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2026 NFL Draft: Full list of players announced to attend in Pittsburgh

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz04/09/26NickSchultz_7

The NFL has announced the full list of 16 players who will attend the 2026 NFL Draft. This year’s event will take place in Pittsburgh April 23-26.

Ohio State will have the most players in attendance on Draft Day with five former Buckeyes heading to the Steel City. Alabama and Miami will each have two players at the draft, as well, while seven other schools will be represented. Notably, former Crimson Tide quarterback Ty Simpson will be making the trip.

One notable absence is former Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza, who said this week he plans to watch from home to celebrate with his family. He is widely projected to go No. 1 overall to the Las Vegas Raiders. Here is the full list of players who will attend the 2026 NFL Draft.

The majority of the players expected to attend the 2026 NFL Draft have consensus first-round grades. In fact, nine of ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s Top 10 prospects on his latest Big Board are on the list, with Mendoza as the only one who won’t be making the trip to Pittsburgh.

Defense is widely considered one of the strengths of this year’s draft. Four of Kiper’s top six prospects are on that side of the ball, led by Reese, who anchored the Ohio State defense this past season to become one of the top players on the board.

But while Simpson is Kiper’s No. 2-ranked quarterback, he has been in-and-out of first-round mock drafts. ESPN analyst Matt Miller recently projected Simpson to go No. 33 overall to the New York Jets as the first pick of the second round of his seven-round mock draft.

Others have Simpson going in the first round, though. CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco projected him to go No. 24 overall to the Cleveland Browns via a mock trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and NFL.com’s Chad Reuter had Simpson heading to the New York Jets with the No. 16 overall pick.