National Buzz Continues to Build Around BYU’s 2026 Season

Over the last two years, BYU has gone 23-4. Going into 2026, the Cougars are widely viewed as a preseason top 15 team. Last year, the national spotlight turned away from BYU once Jake Retzlaff left the program for Tulane. This year, the national spotlight continues to grow as Fall Camp approaches.

This week, two national outlets highlighted the talent on BYU's 2026 roster.

Does BYU Have the Best Offensive Line in College Football?

Does BYU have the best offensive line in college football? Bleacher Report seems to think so. Bleacher Report ranked BYU's offensive line number one in college football heading into 2026.

BYU's offensive line was effective in every game last season except the two Texas Tech games. In those two games, BYU was simply outmatched in the trenches. However, that was a historically good Tech defensive line, and all four of their starters are now in the NFL. It's reasonable to believe that BYU won't face a defensive line in 2026 that was as good as the 2025 Tech defensive line.

If BYU is going to be the best offensive line in college football, three things would need to happen:

1. Right tackle Andrew Gentry takes a step forward

Andrew Gentry was good for BYU in 2026. He only allowed one sack and one quarterback hit. Still, there are reasons to believe that Gentry could take a step forward this season. Remember, Gentry was coming off a Lisfranc injury in 2025. He was unable to participate in 2025 Spring Camp and he wasn't cleared to participate until summer workouts.

With a full offseason and a complete knowledge of BYU's scheme (2025 was Gentry's first year at BYU after transferring in from Michigan), Gentry should be a better player in 2026 than he was in 2025.

2. Paki Finau lives up to his potential at left tackle

Washington transfer Paki Finau is on track to start for BYU at left tackle in 2026. Finau appeared in 13 games for Washington in 2025 and started four games. Finau was effective in 2025, allowing just one quarterback hit and no sacks in 229 pass block snaps per PFF.

However, he primarily played guard. His worst game came when he played tackle. In that game, he allowed one quarterback hit and a couple more quarterback hurries. Finau was a four-star tackle prospect coming out of high school. If BYU is going to be the best offensive line in college football, Paki Finau has to live up his star rating and be a star for BYU's offense.

3. BYU finds two reliable guards

BYU returns All Big 12 selection Bruce Mitchell at center. Next to Mitchell, BYU will need to find two guards that separate themselves from the rest of the pack. The Cougars have various players that could start in those spots, namely Kyle Sfarcioc, Trevin Ostler, Sonny Makasini, Joe Brown, and Zac Yamauchi.

The Cougars will have tons of depth at guard, but they will need two to separate themselves to be the best offensive line in college football.

Could BYU Have 10 Players Drafted in 2027?

CBS Sports reported that NFL front offices view BYU as a top 10 program in terms of 2027 NFL Draft talent. Specifically, they cited five players that could go in the first three rounds of the draft: LJ Martin, Cade Uluave, Isaiah Glasker, Evan Johnson, and Faletau Satuala.

Earlier this year, we listed the top 10 BYU players that are most likely to be drafted next year. Our top five matched the top five that CBS listed as potential NFL prospects. Besides those five, we also listed Bruce Mitchell, Keanu Tanuvasa, Walker Lyons, Andrew Gentry, and Raider Damuni.

In terms of NFL Draft picks, BYU has been college football's greatest outlier over the last two years. Only Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, and Notre Dame have better winning percentages than BYU over the last two seasons. From 2024-2025, nine teams in college football had winning percentages above 79%. Excluding BYU, the other eight teams averaged 16.1 NFL Draft picks each, and all of them have had at least 10 players drafted. BYU, meanwhile, is the far outlier. The Cougars had just two players drafted over the last two years.

Winning percentage and NFL Draft picks of P4 teams (Prior two years) | BYU On SI

Perhaps BYU was college football's great outlier because its best NFL talent was young. The talent that was young in 2024 could turn into NFL draft selections in 2027.

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