Round one of the 2026 NFL Draft was as unpredictable as everyone thought it would be. After Fernando Mendoza and David Bailey came off the board at No. 1 and No. 2, everyone’s mock drafts got torn to shreds.

The reason for some of this chaos were some of the early reaches on players, which caused other higher-ranked players to slide down the draft board. Some teams made some egregious reaches, while others were able to steal a player way below their anticipated slot.

With day one done and dusted, I’m breaking down the biggest steals and reaches from day one of the NFL Draft.

Steal: SAF Caleb Downs

You can’t start a reaches and steals article without highlighting the No. 1 player on my board who fell all the way to No. 11. Caleb Downs is such a dynamic defender, and if we hadn’t been talking about him for three years, a lot of people would’ve been way higher on him. Everyone just got tired of talking about how great he is.

Downs can do literally everything you want a safety to do. He can drop back in a deep zone and be a ball hawk, he can come down in the box and defend the run and he can line up in the nickel on a tight end. The Dallas Cowboys had bigger needs and edge rusher and cornerback, but when you can get a safety who can impact every phase of the game like Downs can, you can’t turn that down.

Reach: DT Peter Woods

By now, everyone should know I’m not a Peter Woods fan. He was tabbed as a top-five pick before the year, but he did not play well in 2025, totaling two sacks and earning a pedestrian 74 run defense grade during his final year at Clemson. Granted, their entire defense struggled, but Woods wasn’t really that impressive in 2024 when they were good, either.

Woods has banked on his athletic traits to get him drafted in the first round, but I don’t think he’s that great of an athlete. At 298 pounds, he tested worse than Caleb Banks did at 327 pounds in the vertical and broad jump, and he didn’t run the 40. He did put up impressive times in the shuttle and three-cone, but still, I just wasn’t that impressed. If he couldn’t perform well in the ACC, why should I believe he can in the NFL?

Steal: LB Sonny Styles

Despite playing next to one of the best linebackers in the country in Arvell Reese, Sonny Styles still popped every time you put on tape of Ohio State’s defense. He’s a tremendous athlete than can do more things than your typical middle linebacker, and he was easily a top-four talent in this draft class, so for the Washington Commanders to get him at No. 7 was a huge steal.

Washington was not shy about their love for Styles. They probably assumed he would be gone by the time they were on the clock, but he fell right into their laps. Dan Quinn needed to get younger pieces for his defense this offseason, and he got a difference maker at No. 7.

Reach: QB Ty Simpson

I’m low on Ty Simpson for a lot of reasons, but even those that like him probably think the Los Angeles Rams’ pick was a bit of a reach. I understand positional value, but he’s 23 years old and has 13 college starts, and since 2020, the most successful first round quarterback with under 25 college starts is Tua Tagovailoa. If that’s Simpson’s ceiling, you don’t draft him at No. 13.

Another reason this was such a bad pick is because the Rams were one game away from making the Super Bowl last year. How do you decide that, with a top-15 pick you shouldn’t even have, you should take a backup quarterback? Matthew Stafford seems like he wants to play another 2+ years, so why not get him a receiver like Makai Lemon or a safety like Dillon Thieneman that can help you win now? It just makes no sense, and Sean McVay did not seem happy about the pick.

Steal: OG Olaivavega Ioane

14th overall is about where I expected Olaivavega Ioane to go. It felt like the New York Giants at No. 10 were an option, but after that, his ceiling was always Baltimore at No. 14. Still, this is an absolute steal. How often can a team say they got the best offensive lineman in the draft at No. 14? Not often, that’s for sure.

Ioane is arguably the safest pick in this draft. He’s going to step in and immediately be one of the better guards in the entire league. He’s a great pass blocker, but he’s also very athletic, which allows him to get out and move people in the second level in the run game. I see him being an above average starter for 10+ years.

Reach: Caleb Banks

I really like Caleb Banks. He’s an incredible talent when he’s on the field, but the big issue is, he’s hardly ever on the field. Banks played five seasons in college and played a total of 929 snaps. That’s less than 200 per year, and he’s never played more than 422 in one season. He’s dealt with multiple foot injuries, and broke his foot at the NFL Combine, and weighing in at 327 pounds, that’s a bad combination.

But when he’s healthy, man he’s hard to stop. He’s one of the best pass rushing defensive tackles in this draft class and he’s an above average run defender. His ceiling is a multiple time All-Pro, but his floor is an injured defensive tackle that hardly ever plays. I would’ve loved him in round two, but at No. 18, it has to be considered a reach, because there’s a good chance he never pans out due to injuries.

Steal: ED Rueben Bain Jr.

I guess Rueben Bain Jr.’s arm length and legal concerns were actually a big issue, huh? Because there’s no way he fell to No. 15 based only on his tape, because he was an extremely dominant and powerful edge rusher on one of the best teams in college football last season, and he dominated the College Football Playoffs.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into this draft with a huge need at edge rusher, and they were expect to explore moving down from No. 15, but as soon as Bain fell to them, they sprinted to the podium to make this pick. Yes, there’s some risk with his arm length, but if anyone’s going to work around that it’s him, because he’s powerful and athletic enough to overcome it.

Reach: RB Jadarian Price

Jadarian Price can one day be a pretty good running back in the NFL, but you don’t take a running back in round one unless you think they’re a superstar, and I’m not convinced Price is. He was good at Notre Dame, but he doesn’t have game-breaking speed, he’s not a big 220-pound bruiser and he’s not a super productive receiver.

I understand them thinking they need a dynamic running back to help Sam Darnold, but their defense is the reason they won the Super Bowl, and they now have holes at edge rusher, cornerback and safety. There were plenty of players at those positions that I think would’ve helped them more, so picking Price here is definitely a reach.

Steal: SAF Dillon Thieneman

Dillon Thieneman was a top-15 player on my board entering draft night, and he fell all the way to the Chicago Bears at No. 25. We kept hearing that positional value should be thrown out the window this year, but with Downs sliding to No. 11 and Thieneman to No. 25, maybe that was all a lie.

Thieneman is a rangy safety that can make a ton of plays in coverage, but he can also come down and defend the run. He’s not as good of a run defender as Caleb Downs, but he’s serviceable enough and makes up for it in coverage. Chicago had bigger needs up front, but getting a safety like Theienman to pair with Coby Bryant is big.