{"id":239687,"date":"2026-04-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/22\/our-top-three-nfl-draft-picks-the-gist\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T00:00:00","slug":"our-top-three-nfl-draft-picks-the-gist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/22\/our-top-three-nfl-draft-picks-the-gist\/","title":{"rendered":"Our top three NFL Draft picks | The GIST"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>The GIST: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6297221\/2025\/04\/22\/nfl-draft-2025-music-espn-sound\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Cue the chime<\/a> because the 2026 NFL Draft begins tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From the coveted No. 1 pick to the selection of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/story\/_\/id\/39893871\/mr-irrelevant-underdog-nfl-draft-brock-purdy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mr. Irrelevant<\/a> at No. 257, the picks keep comin\u2019 and they don\u2019t stop comin\u2019 for seven rounds spanning tomorrow through Saturday.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Before the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/blog\/playbook\/fandom\/post\/_\/id\/21119\/a-brief-history-of-goodells-nfl-hugfest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bear hugs<\/a> take center stage, let\u2019s discuss the trio of college stars that could be taken in the top three. Hut, hut, here we go.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f No. 1 pick, Las Vegas Raiders \u2014 quarterback (QB) Fernando Mendoza:<\/strong> The consensus No. 1 selection, reigning NCAA champ Mendoza is exactly what the Raiders need: a franchise QB. And the Heisman Trophy winner will be set up for success. Vegas recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raiders.com\/news\/raiders-sign-kirk-cousins-quarterback-nfl-2026-free-agency-transactions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">signed veteran signal caller<\/a> Kirk Cousins, who\u2019ll mentor the Raiders\u2019 anticipated top pick alongside <a href=\"https:\/\/bleacherreport.com\/articles\/25420362-fernando-mendoza-talks-possibility-playing-tom-brady-raiders-not-attending-nfl-draft\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a certain minority owner<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2708\ufe0f No. 2 pick, NY Jets \u2014 defensive end David Bailey:<\/strong> The Texas Tech product is the best pass rusher in the draft, making him the perfect addition to a team that recorded <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nfl.com\/stats\/team-stats\/defense\/passing\/2025\/reg\/all\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the second-fewest sacks<\/a> in the league last season. The perennially down-bad Jets need a defensive disrupter ASAP, and Bailey fits the mold perfectly.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u2764\ufe0f No. 3 pick, Arizona Cardinals \u2014 linebacker Arvell Reese: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sports.yahoo.com\/articles\/kansas-city-chiefs-working-big-175933812.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rumor has it<\/a> the Cards might swap picks with Kansas City (who have the No. 9 selection), but whoever ends up with the No. 3 pick <em>should<\/em> take Reese. The former Ohio State Buckeye is explosive, versatile, and has a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ingMtq5Urwc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">penchant for big plays<\/a>, the perfect addition to a pair of defenses that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nfl\/stats\/team\/_\/view\/turnovers\/table\/miscellaneous\/sort\/totalTakeaways\/dir\/desc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">struggled to force turnovers<\/a> last season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\n  n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\n  document,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n  fbq('init', '1716705275141133'); \/\/ Insert your pixel ID here.\n  fbq('track', 'PageView');\n      <\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thegistsports.com\/article\/our-top-three-nfl-draft-picks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The GIST: Cue the chime because the 2026 NFL Draft begins tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From the coveted No. 1 pick to the selection of Mr. Irrelevant at No. 257, the picks keep comin\u2019 and they don\u2019t stop comin\u2019 for seven rounds spanning tomorrow through Saturday. Before the bear hugs take [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":239688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6805],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-239687","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-womens"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239687\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}