A pair of South Carolina defensive backs have declared for the 2026 NFL Draft.
Cornerback Brandon Cisse and safety Jalon Kilgore both told Pete Thamel of ESPN.com that they will be entering next year’s draft pool.
Cisse spent two seasons at N.C. State before transferring to South Carolina for the 2025 season. He had 27 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and an interception in 12 games for the Gamecocks this year.
Kilgore appeared in 36 games for South Carolina over the last three seasons. He had 178 tackles, eight interceptions, a forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries in those games.
The two players will be trying to join Seahawks safety Nick Emmanwori, a 2025 second-round pick, as highly drafted South Carolina defensive backs.
The first round of the 2026 NFL Draft will move a bit faster than in past years.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the league informed teams on Wednesday that the time between first-round picks will be shortened to eight minutes. The previous time limit to make a pick was 10 minutes.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suggested that the league was considering a change during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show in April. Goodell also floated the notion that teams could get a one-time extension per draft if they were trying to complete a trade as the clock neared zero, but there’s no word of such an addendum to the new time limit.
The first round of the 2026 draft will take place in Pittsburgh on April 23.
With the college football regular season over, players are starting to announce their intentions for the 2026 draft and one of the country’s top defensive linemen will be making the jump to the NFL.
Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods declared for the draft on Tuesday. He was a first-team All-ACC selection this year.
Woods spent three seasons at Clemson and finished his time in college with 84 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, and two forced fumbles. He also ran eight times for 15 yards and two touchdowns in short yardage situations this season.
Woods is generally projected to be a first-round pick by draft prognosticators and Tuesday’s call will start his process of convincing a team to make him an early pick in April.
Linebacker Anthony Hill is heading to the NFL.
Hill announced on Monday that he will forego his remaining college eligibility and enter the draft pool for 2026. He spent the last three seasons at the University of Texas, but missed the final two games of the Longhorns’ season with a broken hand.
Hill had 69 tackles, seven tackles for loss, four sacks, two interceptions, three forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery in 10 games this year. He had 180 tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss, 13 sacks, an interception, five forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery over his first two seasons.
The NFL set a tentative date of January 14 for most underclassmen to declare for the 2026 draft. Players who take part in the national title game will have another week or so to make their decisions.
Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson will enter the 2026 NFL draft.
Johnson, who had one more year of NCAA eligibility available, announced today that he has decided to turn pro. Johnson didn’t specifically say he wouldn’t play in Nebraska’s bowl game, but it’s a safe bet that he won’t.
The Big Ten awarded Johnson its Running Back of the Year Award after a season in which he had 251 carries for 1,451 yards and 12 touchdowns, plus 46 catches for 370 yards and three more touchdowns.
Johnson projects as a mid-round pick in next year’s draft.
The Ravens signed nine members of their draft class on Saturday’s first day of rookie minicamp, the team announced.
Offensive tackle Emery Jones Jr. (third round), inside linebacker Teddye Buchanan (fourth round), and offensive tackle Carson Vinson (fifth round) now are signed. Baltimore’s five sixth-round picks – cornerback Bilhal Kone, kicker Tyler Loop, wide receiver LaJohntay Wester, defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles and cornerback Robert Longerbeam — and the team’s final selection, seventh-round guard Garrett Dellinger, also are under contract.
Jones and Dellinger, both from LSU, will compete for roles on Baltimore’s offensive line, along with Vinson, the only HBCU player selected in this year’s NFL draft.
Loop was one of the top kickers in college football in Arizona and is the first kicker to be drafted in Ravens history. He is the likely replacement for Justin Tucker.
Wester will compete to be the Ravens’ top returner as a rookie.
Kone had three career interceptions at Western Michigan and made 70 tackles in 2024. Longerbeam had five career interceptions for Rutgers.
Peebles had three sacks and 31 tackles at Virginia Tech last season.
Two members of Baltimore’s 11-player draft class remain unsigned — first-round safety Malaki Starks (Georgia) and second-round edge rusher Mike Green (Marshall).
The Cowboys have signed seven of their nine draft picks, the team announced Friday.
Offensive guard Tyler Booker, the 12th overall pick, became the first-round selection to agree to his rookie deal. He will receive a four-year, $22.5 million deal with $13 million guaranteed.
“We were both on the same page,” Booker said Friday, via Todd Archer of ESPN. “We know that this rookie contract is just, Lord willing, the first of a couple that I have coming in front of me. I was just focused on getting to work. I wasn’t too worried about the little extremities. That’s some stuff for my agent to worry about, so I told her, ‘Let’s get this thing done. I’m ready to get to work.’”
The Cowboys also signed third-round cornerback Shavon Revel, fifth-round linebacker Shemar James, sixth-round offensive tackle Ajani Cornelius, seventh-round defensive tackle Jay Toia, seventh-round running back Phil Mafah and seventh-round defensive tackle Tommy Akingbesote.
Second-round defensive end Donovan Ezeiruaku and fifth-round running back Jaydon Blue are the Cowboys’ only remaining unsigned draft picks.
Not long after Boston College edge rusher Donovan Ezeiruaku found out he was heading to Dallas, his phone rang again. It was Micah Parsons calling, welcoming him to town.
“It’s going to be fun,” Ezeiruaku said, via Tommy Yarrish of the team website. “He reached out after the draft. He said ‘Let’s get to work,’ and I said, ‘Let’s do it.’
“I’m excited, having somebody of that caliber on the other side of the field. It’ll be very special to see.”
Ezeiruaku was drafted to replaced DeMarcus Lawrence, who, for 11 years, had a big presence on the Cowboys defensive line. Lawrence signed with the Seahawks in free agency and burned a bridge on his way out, with Lawrence and Parsons getting into a public tit for tat.
As much as Parsons wasn’t sad to see Lawrence go, he was as happy to see Ezeiruaku’s arrival in the second round.
Ezeiruaku made 16.5 sacks, 20.5 tackles for loss and three forced fumbles in his senior season and finished his four-year career with 30 sacks, 47 tackles for loss and eight forced fumbles.
“They’re getting somebody who is athletic off the edge but is a dawg,” Ezeiruaku said. “He’s going to stick his nose in there in the run game, and he’s going to get after the quarterback in the passing game. Hard-working dude, a great person off the field, that’s what the Dallas Cowboys are getting out of me.
“You can’t just be a one trick pony. I think that’s kind of what separates me and what separates good and great players. It’s very important to be versatile.”
Georgia State offensive lineman Ben Chukwuma, a native of Nigeria who moved to the U.S. at 17, did not begin playing football until 2020 when he showed up for an open tryout. Chukwuma knew nothing about American football.
Five years later, Chukwuma has the most guaranteed money of any undrafted free agent as the Bucs offered him $300,000 after the draft.
“My potentiality is what makes the NFL teams excited,” Chukwuma told Greg Auman of Fox Sports on Sunday. “They see with my little experience what am I able to do.”
He did not see any game action until 2023 before starting 11 games in 2024. He has played only 23 games in his career.
The 6-foot-6, 310-pounder is a project with potentially a big upside.
“He’s just a big piece of clay that you can make however you want,” former NFL coach Hue Jackson, now Georgia State’s offensive coordinator, told Auman. “Somebody can really pour the right things into him. His growth over the next several months [should be a lot]. He’ll be around NFL guys, and they’ll take him under their wings and let him be what he can be. He’s athletic. He’s long. He’s tough, and he loves football, and he’s going to work hard at it.”
College players who were previously in the transfer portal had a major impact on the 2025 NFL Draft. Take a look at some of the notable stats regarding where transfer players were selected and the path they took to the NFL draft.
MORE NFL DRAFT: Winners and losers | Former five-stars selected on Day 2 | Did Rivals hit or miss on each first-round pick? | First 10 five-stars drafted | Former five-stars that weren’t drafted
MORE TRANSFER PORTAL: Latest news | Transfer search | Transfer Team Ranking | Football Player Ranking
2 - Consecutive drafts where the top two selections were players who transferred while in college
Last year Caleb Williams and Jayden Daniels were picked Nos. 1 and 2 by Chicago and Washington. This year Cam Ward and Travis Hunter were taken with the first two picks, making it the second year in a row that the first two selections were players who had transferred at least once during their college careers.
Williams famously transferred from Oklahoma to USC and Daniels went from Arizona State to LSU.
Ward, who was selected by the Tennessee Titans, began his career at Incarnate Word before transferring to Washington State and then to Miami. Everyone remembers when Hunter shocked the world by flipping from Florida State to Jackson State on National Signing Day in the 2022 class. He went from there to Colorado, where he ended up winning the Heisman Trophy this past season.
2 - Quarterbacks that did not transfer while in college
There were 13 quarterbacks picked in the NFL draft last week and 11 of those selected, including first-round picks Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart, had transferred at least once during their college careers.
The only two drafted quarterbacks who didn’t transfer while in college are Jalen Milroe from Alabama and Cam Miller from North Dakota State. Milroe was the fourth quarterback to get picked and went to Seattle in the third round. He signed with Alabama in the 2021 class as a top-100 prospect and started for the Crimson Tide the last two seasons.
Miller, who was picked by the Las Vegas Raiders in the sixth round, signed with North Dakota State in the 2020 recruiting class. He won two FCS national championships and finished his career with North Dakota State records for total offensive yards, completion percentage, completions and passing yards.
31 - Players picked in the first three rounds transferred at least once in college
Cam Ward, Travis Hunter, Walter Nolen, Derrick Harmon, Matthew Golden, Jaxson Dart and Josh Simmons were the seven players picked in the first round of the draft who transferred at least once during their college careers.
There were 24 more of them picked before the end of round three. That equates to just over 30-percent of the first three rounds of the NFL draft.
13 - Transfers picked in the first three rounds that started their careers at non-Power Four programs
A growing number of players from lower levels of college football are transferring up to Power Four programs and many of them are able to develop into high draft picks. There were 13 players picked in the first three rounds of the draft who began their careers outside of the Power Four conferences.
Cam Ward (Incarnate Word), Travis Hunter (Jackson State), and Josh Simmons (San Diego State) were each first-round picks despite not starting their careers at major football schools.
The second round featured former Eastern Kentucky receiver Jayden Higgins who finished his college career at Iowa State, Ole Miss receiver Tre Harris who first suited up for Louisiana Tech and defensive back Trey Amos who began his career at Louisiana before transferring to Alabama and then Ole Miss.
There were seven players picked in the third round who started their careers at non-Power Four programs. Washington State receiver Kyle Williams (UNLV), Arkansas receiver Isaac TeSlaa (Hillsdale), Cal defensive back Nohl Williams (UNLV), Tulane defensive back Caleb Ransaw (Troy), Michigan edge defender Josaiah Stewart (Coastal Carolina), Western Kentucky defensive back Upton Stout (North Texas) and Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who started his career at UCF when the Knights were still playing in the AAC.
5 - Players who transferred at least twice while in college picked in the first three rounds
Speaking of Gabriel, the former Oregon, Oklahoma, UCLA (briefly) and UCF quarterback is one of five players picked in the first three rounds of the draft who transferred multiple times during their college careers.
Of course, No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward transferred twice before he left the college ranks, starting his career at Incarnate Word and then transferring to Washington State and then to Miami. Former Louisville quarterback Tyler Shough, who was selected in the second round by New Orleans, began his career at Oregon before transferring to Texas Tech and then to Louisville.
Also in the second round, Cincinnati picked linebacker Demetrius Knight, who signed with Georgia Tech in the 2019 class and then transferred to Charlotte before finishing his career at South Carolina. Defensive back Trey Amos, who was selected by Washington in the second round, was first playing for Louisiana before he transferred to Alabama and then Ole Miss.
1 - Offensive lineman picked in the first three rounds that transferred during their college career
There were 19 offensive linemen picked in the first three rounds of the NFL draft and only one of them transferred after beginning career at an FBS school. Ohio State’s Josh Simmons was picked in the first round by the Kansas City Chiefs. Simmons signed with San Diego State in the 2021 recruiting class and redshirted his first year with the Aztecs. He started every game during his second season and then transferred to Ohio State prior to the start of the 2023 season.
Editor’s Note: This article first appeared on Rivals.com, the leader in college football and basketball recruiting coverage. Be the first to know and follow your teams by signing up here.
