My Pre-Combine Top-50 Big Board

Welcome back to The McShay Report! Today, I’m taking you behind the scenes with a sneak peek of my working big board, which is primarily based on the tape study I’ve completed to this point in the predraft process. 

While I won’t be releasing my official top-100 big board until after the combine, I thought it would be a fun exercise to share the before and after versions of my board to show how things change once workouts, measurements, and my on-the-ground intel from league sources in Indianapolis is factored into the ranking process.

Rather than just listing the names for this newsletter, I’ve included a handful of big-picture thoughts on the 2026 draft class that I think will be major topics of conversation for NFL teams over the next couple months. We got into some of those discussions—including the battle for the draft’s top defender between David Bailey and Arvell Reese, and how Fernando Mendoza compares to previous top quarterback prospects—on Thursday’s podcast, but I’ve got four more big-picture thoughts to share with you today. 

A quick programming note before we dive in: We’re entering a massive eight-day stretch of draft content, and I hope you’ll be with us every step of the way. My podcast cohost Steve Muench and I will be recording from the NFL combine every day next week (including with some NFL GMs for our Decision Makers series), and I’ll be in your email inbox with newsletters to recap the on-field action and share exclusive intel I’m hearing from league sources in Indy. It will all lead up to my official top-100 big board release and be followed by Mock Draft 3.0, which is slated to drop in mid-March.

Safety Is Strong at the Top: My thoughts on how the league might value the position in this draft.

Why I’m High on Ty Simpson: The experience concerns are real, but I think the Alabama QB could be an outlier.

Tiering the Tackle Class: Plus, how offensive line scouting has evolved in recent seasons.

Cornering the Market: Predicting when we could see a run on defensive backs in April’s draft. 

The Pre-Combine Top-50 Board: My tape-based rough draft rankings for you to dissect, debate, and critique.