2026 NFL Draft: Mel Kiper shakes up Big Board Top 25 player rankings after College Football Playoff semifinals

by: Nick Kosko 8 hours ago nickkosko59

ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. shook up his Big Board top 25 player rankings after the College Football Playoff semifinals. We are now just three-plus months away from the NFL Draft.

Indiana and Miami will square off for the national title and there are some players in that game featured in the top 25. That includes the top ranked player!

Without further ado, let’s dive into Kiper’s latest rankings via his Big Board. We start at the top!

Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy this season and has Indiana playing for a national title. He tops Kiper’s Big Board at this stage.

Based on the Raiders having the No. 1 overall pick, Mendoza makes sense as the top pick and top player. Hard to argue with the Heisman winner!

Moore is next up on the Big Board considering the weight of a quarterback. He resurrected his career at Oregon after a tough freshman year at UCLA.

This year, he threw for 3,565 yards, 30 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 71.8% completion percentage. They were all career highs.

Love had an argument for the Heisman this year, but overall, he is a stout player. Running backs aren’t a premium as much these days, but guys like Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley proved they can be the biggest difference maker.

Love had the best year of his career and compiled 40 total touchdowns the last two seasons. He finished 2025 with 1,372 yards, 18 touchdowns and 6.9 yards on the ground, to go along with 27 catches for 280 yards and three touchdowns. He’s far and away the top RB on the Big Board.

Reese is the top linebacker on Kiper’s Big Board going into the draft right now. That’s been pretty much the consensus all season long.

Reese finished the season with 69 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 6.5 sacks and two pass deflections. He also finished the season as an All-American.

Mauigoa is the top tackle on Kiper’s Big Board and we’ll get to see him one more time this season as Miami plays Indiana for the title. This year, Mauigoa had a season for the ages.

He was awarded the ACC Jacobs Blocking Trophy and was a consensus All-American. Mauigoa was also named First-Team All-ACC.

Bailey had one heck of a season in 2025. After transferring in from Stanford, he truly broke out in Lubbock.

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