NFL Player News

The Bengals selected Endries in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 221st overall.

Endries (6-foot-5, 245 pounds) began his collegiate career with a redshirt 2022 campaign at California, which he followed up with two consecutive years as a starter from 2023-24 before transferring to Texas. In his sole season as the Longhorns' starting tight end in 2025, Endries compiled 33 catches for 346 yards and three scores, a step down from the 56-626-2 line he logged with the Golden Bears in 2024. Endries has the size to find a role at the NFL level but lacks difference-making athleticism, so as a rookie he could have a difficult time competing for depth reps with Erick All (ACL), Drew Sample, Tanner Hudson and Cam Grandy (chest) behind top tight end Mike Gesicki.

Detroit selected West in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 222nd overall.

West spent his entire four-year college career in Tennessee, and while he wasn't a consistent starter on defense for the Volunteers, he did see his playing time steadily increase. He finished the 2025 season with 23 total tackles, including 4.0 sacks, one forced fumble and one pass defense across 12 games. West primarily operated as an edge rusher in college but would also line up in a three-point stance on the interior defensive line. The latter position could be his calling card in the NFL, given his shorter stature (6-foot-2, 283-pound frame).

The Bills selected Pride in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 220th overall.

Pride, out of Missouri, has plenty of speed to keep up with opposing wideouts at the NFL level, posting the second-best 40-yard dash time (4.32) among defensive players at the NFL Combine. However, he's a bit on the smaller side (5-foot-10, 185 pounds) and can struggle with bigger wideouts. He's a solid tackler for his size and likely will be asked to contribute on special teams to maintain a 53-man roster spot.

The Saints selected Hall in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 219th overall.

Like seemingly all Hawkeyes cornerbacks, Hall (6-foot-1, 189 pounds) is a rugged player who is well-versed on the fundamentals. The unfortunate contrast to recent Iowa standouts Cooper DeJean and Riley Moss is that Hall is a below-average athlete by cornerback standards, logging just a 4.59-second 40-yard dash with short arms (30 inches) ill suited to press coverage. If Hall's lack of athletic traits don't hold him back, there's reason to think he has the skill set necessary to at least provide quality cornerback depth at the NFL level.

The Cowboys selected Smith in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 218th overall.

Smith did little of note through four years at NC State, but he exploded after transferring to East Carolina for his final two seasons of college ball, generating 105 catches for 1,852 yards and 13 touchdowns. Despite not having a polished route tree, he can win deep balls with a 4.40 40-yard dash at 6-foot-2, 197 pounds. Smith didn't play special teams at ECU but should have the ability to contribute in that facet. It will be difficult to break into the offensive rotation with CeeDee Lamb, George Pickens, Ryan Flournoy and KaVontae Turpin taking nearly all the reps.

The Falcons selected Perkins in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 215th overall.

Perkins didn't wait long to find the field at LSU, starting for three-plus seasons in Baton Rouge. He racked up 56 tackles and 4.0 sacks as a senior, adding three interceptions and a forced fumble to boot. He's a versatile player who started at multiple positions in college due to his tweener size, and it remains to be seen where he will settle in at the next level. He could play a hybrid safety-linebacker role, but his first order of business is proving he belongs with a good showing in camp.

The Packers selected Smack in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 216th overall.

Smack joins Green Bay via the final pick of the sixth round as the first kicker off the board in the 2026 NFL Draft. As a freshman with Florida in 2022, he operated in a specialist role before taking over as the Gators' starting kicker from 2023-25, a three-year span in which he compiled an 82.8 percent field-goal conversion rate. Smack boasts a big leg, having converted 10 of 13 field-goal attempts from 50-plus yards, and he'll have an opportunity to compete with Brandon McManus and Lucas Havrisik for the Packers' starting kicker gig this offseason.

The Cardinals selected Williams in the seventh round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 217th overall.

Williams spent his entire five-year college career at Ole Miss, serving as a starter both at left and right tackle. He has good size with a 6-foot-4, 307-pound frame and excels in space as a blocker on run and screen plays, but he projects as a development product who could spend time on the practice squad. Williams slots in as a reserve offensive tackle behind Paris Johnson and Elijah Wilkinson.

The Colts selected Curry in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 214th overall.

If the draft were just a matter of selecting the most productive college football players, then Curry (6-foot-3, 257 pounds) would have gone much earlier than this. It's almost puzzling that Curry could lead the 2025 Buckeyes defense in tackles for loss (16.5) and sacks (11.0) and still fall this far in the draft, especially given all the other star-level talent boasted by the Buckeyes defense. Curry was a backup for his first three years at Ohio State, however, and his short arms (30 and 1/8 inches) might leave him less effective at shedding blocks than he was at the college level. Some great collegiate players just don't really translate to the pro level due to lack of athletic traits, and Curry's grades on that front are poor enough that he likely projects as a backup in the NFL.

The Bears selected van den Berg in the sixth round of the 2026 NFL Draft, 213th overall.

The Bears sent the Bills two seventh-round picks to move up and take van den Berg. A six-year collegiate athlete, van den Berg spent his final two seasons at Georgia Tech, starting 20 of 26 games and producing 67 tackles, 16.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. He was a late bloomer but managed to earn All-ACC honors in his final season before running a 4.94 40-yard dash at 6-foot-3, 310 pounds at his pro day. There's room for him to grow with that level of athleticism, and the 2025 tape showed a player with the requisite skills to potentially earn a role in the NFL.