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2026 Nfl Mock Draft Saints Find Their Franchise Qb Clemson Dominates

Bonisiwe Shabane
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2026 nfl mock draft saints find their franchise qb clemson dominates

The dust has barely settled on the 2025 NFL Draft, but it’s never too early to look ahead to 2026. In this early mock, I’ve got the Saints finally landing a franchise quarterback, half the top ten coming from the ACC, and a total of four quarterbacks coming off the board. The Saints spent a second-round pick on Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough this year, but his extensive injury history makes it hard to see him as the long-term answer. That leads to New Orleans taking a quarterback in the top 40 for the second straight year, this time selecting LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier with the No. 1 overall pick. I expect rookie Shedeur Sanders to show enough this season to convince the Browns they don’t need to draft another quarterback in 2026.

While Cleveland could end up picking lower than this, I’m sticking with Tankathon’s draft order. With this spot, they grab Clemson’s T.J. Parker, a disruptive edge rusher who earned second-team All-ACC honors last season after posting 19.5 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. The Titans found their franchise quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft with the No. 1 overall pick, Cam Ward. Now they turn to the defensive side of the ball, where finding a top-tier pass rusher is the priority.

Rueben Bain brings explosive get-off and stands out as one of the best athletes in this year’s edge class. With better health in 2025, expect his production to take a big step forward. The Giants are another team that hope they found their quarterback in the 2025 NFL Draft. For Jaxson Dart to succeed, though, they need to upgrade his protection. Kadyn Proctor has true left tackle feet and offers the highest upside of any offensive lineman in the 2026 draft class. The rising importance of the 2026 NFL Draft for several teams came into focus after last week's trade deadline.

With the New York Jets having dealt cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts, there are now four NFL teams that have multiple first-round picks in April. And with the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants having already fired their head coaches, several fan bases are probably ready to close the book on this season and enter offseason mode. But with the first-round order still shifting significantly week to week, there's still ample time for team's draft fortunes to rise or fall. With that said, here's USA TODAY Sports' latest first-round projection and 2026 NFL mock draft: There's a strong possibility for Tennessee to possess the No. 1 pick in consecutive years after the Saints' and Browns' victories left the Titans as the only one-win team remaining.

And that creates a bit of a mystery atop the order. An organization that's yet again rebooting would clearly stand to benefit from trading back and stockpiling more early selections to support Cam Ward. Yet this quarterback class doesn't seem particularly conducive to drumming up a bidding war for this choice. If Tennessee does end up in the slot and stands pat, it could supercharge its defense with Reese. Though he operates as a linebacker for the Buckeyes, the 6-foot-4, 243-pounder has Micah Parsons-like movement abilities that could be best put to use in a full-time edge rushing role. The Titans could pair him with Jeffery Simmons to create one of the league's most formidable inside-outside tandems and then use the rest of the draft – and free agency – to focus on...

A franchise with a decades-long habit of being trigger-shy when it comes to selecting quarterbacks might be hard-pressed to go this route, especially if Tyler Shough continues to exhibit the promise he displayed in... But unless the second-round rookie firmly establishes himself as New Orleans' answer at the position in the back half of the season, Mendoza might be massively alluring. The Heisman Trophy front-runner now also figures to be the favorite to be the first quarterback taken, with his game-winning drive against Penn State highlighting resiliency and a knack for operating out of structure... The 6-5, 225-pounder is the kind of precise thrower who could allow Kellen Moore to launch a new era for the organization in earnest. Week 10 of the NFL season is almost in the books, as the only game left this week is a pivotal clash between the Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football. This week had a massive impact on the NFL season with the Trade Deadline turning teams into contenders and other teams into franchises looking to reset.

This weekend saw a massive shakeup in the draft order as the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, and Miami Dolphins all picked up wins, shaking the top of the draft. After the trade deadline, for disappointing teams, the rest of the year is all about jockeying for position in the upcoming draft. The Tennessee Titans spent the weekend on the bye, but it was a succesful weekend as they moved into position to have the first overall pick. This team needs an influx of talent, and they may trade out of the top pick when the draft rolls around. If the Titans stay at 1, Rueben Bain Jr would be a great pick as it would give the team an elite edge rusher to pair with their talent on the interior. The Saints won their second game of the year on Sunday, and Tyler Shough showed some promise, but if the Saints are on the clock early, Kellen Moore will take his pick of quarterbacks.

This season, no quarterback has been more impressive than Alabama's Ty Simpson, who continues to make NFL-level throws each week in the SEC. Even with all of the weapons the Giants have lost this season, the issue for this team isn't the offense, as Jaxson Dart's rushing ability has masked a ton of holes. The Giants' defense is one of the worst against the run, and the team needs to address the linebacker position this offseason. Arvell Reese is a dominant force like Abdul Carter who can make plays off the edge while also playing linebacker, and he'd be a great addition to help this team slow the run. There's a misconception floating around about the 2026 NFL Draft. Before this college season kicked off, Texas' Arch Manning, South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers and LSU's Garrett Nussmeier were widely viewed as the top eligible quarterback prospects.

Those three haven't quite met the early expectations, which has some people jumping to the conclusion that this is a "weak" QB class. In reality, the rise of Indiana's Fernando Mendoza (my QB1 back in May), Alabama's Ty Simpson and Oregon's Dante Moore has reshaped the board. All three still have remaining eligibility and could theoretically return to school in 2026, but in today's thought exercise, they come off the board quickly -- just not at No. 1 overall. Four teams enter the first round with multiple picks, while just as many have none. The Browns and Rams dealt away theirs in separate draft-day moves a year ago, and the Jets and Cowboys moved on from Quinnen Williams and Micah Parsons, respectively.

To set the stage, here are the current odds to be the No. 1 overall pick (via FanDuel Sportsbook). Reminder: This is the current NFL draft order after Week 10 (via Tankathon). The NFL season is past its halfway point, as the NFL trade deadline has passed for the 2025 season. The college football season is nearing the playoffs, while the NFL playoff picture is also coming into focus. Which means, it's starting to become clear which teams need to think about what they want to do in the 2026 draft.

With a remixed order and the top prospects in flux, here's Sporting News' third set of first-round projections for what will go down next April 23 in Pittsburgh: MORE: Where Fernando Mendoza, other QBs rank in 2026 NFL Draft reset (No. 1-18 order courtesy of Tankathon; No. 19-32 from Week 9 playoff picture) It’s hard to believe that we’re already heading into the fourth weekend of college football, but then again, time seems to always fly by when we’re having fun.

Before long, the conversation will turn to the College Football Playoffs, and then it’s on to the NFL draft. That said, we begin our look ahead with an early 2026 NFL mock draft, which gets kicked off with the New Orleans Saints selecting their new signal-caller. The Saints need a new quarterback and find one in their own backyard. Garrett Nussmeier continues to gain steam, but not everyone believes he should be the top pick. His numbers might not be elite, but Nussmeier is as pro-ready a quarterback as there is, and should have no problem operating under Kellen Moore. by twsnteam | Nov 11, 2025 | Headlines, NFL Draft

<img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" class="alignnone wp-image-987561492 lazyload" src="https://i0.wp.com/twsn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Screenshot-2025-11-11-at-4.52.34-PM.png?resize=1080%2C662&#038;quality=80&#038;ssl=1" alt="NFL Mock Draft" width="1080" height="662" srcset="https://twsn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Screenshot-2025-11-11-at-4.52.34-PM.png 1920w, https://twsn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Screenshot-2025-11-11-at-4.52.34-PM-480x294.png 480w" sizes="(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 1920px, 100vw" /> The college football regular season is nearing its conclusion, the playoff picture is taking shape, and the NFL playoff race is heating up, so naturally, it’s time for another mock draft. As we roll through November, the draft landscape continues to shift every week, with breakout players starting to emerge, and several franchises staring down full-scale rebuild discussions. For this edition, we’ll be using the current draft order from Tankathon as of November 10th, reflecting where things stand after Week 11 in college football and Week 10 in the NFL. The New Orleans Saints entered the 2025 NFL Draft with plenty of cracks to seal, and none were more urgent than the quarterback position. With Derek Carr now retired, the Saints used the No.

40 pick on Louisville Cardinals’ Tyler Shough — a selection that raised more questions than confidence. Many are unsure if Shough even offers an upgrade over Spencer Rattler. Now, the spotlight has quickly shifted to the ‘way too early’ 2026 NFL mock drafts. The Saints have found themselves stuck near the bottom of the NFL standings, but that could change with the potential arrival of Tigers quarterback Cade Klubnik. Just a year ago, Klubnik was coming off a frustrating season that fell short of expectations, despite the hype surrounding him as a top-tier prospect. But the 2024 season flipped the script for Klubnik.

He threw for 3,639 yards with a 63.4 percent completion rate, tallying 36 touchdowns against just six interceptions. On top of that, he showed off his mobility, adding 463 rushing yards and seven more scores. If Klubnik keeps trending upward next season, the Saints could be ready to make a serious move for him in their 2026 draft class. Analyst Mark Stolte of Pro Football & Sports Network slotted New Orleans at the No. 3 overall pick in his latest mock and predicted the franchise could link up with the Clemson standout to finally stabilize their quarterback future. The New Orleans Saints will be entering a massive rebuild during the 2025 NFL season.

Kellen Moore is the head coach after being the Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator during the 2024 NFL season. Derek Carr retired after he was dealing with shoulder injury issues and this has New Orleans in a bad spot entering the 2025 season. Tyler Shough or Spencer Rattler will be the starting quarterback for the Saints in 2025. There is a chance that New Orleans could be the worst team in the NFL and land the number one overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. If they were to land the number one pick, there is a chance that they would have a golden chance to find its next Drew Brees potentially and could it be Clemson Tigers quarterback... Pro Football Focus writer Mark Stolte created his latest 2026 NFL Mock Draft despite the 2025 NFL season not even beginning yet.

Stolte thinks that the Saints will have the sixth overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and select Klubnik from Clemson. It would be a surprise to see the Saints not have the worst record in the NFL in 2025, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see New Orleans draft a quarterback in 2026. It would be a surprise if Shough or Rattler impressed them during the 2025 NFL season. Stolte said about the Saints drafting Klubnik potentially, “The college football world has high expectations for Cade Klubnik with Clemson expected to dominate in 2025. While I personally have Klubnik as the fourth-ranked ranked QB in the class, it would be very easy for him to shoot up.

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