The 2026 NFL Draft is quickly approaching, so now is a good time to look at five players who will be selected higher than the current consensus expects.
There are a handful of prospects quietly climbing thanks to quality tape, explosive combine performances, and obvious football intelligence. Consensus mocks and big boards have these five players going a bit later than their production, athletic testing, and scheme versatility would suggest. Teams that trust the film over the rankings are about to have good fortune shine down on them.
Here are five prospects that will be coveted by a few GMs and will come off the board a little earlier than expected.
1. S Bud Clark (TCU) – Currently projected: Round 4
Bud Clark is a playmaker who has been ball-hawking his entire time at TCU. In 2025 alone he racked up 56 tackles and 4 interceptions while lining up all over the secondary for the Horned Frogs. His career total sits at 15 picks, and that ball production will make GMs take notice. Clark has the range to play deep, the instincts to cheat the hash, and the toughness to come downhill in the run game.
Clark shows the football IQ and competitive toughness needed to succeed as a professional. Teams looking for a versatile, every-down safety who can get up to speed quickly are going to push him into the late second or early third round. Bud has the requisite toolkit to be an immediate contributor in subpackages and on special teams, and GMs love to draft players who can provide on-field production from Day 1.
Clark physically profiles similar to Chris Culliver of South Carolina, taken by the 49ers at No. 80 overall. Culliver entered the league as a S/CB hybrid, which is the most likely path for Bud to get early snaps. There is an obvious weight concern that some GMs will have, but the playmaking ability pops on film.
Gridiron Heroics Christian Lance currently ranks Bud Clark at No. 122 overall.
2. TE Eli Stowers (Vanderbilt) – Currently projected: Mid-to-late Round 2
After stops at Texas A&M and New Mexico State, Eli Stowers exploded at Vanderbilt with 62 catches for 769 yards and four touchdowns in 2025. At 6-4, 239 pounds with a 4.51 forty, 45.5-inch vertical, and an 11-3 broad jump, Eli represents one of the most athletically gifted players to test at his position. Stowers is an obvious red-zone target who can split out wide, win in space, and attack defenses vertically.
The combine put him in rare air among tight ends, showcasing his versatility as a pass-catching weapon. In the new NFL where TEs can command WR targets, Eli is exactly what offensive coordinators are looking for. While most mocks still have him comfortably in Round 2, teams that value movement skills and YAC ability over pure in-line blocking are going to start pounding the table for him in the back of Round 1. Stowers isn’t just a tight end. He represents a schematic nightmare that will force defensive coordinators to game-plan around him on Day 1.
When looking at comps for Eli Stowers, my mind keeps returning to Zach Miller of Nebraska-Omaha. Zach played his entire collegiate career at quarterback before being drafted by the Jaguars and immediately switching to TE. It took a couple of years and a scenery change (or two) for Miller to find his lane. But if you were to drop him into today’s wide-open NFL, Zach would be an immediate difference-maker on offense. Stowers profiles similar to Miller athletically, has the quarterback background, but comes into the league as a fully formed TE prospect.
There’s going to be more than one GM who highly covets Stowers for their offense.
Gridiron Heroics Christian Lance currently ranks Eli Stowers at No. 34 overall.
3. EDR George Gumbs Jr. (Florida) – Currently projected: Round 7/UDFA
There are surprise jumps on draft boards post-combine, and George Gumbs Jr. might be the biggest combine riser in the entire class. Before Indianapolis, he was flying under the radar as a developmental edge with limited production. Then he showed up standing 6-4 and weighing 245 pounds and proceeded to deliver a 4.66 forty, 41-inch vertical, and a 7.00 three-cone drill. Defensive coordinators are going to look at these numbers and see a combination of explosion and short-area burst—part of the necessary toolkit to win at the line of scrimmage.
Gumbs started his college journey as a walk-on WR at Northern Illinois before switching to defense and landing at Florida. This background demonstrates his movement skills and body control. But the physicality he showed against SEC tackles and the raw athleticism he flashed at the combine show that there is real upside here that can be developed. He’s an ideal late-round pick that will net a team a high-motor rotational edge who can contribute on early downs immediately and potentially develop into a three-down disruptor.
To be certain, Gumbs will have some refining to do to become a successful professional. He puts me in mind of a watered-down version of Anthony Barr with less straight-line speed, similar build, and explosion. There’s enough athleticism here to pair with George’s obvious determination that, if brought into the right situation, could yield an extremely high return on a late-round investment. Getting him in a base 3-4 alignment and letting him use those athletic tools to get after quarterbacks may be the best possible situation for Gumbs.
Gridiron Heroics Christian Lance currently ranks George Gumbs Jr. at No. 203 overall.
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