With Pro Days, smokescreens, and general rumors leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft, it is important to stay on top of the latest news for the top college prospects.
This page will be updated through the draft with rumors and reports, so be sure to bookmark it and check back regularly.
Last Updated: April 13
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Latest 2026 NFL Draft Rumors & Reports
- Bills Targeting Wide Receivers?
- Caleb Downs' Draft Stock
- Rueben Bain Fatal Car Accident
- Jermod McCoy Answers Questions at Pro Day
- Mansoor Delane Draft Stock
- Zion Young's Pre-Draft Visits
- Rams Show Wide Receiver Interest?
- KC Concepcion Generating Interest?
- 49ers Targeting Wide Receivers
- Bills Attend Ohio State Pro Day
- Makai Lemon Workout
- Chris Johnson's Pro Day
- Caleb Downs Medically Flagged at Combine?
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Bills Targeting Wide Receivers?
How Buffalo has spent its time this offseason might give us a clue as to how the team is planning to use its early draft picks.
Among the team's reported pre-draft visits and private workouts, here's a look at the players expect to be in the first-round mix:
- WR KC Concepcion
- WR Denzel Boston
And here are the potential Day 2 picks:
- WR Chris Bell
- DT Christen Miller
- DT Domonique Orange
- DT Gracen Halton
- LB Josiah Trotter
- LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr
- LB Jimmy Rolder
- CB Julian Neal
- CB Jalon Kilgore
- S A.J. Haulcy
Buffalo has also spent time with a variety of likely Day 3 selections.
Any individual visit doesn't tell us much about a team's plan. Sometimes it's just to gather injury information or answer some character-concern questions.
However, when visits are concentrated around specific position group with similar grades we can make an educated guess as to the team's plans.
Buffalo's visit list appears to indicate the team plans to address the defense on Day 2, and possibly leaning towards wide receiver in the first round.
Caleb Downs' Draft Stock
Players selected near the top of the draft usually have a lot of pre-draft visits lined up because teams want to be certain they're making the right choice with their biggest invested.
However, some prospects are considered so safe teams don't need to waste their time.
Caleb Downs is that prospect in this year's draft cycle.
The only reported 30 visit Downs has taken was to Dallas — which isn't surprising as the Cowboys tend to spend time with any elite prospect with a remote chance of being on the board at their selection.
At the combine, Downs had formal interviews with every team drafting in the top 10 and it appears those conversations provided all the assurance those franchises needed.
The fact that Downs apparently hasn't been busy leading up to the draft is probably a good sign for him coming off the board very early in the first round.
Rueben Bain Fatal Car Accident
Less than two weeks before the start of the 2026 NFL Draft, a report emerged about a 2024 fatal car accident involving Miami EDGE Rueben Bain Jr.
One of the passengers in Bain's car, Destiny Betts, suffered serious injuries as a result of the crash and died several months later.
Bain was originally cited for careless driving, but that charge was later dismissed.
Betts' family released a statement about the incident, saying:
Destiny’s passing was the result of a tragic accident that occurred several years ago. While the loss remains incredibly painful for our family, we have worked hard to find peace and move forward. At this time, we are not seeking public attention surrounding this tragedy and respectfully request that our family’s privacy be honored. We also wish Mr. Bain the best as he continues his life and career.
NFL teams seemingly knew about this incident before reports emerged over the weekend.
Lions GM Brad Holmes in his pre-draft news conference on Rueben Bain after the reports Bain was involved in a fatal accident a couple years ago: We’ve known that for a while so that doesn’t really change anything from our standpoint
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett.bsky.social) 2026-04-13T15:35:35.002Z
Jermod McCoy Answers Questions at Pro Day
Tennessee CB Jermod McCoy is generally viewed as a first-round talent among the scouting community, but there were questions about his health after he missed all of 2025 with a torn ACL.
He put those to bed by running a 4.38 40 with a 38-inch vertical and 10-foot-7 broad jump at his Pro Day.
That performance should put McCoy back in the running to be the first cornerback selected on draft night, an honor that was expected to go to LSU CB Mansoor Delane.
Delane is still the favorite, but the odds have closed in recent days.
Mansoor Delane Draft Stock
LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane has reportedly had visits or workouts with the Commanders, Cowboys, Dolphins, Saints, and Titans, all teams with draft picks in the top 12.
This clearly indicates a number of potential landing spots for Delane inside the top 12, and the lack of connections to teams with later picks shows others expect him to be off the board in that range.
The Cowboys' selection at number 12 might be the floor for Delane.
Zion Young's Pre-Draft Visits
Missouri edge-defender Zion Young has been linked to at least 10 teams with visits or workouts, an indication that there is both interest and concern for Young.
Young was among the most dominant pass-rushers in the country last year and clearly has the raw talent of first-round pick.
However, Young was also arrested in December of suspicion of driving while intoxicated, just a few days before Missouri's bowl game.
While at Michigan State, Young was also among the players charged with misdemeanor assault for attacking a Michigan players in the tunnel after a game.
Given these events, it's not surprising that many teams want to spend more time with him before deciding whether to include him on their draft board.
Rams Show Wide Receiver Interest?
There have been reports of Rams scheduling top-30 visits with wide receivers Carnell Tate and Makai Lemon.
On the surface, it appears the team has an interest in using the 13th pick on a receiver — or maybe even trading into the top 10, as both receivers could be gone by number 13.
However, the fact that these reports leaked is curious.
GM Les Snead has claimed his team doesn't conduct top-30 visits or private workouts.
This probably isn't true, as there are usually a couple of reports about players visiting Los Angeles each year.
However, it is noteworthy that the Rams rarely use them and/or forbid players from publicly discussing those visits (most teams aren't secretive anymore, though it used to be more common).
So how did two reports leak about high-profile wide receivers, especially so early in the process?
Do the Rams want teams to believe they're in the market for a wide receiver?
Sneed's secrecy regarding past visits shows how paranoid he is about the draft process, making him one of the more likely candidates to plant smokescreens, and something feels fishy about the team being publicly linked to Tate and Lemon.
KC Concepcion Generating Interest
If you've been following reports of pre-draft visits, KC Concepcion‘s name has been coming up a lot.
There have been at least 10 reports of teams inviting him to town on top-30 visits, which creates the impression that he's rising up draft boards and generating significant first-round interest.
Concepcion might be in the first-round conversation for certain teams, but don't fall into the trap of believing these visits show he's more coveted by the league than it appears in mock drafts and media rankings.
The reason for these visits is injury-related.
Concepcion underwent a “routine and preventative knee scope” in mid-March, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.
When players visit team facilities, the team doctors are allowed to conduct their own physical.
So Concepcion's visits are primarily due to the medical procedure.
Anyone even remotely interested in Concepcion will bring him in for a visit — including teams who have no interest in him in the first round.
Those teams understand the injury may push him down draft boards, and they'll want to have good information on him if he's unexpectedly sitting on the board much later than initially expected.
49ers Targeting Wide Receivers
San Francisco has set up 30 visits with at least four wide receivers so far:
- KC Concepcion, Texas A&M
- Omar Cooper Jr, Indiana
- Denzel Boston, Washington
- Jordan Hudson, SMU
Concepcion, Cooper, and Boston are all expected to be considered by teams in the late first round.
San Francisco owns the 27th pick.
It's also worth noting that all four receivers have been productive after the catch, a trait that Kyle Shanahan wants in his offense.
On the most common NFL routes (curl, dig, draft, flat, screen, out, slant), check out the route-adjusted production for these four receivers, based on data from Sports Info Solutions:
- Concepcion: 37% more YAC than expected
- Boston: 11% more
- Hudson: 10% more
- Cooper: 7% more
Bills Attend Ohio State Pro Day
Bills GM Brandon Beane and head coach Joe Brady attended Ohio State's Pro Day on Wednesday.
Their attendance was mildly surprising given where Buffalo is positioned in the draft.
While Ohio State obviously has a long list of draftable players, the big names should be long off the board by the time Buffalo is on the clock at number 26.
The exception is nose tackle Kayden McDonald.
Last year's fourth-round pick, Deone Walker, started in the nose tackle role for the Bills last year but didn't perform well enough to be guaranteed the job moving forward.
The Bills' run defense as a whole struggled — it allowed 1.5 yards before contact per attempt to running backs, ranked 26th — so upgrading the interior defensive line might be a priority on draft day.
Makai Lemon Workout
USC WR Makai Lemon elected not to work out at the Combine, but he was timed as fast as 4.48 seconds at USC's Pro Day.
According to Tony Pauline, Lemon has at least 10 visits lined up with teams.
Following the Combine, unsubstantiated rumors were circulating on social media about Lemon tanking the interview process.
The fact that Lemon has 10 visits lined up is a little curious.
Players who get invited to the most visits are often those with injury and/or character questions.
Teams want to spend more time getting to know players who have off-field concerns to better assess how they'll fit into the locker room.
However, this certainly doesn't confirm those questionable post-Combine reports.
It's also possible that teams that didn't meet with Lemon at the Combine saw the reports and, just to be safe, invited him in to see whether it was true for themselves.
For what it's worth, Pauline stated a belief that Lemon won't get past the Rams at pick No. 13.
Chris Johnson's Pro Day
San Diego State CB Chris Johnson ran a 4.12 short-shuttle at the Aztecs' pro day.
Johnson skipped the change-of-direction drills at the Combine, so this was a critical time to add to his résumé that answers some questions about his athletic traits.
There shouldn't be any more concerns about Johnson's athletic traits, and he might be in the conversation to sneak into the late first round.
Caleb Downs Medically Flagged at Combine?
One of the biggest benefits for NFL teams of the Combine is obtaining medical reports on the prospects.
One of the biggest post-Combine medical rumors involved star Ohio State S Caleb Downs.
Shortly after the draft, Cory Kinnan posted:
“I was told by an NFC scout that Ohio State all-class safety Caleb Downs had a couple of issues flagged during his medical check…I was told that Downs was flagged with a partially torn meniscus this week. That is not a serious concern, but also being flagged with a potentially degenerative ACL is.”
The story was then picked up by multiple outlets and became a major talking point as to the potential for Downs to slide in the first round.
However, there are a number of reasons to question the accuracy of this report.
First and foremost, the story was deleted from the original site where it was posted.
This was a rumor started as a single-source, scout-sourced leak attributed to one unnamed NFC scout speaking to one draft reporter.
Shortly thereafter, on March 3, Pat McAfee said his show reached out to multiple NFL teams and was told there was “nothing in the medical that would deter them from bringing Downs in.”
Downs’ family was reported by multiple outlets as calling the story “clickbait,” “fake,” and false.
A to Z Sports said multiple NFL scouts/teams pushed back as well, with one source calling the report “BS,” another saying Downs’ medicals came back “relatively clean,” and others saying his medicals were not a concern on their radar.
Various injury doctors on X questioned the initial report and likewise viewed it in a highly questionable light.
Downs is widely regarded as one of the best prospects in this draft class.
If he slips outside of the top 10, it will likely be because of positional value rather than these nebulous injury rumors.
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