The Biggest NFL Draft Needs Among Five Playoff Hopefuls in 2026 ...Middle East

Using post-free agency ELO scores and player ratings for position groups, we’re determining the biggest NFL Draft needs among five playoff hopefuls.

Whether teams have spent lavishly or frugally in free agency, the second half of offseason building is now here with the 2026 NFL Draft – a chance to add key pieces for both present and the future.

Much like the arrival of spring, the draft offers teams renewal and hope. Everyone will be looking to fill serious gaps and flaws on their respective roster and find the next superstars who will define a franchise.

We’re looking at the top needs of five playoff contenders that will soon be on the clock. We won’t look at the quarterback position despite several teams being in search of their franchise signal-caller: Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza of Indiana is expected to go No. 1 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders; the rest of the QB prospects look middling at best.

We’re using our post-free agency ELO scores and player ratings for position groups to determine the biggest need for the five teams, excluding injuries that could bleed into the 2026 season.

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Dallas Cowboys: Defensive Back

Top 100 Draft Picks: 12 (Round 1), 20 (Round 1), 92 (Round 3)

Whether it be owner Jerry Jones or coach Brian Schottenheimer and his staff, the Cowboys should have their NFL Draft focus on the secondary after they allowed the most passing yards and the second-most passing touchdowns last season. They still enter April with the worst-coverage ELO score and the worst team grade for pass defense in the league.

Of the four free-agent defensive backs the Cowboys signed this offseason, only safety Jalen Thompson earned a multi-year deal. Those moves, combined with returning cornerbacks DaRon Bland, Shavon Revel Jr. and Reddy Steward, also don’t inspire much confidence for the Dallas secondary in 2026 when looking at burn rate allowed, burn yards allowed per target and open rate allowed.

All six defensive backs have shortcomings, so the Cowboys would be best-served using one of their first-round picks at No. 12 or 20 for the secondary.

If we’re looking purely at the best possible options, it’s LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane or Toledo safety Emmanuel McNeil-Warren. Last season, Delane had the third-best burn rate (25.0%) and open rate allowed (37.5%) among 220 FBS draft-eligible cornerbacks with at least 200 pass coverage snaps, plus the fifth-lowest burn yards per target (5.8) to go with 11 passes defensed. McNeil-Warren was first with a 23.5% burn rate allowed and seventh with a 58.8% open rate allowed among 180 FBS draft-eligible safeties with at least 200 pass coverage snaps.

Other cornerback options would be Arizona State’s Keith Abney II (39.2% burn rate allowed, 56.8% open rate allowed) at No. 20 or Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy, who didn’t play in 2025 with an ACL injury but had a 35.6% burn rate allowed and 42.4% open rate allowed in 2024.

Detroit Lions: Run-Blocking Offensive Tackle

Top 100 Draft Picks: 17 (Round 1), 50 (Round 2)

The Lions need to look at taking an offensive tackle with the No. 17 pick. They have a huge hole on the left side of their line after releasing Taylor Decker, although general manager Brad Holmes sounded open to moving right tackle Penei Sewell to the other side, if necessary.

That tells us the Lions aren’t just looking for a replacement for Decker, they need the best offensive tackle in the draft. Specifically, they should be targeting a good run-blocking tackle, as they had the third-worst run-blocking team ranking after free agency and need to upgrade that part of the offense for star running back Jahmyr Gibbs.

Given where the Lions are drafting in Round 1, the best option is Utah’s Spencer Fano. Last season, he tied for the 23rd-best run-disruption allowed rate at 3.4% among 130 FBS draft-eligible tackles with at least 250 run-blocking snaps and 200 pass-protection snaps. His 3.3% pressure rate allowed is also tied with Francis Mauigoa from Miami (FL) for the third-best mark among this group.

If Fano is gone by No. 17, his Utah running mate Caleb Lomu is another good option. He had a slightly worse pressure rate and run disruption rate allowed (3.4% and 5.5%, respectively).

Another player who should certainly be available at that pick is Clemson’s Blake Miller, whose 3.1% run disruption rate allowed was 18th and 5.7% pressure 29th among that group.

Los Angeles Chargers: Wide Receiver

Top 100 Draft Picks: 22 (Round 1), 55 (Round 2), 86 (Round 3)

The Chargers have spent considerable early round draft capital at the receiver position in recent years: Quentin Johnston was a first-round pick in 2023, Ladd McConkey a second-round pick in 2024 and Tre Harris another second-rounder last year.

And still, the Chargers rank near the bottom of pass-catching team ratings. Even with the No. 22 pick, they shouldn’t be shy about taking another receiver early in the draft.

LA pass catchers simply couldn’t separate from defensive backs in 2025. The average burn rate among the four wide receivers with at least 300 routes run was 55.5%, and the open rate was 68.8%. Only McConkey eclipsed the 70% mark.

Having a later selection in the first round narrows the field of potential pass catchers (some WRs are expected to be off the board by then). The ideal scenario is Texas A&M’s KC Concepcion, who led 149 draft-eligible FBS wide receivers with at least 250 routes run in burn rate at 81.6%. His 87.4% open rate also impressed with a No. 7 ranking.

If Concepcion isn’t available, other options would likely be Omar Cooper Jr. of Indiana or Denzel Boston of Washington. Both are projected to be drafted in the second half of the first round and have above-average burn rates, although Cooper’s 83.0% open rate is 25th among the draft-eligible group. Boston had a 0.961 catch rating – 18th-best in the field.

Buffalo Bills: Safety

Top 100 Draft Picks: 26 (Round 1), 91 (Round 3)

Buffalo added two safeties in free agency in C.J. Gardner-Johnson and Geno Stone, but it still has the worst coverage ELO score from the position heading into the NFL Draft. Even with 2025 second-rounder Cole Bishop on the roster, the Bills should add another safety.

Fortunately, the No. 26 pick is a prime spot to take one as it’s a safety-rich class.

We’ll exclude Ohio State’s Caleb Downs here, considering he’s projected to be drafted in the top 10. The other highly touted safeties, Toledo’s Emmanuel McNeil-Warren and Oregon’s Dillon Thieneman, would be slam-dunk picks if they fall this far in the first round.

Let’s look at a more likely safety to reach at No. 26 or later: LSU’s A.J. Haulcy. His 15.5% burn rate allowed ranked third among 148 FBS draft-eligible safeties with at least 150 pass coverage snaps last season. However, he had a bad open rate allowed.

The Bills don’t have a second-round pick, so they could look in the third round for someone like Arizona’s Genesis Smith, whose 24.4% burn rate ranked 16th and 55.6% open rate allowed 11th.

Baltimore Ravens: Center

Top 100 Draft Picks: 14 (Round 1), 45 (Round 2), 80 (Round 3)

The Ravens have a glaring need at center after they let Tyler Linderbaum leave to the Raiders for the largest contract at his position in NFL history. Backup center Corey Bullock didn’t play any snaps in 2025, and the only other center added was Danny Pinter, who played only 108 snaps.

The No. 14 pick might be too rich for the Ravens to draft a center. It would be the highest for the position since the Miami Dolphins took Mike Pouncey 15th overall in 2011.

The better option for Baltimore is to go in a different direction in the first round and find a center in a later round. The best options, if the Ravens want an instant impact center, are Florida’s Jake Slaughter, Iowa’s Logan Jones and Kansas State’s Sam Hecht. Auburn’s Connor Lew is also considered a top prospect, but he’s recovering from an ACL injury suffered in October and might not be ready for the 2026 season.

Slaughter had the second-lowest pressure rate allowed among 96 draft-eligible FBS centers with at least 185 pass protection snaps and 200 run-blocking snaps in 2025. His run-disruption rate allowed of 8.5% wasn’t great (79th), but he had the eighth-lowest bad snap rate at just 0.14%.

Jones and Hecht had slightly worse pressure rates allowed, but Hecht’s run disruption rate allowed was half that of Slaughter and Jones.

It’s possible the Ravens could land any of the three centers outside Day 1 of the draft.

The five teams represent a microcosm of the NFL landscape heading into the 2026 season. All five have an excellent chance of making the playoffs, but they’ll need to flawlessly identify and fill necessary gaps in their respective rosters.

That is what the NFL Draft is made for. Now, it’s each team’s responsibility to execute.

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The Biggest NFL Draft Needs Among Five Playoff Hopefuls in 2026 Opta Analyst.

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