Those made-for-TV moments can cause some awkwardness for players who slide down the draft board farther than expected. In 2018, future two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson waited until the final pick of the first round before the Baltimore Ravens ended his slide. Future four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers had a similar wait in 2005 before the Green Bay Packers drafted him 24th. Most — if not all — of the 16 players committed to attend this year’s draft expect to hear their names called within the first 32 picks. Simpson is the lowest ranked of the group, according to NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah, who has the Alabama quarterback at No. 36 on his big board. However, Simpson is considered the second-best quarterback in this year’s class behind Mendoza, so a QB-needy team may draft him early. There is little chance Mendoza will slide beyond the first pick, since the Las Vegas Raiders haven’t hidden their interest in him. So, Mendoza will likely be the sixth No. 1 overall pick to watch the draft from elsewhere since 2017. Top picks Myles Garrett, Baker Mayfield, Trevor Lawrence, Joe Burrow and Travon Walker did not attend the draft. Burrow had no choice since the draft was held virtually his year. Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com. Daily and weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox. Get news alerts first, right in your browser. Daily and weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox. Support our journalism and get an ad-free experience on all your devices.