ACC/NC In 2026 NFL Draft:
Miami, Clemson, Duke, NC State Stars
Lead Parade Of High-Profile Prospects
By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated April 20, 2026)
More than a dozen prominent players from the Atlantic Coast Conference are expected to be selected in the early rounds of the 2026 National Football League draft, a three-day event that begins Thursday night, with those from Miami, Clemson and Louisville leading the way.
Within North Carolina, all four ACC programs expect to have one or more players selected. Duke cornerback Chandler Rivers, NC State tight end Justin Joly (pictured above), Wake Forest running back Demond Claiborne and UNC cornerback Thaddeus Dixon rank among the most highly regarded Big Four prospects this year.
Top players from North Carolina-based programs such as Appalachian State, Campbell, Charlotte, East Carolina, Elon, Gardner-Webb, Johnson C Smith, Lenoir-Rhyne, North Carolina A&T, NC Central and Western Carolina (please see lists below) also have a chance to hear their names called, either during the three-day (Thursday-Saturday), seven-round event or as undrafted free agents in its aftermath.
Over the past decade, the NFL draft regularly has drawn an average audience of more than 10 million viewers for its first-round coverage (8 pm, ABC/ESPN/ESPN Deportes/NFL Network/NFL+) and an average of more than 5 million over the event’s three days.
As usual, the Southeastern Conference and the Big Ten Conference are expected to have by far the most first-round draft picks and the most overall selections this year. Below are the combined numbers, by conference, from the 2023, 2024 and 2025 NFL drafts.
2023/2024/2025 NFL Drafts
(Overall Selections By Conference)
201—Southeastern Conference (SEC)
168—Big Ten Conference
115—Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
92—Big 12 Conference
71—Pac-12 Conference (now disbanded)
22—Independents
21—American Athletic Conference (AAC)
16—Sun Belt Conference
13—Mid-American Conference
13—Mountain West Conference
7—Conference USA
4—Big Sky Conference
4—Missouri Valley Conference
2—Coastal Athletic Association
2—Southwestern Athletic Conference
1—Atlantic Sun Conference
1—Great Lakes Conference
1—Ivy League
1—Northeast Conference
1—Ohio Valley Conference
1—South Atlantic Conference
1—United Athletic Conference
1—Western Athletic Conference
Since 2000, the ACC has produced the third-most first-round NFL draft picks (122), behind only the SEC (235) and the Big Ten (144).
Below is a summary of the top NFL draft prospects from ACC and North Carolina-based programs this year.
Top-Rated ACC Prospects
Miami DE Rueben Bain Jr. (6-2/263)
Miami OT Francis Mauigoa (6-6/329)
Clemson CB Avieon Terrell (5-11/184)
Miami DE Akheem Mesidor (6-3/259)
Clemson OT Blake Miller (6-7/317)
Clemson DE TJ Parker (6-4/263)
Clemson DT Peter Woods (6-3/298)
Louisville WR Chris Bell (6-2/222)
Miami S Keionte Scott (5-11/191)
Pitt LB Kyle Louis (6-0/230)
Clemson WR Antonio Williams (5-11/187)
Georgia Tech OG Keylan Rutledge (6-3/316)
Duke CB Chandler Rivers (5-9/185)
NC State TE Justin Joly (6-3/241)
Miami OT Markel Bell (6-9/346)
Top-Rated NC (Non-ACC) Prospects
East Carolina WR Anthony Smith (6-2/197)
Other Prominent ACC Prospects
Florida State DT Darrell Jackson Jr. (6-5/315)
Clemson DT Demonte Capehart (6-5/313)
North Carolina CB Thaddeus Dixon (6-0/195)
Louisville DT Rene Konga (6-4/298)
Stanford CB Collin Wright (6-0/188)
Cal CB Hezekiah Masses (6-0/179)
Stanford TE Sam Roush (6-6/267)
Wake Forest RB Demond Claiborne (5-10/188)
Duke OC Brian Parker II (6-5/309)
Miami S Jakobe Thomas (6-1/214)
Boston College OG Logan Taylor (6-6/314)
NC State DT Brandon Cleveland (6-3/307)
Duke DE Wesley Williams (6-3/256)
Boston College OT Jude Bowry (6-5/314)
Wake Forest OT Fa’alili Fa’amoe (6-5/314)
Miami QB Carson Beck (6-5/233)
Virginia RB J’Mari Taylor (5-10/197)
Miami OG Anez Cooper (6-6/342)
Clemson LB Wade Woodaz (6-3/234)
Georgia Tech DT Jordan Van Den Berg (6-3/310)
Georgia Tech CB Ahmari Harvey (5-11/187)
North Carolina CB Marcus Allen (6-1/187)
Clemson QB Cade Klubnik (6-2/207)
Virginia LB Daniel Rickert (6-1/236)
Georgia Tech QB Haynes King (6-2/212)
Miami LB Wesley Bissainthe (6-2/224)
SMU S Ahmaad Moses (5-9/196)
Louisville DE Wesley Bailey (6-4/260)
SMU WR Jordan Hudson (6-1/199)
Duke DT Aaron Hall (6-4/297)
Virginia S Devin Neal (5-11/208)
Wake Forest S Nick Andersen (5-11/195)
North Carolina S Gavin Gibson (5-11/192)
Syracuse S Duce Chestnut (5-10/200)
SMU S Isaiah Nwokobia (6-0/206)
Cal CB Brent Austin (5-11/180)
Wake Forest DT Jayden Loving (6-1/309)
SMU DE Isaiah Smith (6-3/246)
Clemson RB Adam Randall (6-3/232)
Virginia Tech LB Ben Bell (6-1/243)
Boston College WR Lewis Bond (5-11/190)
NC State DE Sebastian Harsh (6-2/255)
Georgia Tech RB Jamal Haynes (5-7/195)
Stanford DE Clay Patterson (6-2/283)
SMU TE Matthew Hibner (6-4/251)
North Carolina DE Smith Vilbert (6-5/290)
SMU DE Cameron Robertson (6-3/253)
Syracuse LB David Reese (6-1/240)
Miami OC James Brockermeyer (6-3/298)
Clemson OT Tristan Leigh (6-4/312)
Georgia Tech WR Eric Rivers (5-10/176)
Miami WR CJ Daniels (6-2/200)
Louisville WR Caullin Lacy (5-9/183)
Florida State OT Micah Pettus (6-7/335)
Boston College DE Quintayvious Hutchins (6-3/233)
SMU WR Romello Brinson (6-1/177)
Duke DE Vincent Anthony Jr. (6-5/259)
SMU TE RJ Maryland (6-4/236)
Louisville OC Pete Nygra (6-3/300)
NC State DE Cian Slone (6-3/241)
Virginia Tech RB Terion Stewart (5-6/219)
Virginia DE Mitchell Melton (6-3/253)
Syracuse TE Dan Villari (6-4/243)
NC State CB Devon Marshall (5-10/194)
Louisville OT Trevonte Sylvester (6-5/294)
Virginia Tech OG Tomas Rimac (6-6/317)
Florida State OC Luke Petitbon (6-2/304)
Syracuse DT Kevin Nobity Jr. (6-4/308)
SMU DT Jeffrey M’Ba (6-5/310)
Virginia DT Jahmeer Carter (6-2/300)
North Carolina OG Daniel King (6-3/328)
Cal OG Jordan Spasojevic-Moko (6-4/324)
Syracuse OG TJ Ferguson (6-3/303)
NC State LB Caden Fordham (6-1/223)
North Carolina LB Andrew Simpson (6-0/232)
Duke LB Tre Freeman (5-11/236)
Duke OG Justin Pickett (6-6/311)
Clemson OG Walker Parks (6-4/309)
Wake Forest CB Karon Prunty (6-1/190)
Syracuse OG Mark Petry (6-4/298)
Pitt RB Desmond Reid (5-7/176)
Virginia Tech WR Donavon Greene (6-1/200)
Louisville OT Rasheed Miller (6-6/301)
Syracuse P Jack Stonehouse (6-2/211)
Georgia Tech P Marshall Nichols (6-1/222)
North Carolina PK Rece Verhoff (5-11/212)
Miami PK Carter Davis (6-0/218)
Duke RB Anderson Castle (5-11/221)
Florida State OT Gunnar Hansen (6-4/311)
Duke RB Jaquez Moore (5-9/223)
Stanford WR CJ Williams (6-1/203)
Syracuse OT Da’metrius Weatherspoon (6-6/306)
NC State WR Wesley Grimes (6-2/194)
Boston College TE Jeremiah Franklin (6-3/225)
Duke OT Bruno Fina (6-5/306)
North Carolina OC Austin Blaske (6-4/311)
Georgia Tech WR Malik Rutherford (5-8/160)
Pitt OT Jeff Persi (6-7/312)
Virginia WR Cam Ross (5-10/186)
NC State TE Cody Hardy (6-4/265)
Boston College LS Ben Mann (6-4/235)
North Carolina LS Spencer Triplett (6-2/231)
Other NC (Non-ACC) Prospects
Appalachian State TE Izayah Cummings (6-3/243)
Appalachian State OL Shamarr Jackson (6-1/293)
Appalachian State RB Rashod Dubinion (5-10/204)
Campbell CB Brandon Guzman (5-11/183)
Charlotte TE Joey Bearns III (6-1/294)
Charlotte LB Colby Garfield (6-1/233)
Charlotte S Ja’Qurious Conley (6-1/214)
Charlotte LB Reid Williford (6-2/235)
Charlotte S Randy Franklin (6-0/205)
Charlotte TE Joey Bearns III (6-1/294)
East Carolina PK Nick Mazzie (6-0/217)
East Carolina LS Triston O’Brien (6-2/239)
East Carolina OC Darius Bell (6-4/303)
East Carolina RB Marlon Gunn Jr. (5-10/216)
East Carolina LB Samuel Dankah (6-5/218)
East Carolina OT Jayson Tarpeh (6-6/329)
East Carolina CB Jonathan Jean (5-10/191)
Elon P Jeff Yurk (6-1/225)
Gardner-Webb TE Elvin Fofanah (6-3/238)
Gardner-Webb RB Quasean Holmes (5-9/200)
Gardner-Webb WR Anthony Lowe (5-9/177)
Johnson C Smith WR Deandre Proctor (6-1/218)
Lenoir-Rhyne OT Paris Smith Jr. (6-7/350)
North Carolina A&T CB Aaron Harris (5-9/192)
North Carolina A&T OG Korion Sharpe (6-3/307)
NC Central OC Noah McKinney (6-2/299)
NC Central QB Walker Harris (6-1/202)
NC Central RB Chris Mosley (5-9/183)
NC Central TE Luke Bracey (6-3/264)
NC Central LB Makai McCall (6-3/230)
Western Carolina WR Dominic Dutton (5-9/166)
Prominent Former ACC/NC Players
Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza (6-5/236) — formerly of Cal
Texas Tech DE David Bailey (6-4/250) — formerly of Stanford
LSU CB Mansoor Delane (6-0/187) — formerly of Virginia Tech
Texas Tech LB Jacob Rodriguez — formerly of Virginia
Texas A&M WR KC Concepcion (6-0/196) — formerly of NC State
Notre Dame WR Malachi Fields (6-4/218) — formerly of Virginia
South Carolina CB Brandon Cisse (5-11/189) — formerly of NC State
TCU LB Kaleb Elarms-Orr (6-2/234) — formerly of Cal
Texas Tech DE Romello Height (6-2/238) — formerly of Georgia Tech
Florida DT Caleb Banks (6-6/327) — formerly of Louisville
Boston College OG Logan Taylor (6-6/314) — formerly of Virginia
Missouri OG Keagen Trost (6-4/313) — formerly of Wake Forest
Memphis OT Travis Burke (6-8/332) — formerly of Gardner-Webb
Ole Miss OT Diego Pounds (6-6/330) — formerly of UNC
Southern Cal S Bishop Fitzgerald (5-11/201) — formerly of NC State
Wisconsin DE Mason Reiger (6-4/251) — formerly of Louisville
Michigan State OC Matt Gulbin (6-3/302) — formerly of Wake Forest
Kansas OT Enrique Cruz Jr. (6-5/310) — formerly of Syracuse
Virginia RB J’Mari Taylor (5-10/197) — formerly of NC Central
Georgia WR Colbie Young (6-4/218) — formerly of Miami
UCF DE Nyjalik Kelly (6-5/263) — formerly of Miami
Florida State OC Luke Petitbon (6-2/304) — formerly of Wake Forest
LSU DE Patrick Payton (6-4/254) — formerly of Florida State
Oklahoma DE Marvin Jones Jr. (6-5/252) — formerly of Florida State
Oregon WR Malik Benson (6-0/189) — formerly of Florida State
Texas TE Jack Endries (6-4/245) — formerly of Cal
Ole Miss TE Dae’Quan Wright (6-3/252) — formerly of Virginia Tech
UCLA DT Gary Smith III (6-1/323) — formerly of Duke
Notre Dame S Jalen Stroman (6-0/203) — formerly of Virginia Tech
Tennessee QB Joey Aguilar (6-3/229) — formerly of Appalachian State
Pitt RB Desmond Reid (5-7/176) — formerly of Western Carolina
Tennessee RB Star Thomas (5-11/200) — formerly of Duke
Oklahoma RB Jaydn Ott (5-11/198) — formerly of Cal
SMU WR Romello Brinson (6-1/177) — formerly of Miami
Missouri WR Kevin Coleman Jr. (5-10/178) — formerly of Louisville
Virginia Tech WR Donavon Greene (6-1/200) — formerly of Wake Forest
Florida WR J. Michael Sturdivant (6-2/210) — formerly of Cal
East Carolina WR Anthony Smith (6-2/197) — formerly of NC State
Penn State WR Trebor Pena (5-10/187) — formerly of Syracuse
NC State TE Cody Hardy (6-4/265) — formerly of Elon
