The Rich Top 5: Our Favorite Picks from the 2026 NFL Draft

Rich rolled out his top five favorite picks from the 2026 NFL Draft on The Rich Eisen Show, and the criteria was simple. Gut. Feel. Fit. Moment.

Number five went to Jennings Dunker, taken 96th overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Stow-Munroe Falls product showed up to the broadcast in a hoodie with the terrible towel held high and a mullet flowing behind him. Rich called the photograph straight out of a fifth grade Sears portrait.

"Going to be a new folk hero in Western Pennsylvania," Rich said. The cherry on top: Mike Tomlin getting up to clap in the draft room.

Number four was Olu Vena Yawani out of Penn State, drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. Rich admitted he was the only voice on TV or radio still riding hard for the interior lineman. He framed it as a vintage Ravens pick and pushed back on the idea that guards should not go in the top ten. He invoked Steve Hutchinson and the Seattle Seahawks as proof of what a left guard can do for a running game. Now Yawani gets to clear runways for Derrick Henry.

"If there's no diminishing returns from the diminisher, he's going to be dominant again," Rich said.

Number three was the first overall pick, Fernando Mendoza to the Las Vegas Raiders. Rich liked the fit. He liked that Mendoza, a self-described milk drinker, lands in a city once defined by quarterbacks who studied playbooks by the light of a jukebox. He also liked that the rookie does not have to start right away.

Number two went to the Dallas Cowboys for the selection of Caleb Downs. Rich called Downs a pro's pro at a position the Cowboys desperately needed addressed. Dallas moved up one spot to make sure it happened. If Downs becomes the Derwin James, Kyle Hamilton, or Christian Gonzalez of his class, Rich said, the rest of the defense only has to be average.

Number one was a duo. Uzochukwu Bernard and Eli Heidenreich.

Bernard, a 251st overall selection by the Philadelphia Eagles out of the international player pathway program, has never played a snap of organized football. The Nigerian prospect took up basketball at 16, surfaced at the 2024 NFL Nigeria camp, and reappeared a year later at the NFL Africa camp in Cairo. He measured 6'4 and a half, 306 pounds, with a 39 inch vertical, a 10'10 broad jump, and a 4.63 forty at six percent body fat. Rich noted that Myles Garrett is the same height and ran a 4.64 at his combine.

Heidenreich, a Navy product, came off the board to the Pittsburgh Steelers at 230. He went to Mount Lebanon High School. He set Navy's single game receiving record with 243 yards and tied the school record with three touchdowns in that same game against Air Force. He walked out of the green room in his service dress whites while Renegade played.

Rich called the pairing what the country is supposed to be about. A military man celebrated by his hometown team. An immigrant from Nigeria getting his shot at a sport made in America.

A bonus pick covered the Mr. Irrelevant conundrum. Denver held the last two picks. Tight end Don Bentley went 256. Linebacker Red Murdoch went 257 and gets the parade, the Disneyland day, and the charity event. Rich said in 23 years he could not remember another time one team controlled the final two slots.