By Cooper Girolamo
Every year there are quite a few college football players who aren’t well known going into the season, but by the end they are almost locked in round one of the NFL Draft.
A recent example is Joe Burrow. Burrow was a solid player but then had an unbelievable final season at LSU and became the top pick in that year’s draft. Even Cam Ward from this past season, was relatively well known going into the season but after an exceptional 2024, he skyrocketed himself to the No. 1 pick. Here are a few players I think could go from being not too well known to becoming a top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
QB Sawyer Robertson, Baylor
Next year’s draft is expected to be exceptionally QB heavy with a lot of top names, meaning Robertson is not being talked about. He is a great size for a quarterback coming in at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds. The Baylor quarterback is very similar to Josh Allen in height and weight coming out of Wyoming seven years ago.
Sawyer Robertson plays the QB position like a shortstop (HS baseball player), but he has some fantastic traits:
– LIVE arm that can make throws to any level
– Excellent pocket awareness and mobility
– Impressive deep ball accuracySign me up for some Sawyer Robertson stock. pic.twitter.com/GaGD0ijf9L
— Andrew Harbaugh 🏈 (@MandrewNFL) May 13, 2025
Last season for the Bears Robertson boasted more than 3,000 yards passing, 28 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. He also had a QBR of 83.7 which was fifth best in all of college football. He is being overlooked by names like Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeier, LaNorris Sellers and others. If he can put up those numbers again and lead the Bears to a few more wins than they had last year, he could jump up draft boards and be the talk of the town come draft day next April.
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TE Jack Endries, Texas
Endries transferred from California to Texas. Texas has had some solid tight ends get drafted in the last few years like Ja’Tavion Sanders and Gunnar Helm in the last few years. They grabbed one of the top tight ends in the transfer portal this offseason and with a strong junior campaign, Endries could be one of the top tight ends taken next year. Last year at Cal he had 56 receptions and 650 yards, only recording one drop, showing he has excellent hands and can be a reliable safety valve for QBs. If he can put up even better numbers with a Texas team that is going to be very pass heavy with Manning as their QB. He could be in for a big season and a big jump in the rankings for NFL scouts and GMs.
Jack Endries almost breaking a middle screen is smooth TE operation – bluffing a block to breaking a tackle.
I think he's going to get📈fed in Texas.
🔺top TE zone grade at PFF
🔺natural mover around the LOS
🔺I'm mocking him on the day2/day3 fringe pic.twitter.com/hMEWg4jmSe— ZeeBee (@BellinoZee) June 21, 2025
DT Gracen Halton, Oklahoma
Halton is a beast on the inside and affects the run game big time just with his presence. He does a great job at forcing runners right into a teammates arms for the tackle. He also had five sacks and two forced fumbles last season for the Sooners. A massive senior season could have him as a first-round lock and at the top of many teams’ draft boards by the time next years draft gets here.
Meet Gracen Halton, DL, Oklahoma ⭕️
💥 Leads all DTs in pressure rate (13.6%)
🦾 Leads all DTs in pass rush win rate (12.5%)#BoomerSooner #CollegeFootball #NFLDraft pic.twitter.com/ufZu27gAKM— The Draft Room (@TheDraftRoomNFL) June 20, 2025
While as of now my hype on these players is all just speculation. I could see with a big, productive 2025 season how they could catapult up draft boards and be the talk of the town in next year’s draft.
