Hello friends, it's your buddy Lou Pickney with you here, the DKDB update.
April 15th, 2026.
Got a bunch of brand new mock drafts added to the DKDB earlier in the day.
But look at this, Vinny Iyer, Todd McShay, Bucky Brooks.
Normally, I don't put mocks from The Athletic in here because they're a premium service, they're a it's a pay-to-read-it.
I've got a subscription, I find it valuable, but this is strictly for mocks that are available for free.
Dane posted earlier today on X, and this particular one is not paywalled.
We got I think it's worth the money, but I want people to come to the DKDB knowing that everything I've got linked from here you'll be able to click to and read without having to log in, having to pay any sort of subscription.
So, luckily, Dane and The Athletic wise job to have that being available to everybody.
He's got some good info in there.
I'm sure there'll be people that will read that and then end up subscribing and reading The Beast.
He's got some really in-depth information about some of these prospects.
Best of the best here in the DKDB.
I'm tied for the third highest score over the past 5 years in the Huddle Report, which tracks accuracy among people in my business, the whole draft prognostication business.
Here we are, a little more than a week out from night one.
Let's go over the very latest, very good reporting by Tony Pauline of Essentially Sports.
I'll have a link in the description section of this YouTube video.
Urge you to go and check out Tony's work.
He's got some good scoops.
They're consistent through the years.
Highly recommend it.
Let's talk about Jeremiah Love.
Running back, Notre Dame.
A lot of people talking about Jeremiah Love.
A lot of speculation that the Tennessee Titans might take Love at number four overall.
On the other side, you've got people like Adam Schefter that have been pretty steadfast in saying that he doesn't believe that the Titans will go with Love at four.
Or for the New York Giants at five for that matter.
He later added that part.
So, it's worth noting with that for as Jeremiah Love is still getting quite a bit of looks, consideration for the Titans at four.
But, there are some And there are some that say, "Look, the positional value going that high with a running back.
And the Titans have other needs to reformulate that defense." We'll see.
But, Love is a special talent.
For whatever team gets him, it's because of the value he's going to provide as a receiver out of the backfield along with being a great running back.
It's that receiving part that's important.
If you wonder why, and whether you agree with that or not is immaterial.
That's what the teams think.
I'm just letting you know.
So, in my latest mock draft, I have Jeremiah Love going to the Washington Commanders at seven.
And that was something I had independent of reporting earlier in the evening from Tony Pauline saying Washington, the Commanders, very high on Jeremiah Love.
Maybe not so much on Ohio State safety Caleb Downs.
It would be unusual for a safety to go in the top 10 of the NFL draft.
That's not happened in 10 years.
Let's talk about the Dallas Cowboys.
I can't remember the last time there's been this much smoke and whispering and rumors about a team looking to trade up and hasn't done so quite yet.
This is speculation season after all.
A little more than a week out from night one of the draft.
That has to be taken into account.
But the destination on the trade up is where there is some interesting I wouldn't say conflicting reporting, but just different thoughts on what the Cowboys might be looking to do.
The frequently projected players list to some of these mock drafts in the DKDB where I put the best of the best my expert curated NFL mock draft database.
At this point Dallas has number 12 and number 20 picks in the first round of the 2026 draft.
But there's a lot of talk that the Cowboys be looking to trade up, that they could be looking to get either Ruben Bain Jr.
or Sunny Styles.
And a lot of talk that maybe it won't be Arizona at three, perhaps that climb is a bit too expensive for a team that has limits beyond those first those pair of first round picks, no real second rounder to wheel and deal with for Dallas.
At least in this year's draft.
So maybe getting to three is one thing, but you've got Cleveland at number six that's said to be very interested in trading back even more so than your typical team.
And the latest talk has been a little bit less of Carnell Tate, wide receiver Ohio State, and more they're wanting to lock in an offensive tackle, even if they trade back a few spots, whether it's Spencer Fano, Monroe Freeling, or perhaps somebody else.
As for the Cowboys, Ruben Bain Jr., well there's been some fade as far as where prognosticators think Bain might go.
If Dallas really wants to get Bain, they might have to trade up.
Just hoping he'll fall to 12.
Maybe he will, but that's a lot of maybe.
You've got New Orleans sitting there at number eight.
You got Kansas City at number nine that hasn't had a top 10 pick in several years, which has limited their opportunities to get a top edge or is it just elite edge prospects that could be very elusive because there aren't many of them.
They're highly in demand.
Bain had that tremendous season with Miami Hurricanes making it to the national championship game.
Bain is one name you hear mentioned, and the other is Sunny Styles.
Linebacker that started his career at Ohio State as a safety.
Now, obviously Dallas can't trade up for Styles at six if the Titans take him at number four.
There's been some speculation that if Arvell Reese and David Bailey are both off the board at number four, that maybe it won't even be Jeremiah Love there for the Titans, and maybe it'll be Sunny Styles.
But then maybe that's a team just trying to put the word out there to see if they can get somebody to bite on a trade up.
Hard to separate fact from fiction, but I can tell you this.
There are reports from credible people that seem to think that Sunny Styles get a lot of consideration on a trade up.
The Cowboys do move up from 12.
It would be difficult to work a trade with the Commanders being in the division.
You can do it, but that especially that rivalry of all of them.
But no need to worry about that if Dallas can get to six with Cleveland, but maybe Dallas only wants to do that if one or two players actually is on the board there.
That's where this gets rather complicated.
Look and I'll urge you to bookmark the DKDB.
Updated this not long before I started recording this video here.
It'll probably be the 16th by the time some of you see it.
But the the new cycle doesn't let up here during draft season.
And again, I've got a bunch of mocks listed here that came up that went online earlier today.
Mel Kiper Jr., the most famous of them all.
Todd McShay, obviously well known as well and and look, there's a lot of talent in here.
I put the best of the best in the DKDB.
I put my name on it, so you know I'm going to put the best in there.
Let's talk about some prospects that are getting some talk as risers.
Start with C.J.
Allen, linebacker from Georgia.
At sometimes during this whole pre-draft process, Allen has shown up in my first round of my mock draft.
And the difficulty for Allen or anybody playing off-ball linebacker is that that is not a priority position in the NFL the way it is now.
Everything is so predicated on the passing game.
There's the passing offense or passing defense.
Now, obviously a sideline-to-sideline linebacker that can cover the field can be helpful against the pass.
But particularly pass rush is what teams put that premium on.
And yet Allen, great career at Georgia, one of the top prospects, could go at 15.
Some of these mocks said C.J.
Allen going top 15.
Is that is a need for Tampa Bay?
The Buccaneers at 15 could go with Allen.
Another name at linebacker getting consideration some talk Tony Pauline talked about this.
Anthony Hill Jr.
Linebacker from Texas.
This is not a mystery or a surprise to people who have been following this process closely.
Hill's one of the top off-ball linebackers or as the 2026 class goes on the boards of most evaluators at least most that I've seen.
But being a first-round pick is a different matter.
And that's what I tend to focus on first round.
But there's been talk as of late and Tony Pauline I encourage you to go and I'll have the link to his articles in the description of this YouTube video but Anthony Hill getting a lot of buzz.
And so it's certainly to consider as far as teams needing linebackers if you're looking at second half of the first round something to keep in mind.
Anthony Hill Jr.
Didn't so about he's been in a lot of my mock drafts my one-round mocks.
He wasn't my most recent but I feel pretty strongly he'll be on the next.
Wouldn't say it's pushed back but I've heard a lot of reporting saying that Boston likely to get consideration possibly at number 16 to the New York Jets.
It's something else Tony Pauline talked about wrote about and over on essentially sports.
It's unusual to have a 6'4 receiver the kind of play making ability that Boston has and he's not an elite speed ultra-high end track kind of guy but he's a matchup problem.
And well I thought well maybe he'll slide to day two that happens sometimes but latest indications are there are several teams with interest in the second half of the first round including the New York Jets at 16.
What?
Tony Pauline was riding.
Whereas someone like Omar Cooper Jr., wide receiver from Indiana, more perhaps a day two consideration for the Jets.
Number 33 overall, perhaps.
Something to keep in mind as far as the way this whole process plays out.
So, Boston at 16 to the Jets would seem to be in play and a number of other teams big receiver likely to get him a look in that second half of the first round.
Let's talk about a couple of offensive lineman.
Start with Chase the Scientist.
Texas A&M.
Talked about some interior offensive lineman.
There's Emanuel Pregnon.
Vederian Lowe from Penn State.
But I wouldn't rule out Chase the Scientist as a late first-round pick.
His name's been showing up on quite a few in quite a few mocks on those first-round lists.
There are teams needing interior offensive lineman that'll be drafting late in that first round.
So, that's something to keep in mind.
The Scientist might end up getting When you start hearing these names that rise late in this process, right about now that one week out.
Okay, keep that in mind.
These things don't happen by chance.
Now, there's a ton of whispers and noise and rumors and everything else.
Part of why I've had success but I've been able to figure out the people that actually know what they're talking about.
[laughter] >> Now, it doesn't always mean it's going to work out the way that it's laid out, but it's a big part of it.
So, we'll see what happens with Deontay if he ends up going in round one.
If not, he should be an early day two pick the way it looks now.
One more to go over here.
Keilen Rutledge, Georgia Tech.
Until recently, oh, come on.
There we go.
Until recently, there hadn't been very much talk about Keilen Rutledge as a first-round pick, but he's one of those risers.
His name has been showing up quite a bit.
And if not in the first round, he'll get a lot of looks on day two as far as those mock drafts that have multiple rounds to them.
Again, my focus tends to be on the first round, but Rutledge, he may not be a first-round pick, but he's a name to keep in mind.
He's a riser.
And sometimes you'll get those out of nowhere offensive interior lineman especially late in the process.
Think of Gray Zabel last year with Seattle.
That pick that leaked.
And that was the case where that information was out there before the draft.
Matter, do you believe this information?
Do you believe Seattle would really use that first-round pick?
And sure enough, they did.
I believed it.
I projected it, and I was right about that.
Doesn't always work out that way.
That's part of the process.
Anyway, so for Rutledge, his name is showing up like this.
Part of his career not too far from where I live, in the Nashville area.
He's over in Murfreesboro at Middle Tennessee State University, MTSU.
And more recently at Georgia Tech.
And if not a first-round pick, then likely to be a day two pick.
So, somebody to keep in mind as far as interior offensive line guard prospects, Rutledge from Georgia Tech.
So, again, be sure to bookmark the DKDB.
I personally curated, expert curated 2026 NFL mock draft database.
I've got all these brand new mocks in there.
You just click on a name and boom, it takes you right to it.
No nonsense.
No AI, no filler, no staff reporting, no tandem efforts.
