The Athletic Ranks and Evaluates Louisville's Top 2026 NFL Draft Prospects

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For the members of the Louisville football program who have declared for the 2026 NFL Draft, the has almost come when they will learn where, or if, they will be selected. The first day of the three-day draft is roughly two weeks away, and is set to begin on Thursday, Apr. 23 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

With the draft nearly hear, The Athletic's Dane Brugler recently released his annual NFL Draft Guide, nicknamed 'The Beast'. It includes comprehensive scouting reports for over 400 prospects, NFL-verified testing information for more than 2,700 prospects, and includes rankings and breakdowns for a few of Louisville's top draft prospects.

Brugler has only one of Louisville's NFL Draft hopefuls ranked within his top 100, and unsurprisingly, it's Chris Bell. He not only ranked Bell as the No. 8 wide receiver in this year's draft class, but the No. 47 overall prospect, projecting him as a second round prospect. While Brugler is a little weary of Bell's route running, ACL injury and a few other improvable aspects, he loves the athletic intangibles that make him a borderline first-round pick.

"Bell is still rough around the edges in several areas, but he is big, strong and explosive — and it is hard to find those guys, especially with Bell’s receiving talent," Brugler wrote. "An ACL injury complicates his draft grade, but he earned an NFL starter projection when healthy."

While Bell is the only Louisville player that Brugler is projecting to be selected in the first two days of the draft, he has Rene Konga projected as a fifth or sixth round pick, and tabs him as the No. 18 defensive tackle in the draft class. Brugler loves the physicality and effort that Konga brings to the table.

"Konga put disruptive flashes on tape, with short-area quickness and violent hands to impact both phases," he wrote. "He is the type of ascending prospect worth bringing to your building."

Bell and Konga are the only two Louisville players that Brugler projects as getting drafted, but that being said, he projects that Caullin Lacy will be a priority undrafted free agent and ranks him as the No. 51 overall wide receiver. Like most pundits, he's weary of Lacy's size, but loves his playmaking ability.

"Lacy is undersized with average production (never hit 100 yards receiving in any of his 18 games at Louisville), but he has the vision and acceleration to be dangerous with the ball in his hands," Brugler wrote.

While several other Louisville prospects were not given full-on evaluations, Brugler still ranked them on his positional big boards:

Wesley Bailey: No. 51 EDGE
David Chapeau: No. 33 P
Jayshaun Coffman: No. 186 DT
Dacari Collins: No. 192 WR
JoJo Evans: No. 59 S
Jordan Guerad: No. 69 DT
D’Angelo Hutchinson: No. 178 S
Rodney Johnson: No. 226 CB
Shai Kochav: No. 24 LS
Denzel Lowry: No. 143 DT
Jabari Mack: No. 109 CB
Rasheed Miller: No. 44 OT
Miller Moss: No. 22 QB
Mahamane Moussa: No. 60 OG
Pete Nygra: No. 19 OC
Kalib Perry: No. 47 LB
Makylan Pounders: No. 114 OT
T.J. Quinn: No. 38 LB
Trevonte Sylvester: No. 31 OT

You can view his 2026 NFL Draft Guide, complete with full evaluations of Bell, Konga and Lacy here.

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