What NFL Scouts are Saying About Texas' Top Draft Prospects

The 2026 NFL Draft is all but here, and several Texas Longhorns can only sit and wait to hear their names called.

While it is impossible to know what will happen in the ever-unpredictable Draft, evaluators should have their minds made up about prospects at this point in the cycle.

Here is what some of those evaluators think about Texas' top draft prospects.

Anthony Hill Jr.

Anthony Hill Jr. is a thumping, playmaking linebacker who was highly productive across three seasons at Texas.

The projected top-pick to come out of Austin this draft, here is what the Ringer's Todd McShay had to say about Hill.

"At his best, he’s a downhill run defender who excels at shooting through gaps," McShay said. "Hill is talented enough to develop into a starter early in his career, and he can make an immediate impact in sub-packages."

McShay has Hill as his second-best linebacker in the class and believes he is worth a second or even first-round pick. Other scouts do not feel as strongly.

According to Bob McGinn, who canvases NFL scouts anonymously in addition to grading prospects himself, he thought Hill the eighth-best linebacker in his class.

"He got a lot of hype off the body and the athletic ability. He was a 5-star, and you could probably say that about him now,” one scout said to Bob McGinn. “But as an inside backer there isn’t great take-on. As an outside backer, (he's) not just a pure edge rusher. He’s sort of caught between and not really great at either one."

Opinions shared privately are typically more negative, this scout is in an NFL draft room, so his opinion should be held somewhat seriously.

It is safest to assume that Hill will fall somewhere in between both of those projections, being the third or fourth linebacker taken.

Malik Muhammad

Malik Muhammad is an experienced cover corner who excelled at the Combine and Senior Bowl, boosting his stock more than any other Longhorn has during the pre-draft process.

Here is what the Athletic's Dane Brugler said about the veteran defensive back.

"Muhammad is a tall, skinny athlete with quality coverage-match talent," Brugler said. "He doesn’t consistently play up to his timed speed, but he does show lateral agility and strain to stay attached to routes."

Brugler's comments about Muhammad's 'timed speed' is based on the fact that Muhammad ran much faster at the Combine, a 4.42-second 40-yard dash, than he seemed to on tape.

Still, Brugler held Muhammad as the 11th-best cornerback in the class and a third-round pick.

McGinn was, once again, lower on Muhammad, but still had him in his top-14.

"He’ll probably rise because he is extremely intelligent and he’s played a lot of football," an NFL scout told McGinn. "He’s not all that sudden or twitchy, but the guy knows football better than a lot of (players) I talked to this spring."

Muhammad's knowledge comes with experience, as he played in 40 games at Texas.

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