2026 NFL Draft: Nick Saban reveals All-Defense team of prospects

Although quarterback Fernando Mendoza is expected to go No. 1 overall, the cream of the crop for the 2026 NFL Draft is on defense. Ahead of the first round, Nick Saban revealed his All-Defense team of prospects.

Saban declared the edge-rushers and secondary to be the strength of this year’s draft. Pass-rushers such as David Bailey and Arvell Reese have generated buzz as potential top picks, while safeties such as Caleb Downs and Dillon Thieneman are seen as top talents in the secondary.

Those players all appeared on Saban’s All-Defense team for the 2026 NFL Draft. Here is who the legendary coach thinks stands out at each position, as he revealed on College GameDay.

CB: Jermod McCoy, Tennessee
EDGE: David Bailey, Texas Tech
DT: Kayden McDonald, Ohio State
DT: Caleb Banks, Florida
EDGE: Rueben Bain Jr., Miami
CB: Mansoor Delane, LSU
LB: Sonny Styles, Ohio State
LB: CJ Allen, Georgia
EDGE: Arvell Reese, Ohio State
S: Caleb Downs, Ohio State
S: Dillon Thieneman, Oregon

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. is especially high on this year’s group of defensive prospects. Four members of Saban’s All-Defense team were among Kiper’s top six prospects on his final Big Board released earlier this week. Only Mendoza and Jeremiyah Love were ahead of them.

When it comes to evaluating players on defense coming out of college, Nick Saban said playing ever down is an important part of the evaluation process. As Kirk Herbstreit noted, there are times where players rotate out and head to the sideline for a few plays. That’s not the case in the NFL, where they need to line up every down.

To Saban, if a player isn’t out there every play, that might work against them during the evaluations. Teams want prospects who are competitive, which means being on the field every chance they get.

“I think that means a lot,” Saban said. “If someone does not play every down, that’s a negative. That means there’s something missing in that guy’s competitive character, and competitive character is what’s going to drive a guy to be the best player that he can be, which is what every NFL team would like to have, every college team would like to have in their player. Great competitors.”

The 2026 NFL Draft officially gets underway Thursday night in Pittsburgh. Round 1 gets underway at 8 p.m. ET. Rounds 2-3 will take place Friday, followed by Rounds 4-7 on Saturday.