As the NFL Draft creeps closer, the national analyst team at Rivals is taking a look at some current 2026 recruits that compare favorably with upcoming draft picks. Next up is the ACC.

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The massive frame Thomas entered college with – north of 6-foot-2 – created a lot of positional questions surrounding his future. Always confident he could play cornerback, that is where he broke out in Tallahassee and after putting on some 20 pounds of muscle in the process, Thomas is projected to go as early as a first-round pick once the draft opens. Bigger corners were a bit of a fad but maybe it's coming back? Thomas could join an early round group of players such as Travis Hunter, Will Johnson, Trey Amos and many others among those on the island at 6-foot-1 or better come April.

In the 2026 class, the prospect rising up the ranks despite the bigger build at the position is CJ Bronaugh, the Nebraska commitment plenty of other programs still want. The Orlando native has truly elite verified speed, including sub 10.4-second marks in the 100-meter dash, great length and cornerback instincts at the catch point. Long and lean at this time, he'll fill out in the coming years and have many of the physical traits necessary to command attention at the position.

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Armed with a great frame and base relative to the position, Hampton is viewed as a bell cow back with that rare combination of power and shiftiness despite the great size. While he can run through tackles, the vision and instincts in space to make defenders miss as both a runner and receiver sometimes surprise in the process.

Cooper is beginning to be viewed in a very similar light. Certainly capable of playing close to 220 pounds at the next level, the five-star is already one of the unicorns of the cycle in that while he is listed as a bigger back, he moves and wins like a much smaller prospect.

From an elite pass-catching game to legitimate one-cut wiggle in tight quarters, Cooper has rounded out his game even though he can still work very well behind his pads at the contact point.

Undersized ahead of his time at Boston College, Ezeiraku put on considerable weight before bursting onto the scene as perhaps the best pass rusher in the ACC of late. His 30 sacks were a combination of quick twitch, smooth pass rushing moves and a motor that is easy to notice. It also translated that way against the run and it could result in an early-round selection.

At this point, anyone following college football recruiting even casually has seen clips of Kreul winning in a pass-rush setting. The IMG Academy star has a somewhat compact, yet lengthy frame and despite improved strength, it's the natural athleticism and relentless motor that combine to borderline dominate just about every time out.

Kreul is coveted coast to coast with his pass-rushing prowess, but he has worked to round out his game both on and off the ball on the outside, too.

There was a lot of splash and impact in the space game in looking back at Arroyo coming out of high school at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. It donned a top-10 positional ranking as the game moved to these hybrid mismatch-type tight ends who are too much physically for smaller defensive backs and yet too skilled for bigger cover defenders.

Arroyo faced some blocking questions coming out of the state of Texas and Petit has some of the same attached to his name coming out of Southwest Florida. More of a jumbo wide receiver at 6-foot-4, just over 200 pounds, there is a dominance of smaller players that Petit has shown. Perhaps most importantly for the projection, there is also plenty of trench experience on defense as a pass rusher to his name, making many in the area quite comfortable with the tight end projection. As the mass is added and it all comes together, Petit could soon be quite the win for a college program.

Farmer was an intriguing big-bodied defensive line recruit coming out of high school and he has since packed on the pounds. Now viewed as more modern interior type at north of 300 pounds, he can aid the depth of the unit on all three downs and it should lead to a selection in the first few rounds come April.

Wilson currently checks in at about 260 pounds but in seeing him live this spring, it's clear that he will continue to add legitimate mass to that frame and work closer to 300 pounds when he hits his college stride. Like Farmer, Wilson is a quicker than fast rusher at this stage with plenty of room to add power to his game and balance out like the three-down player all defenders aspire to project as against both the pass and the run.