Ranking every Super Bowl 2026 starter, plus grading NFL coaching hires and 2026 mock draft

SAN FRANCISCO -- LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT'S SUPER BOWL WEEK!

Normally, I wouldn't start with all caps, but it's the Super Bowl and we just got hit by AN EARTHQUAKE THIS MORNING. I'm clearly still frightened. 

Anyway, for the next few days, I'll actually be in California covering everything I possibly can involving the Super Bowl and that starts tonight with the annual circus known as Super Bowl Opening Night. 

Also, it is Groundhog Day, which is almost fitting, because the Super Bowl is starting to feel like Groundhog Day in the AFC with either the Chiefs or Patriots making it every year (The AFC has sent either the Chiefs or the Patriots to the Super Bowl in nine of the past 10 years). 

We have a huge newsletter today: Pete Prisco is going to rank EVERY starter in the Super Bowl, plus we'll be grading the final two coaching hires. 

As always, here's your reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.

1. Ranking every starter in the Super Bowl: A receiver is at the top of the list

I have to admit, I was under the impression that Pete Prisco was taking off the full two weeks between the conference title games and the Super Bowl, but apparently, I was wrong. The reason we haven't heard from Pete in a while is because Prisco has been busy ranking EVERY SINGLE STARTER on both teams for the Super Bowl. 

There are 11 starters on offense for both teams and 11 starters on defense for both teams, which means there are 44 starters in the game and Pete ranked those starters from 1 to 44. 

Here's a look at his top five and his bottom five:

1. Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba
2. Patriots QB Drake Maye
3. Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon
4. Seahawks DE Leonard Williams
5. Seahawks OT Charles Cross
...
40. Seahawks WR Cooper Kupp
41. Seahawks CB Josh Jobe
42. Patriots OG Jared Wilson
43. Patriots WR Mack Hollins
44. Seahawks OG Anthony Bradford

Based on the top five, I feel like I already know who Prisco is going to pick to win the Super Bowl. According to his list, the Seahawks have six of the top eight players in the game, so I'm assuming he's going to take Seattle, but I actually have no idea who he's going to pick, so we'll have to wait until his pick comes out on Wednesday to find out. 

If you're wondering where Sam Darnold landed in these rankings, he's all the way down at 10th overall. 

If you're wondering where anyone else landed, you'll have to check out Prisco's full story here. If you want to argue with Prisco about his list, and who doesn't, be sure to click here so you yell at him on social media. 

2. Super Bowl Opening Night -- aka media day -- is today

The first night of Super Bowl week usually gets a little wild, thanks to the media frenzy known as Super Bowl Opening Night.

Here's a look at when each team will be available for the event, which will be held at the San Jose Convention Center: 

• The Patriots coaches and players will be front and center from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. ET. There will be 11 podiums set up for the biggest players while the rest of the team will be scattered aroun answering questions from media around the world. Drake Maye, Stefon Diggs, Hunter Henry and Christian Gonzalez are among the group of players who will be getting a podium. 
• The Seahawks coaches and players will meet with the media from 10 p.m. ET to 11 p.m. ET. Every player will be at media night, but only a select few will be getting a podium, and for the Seahawks, that list will include Mike Macdonald, Sam Darnold, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Cooper Kupp and Devon Witherspoon. 
• NFL Network will have full coverage of Opening Night starting at 8 p.m. ET. I feel like the Seahawks' hour of interviews could get interesting. For one, Klint Kubiak is likely going to get quite a few questions about the fac that he has apparently decided to accept the Raiders' coaching job. 

For more information on Super Bowl Opening Night, be sure to click here. 

3. Five Super Bowl records that could go down this year

Every year, there are multiple records broken during the Super Bowl, and this year should be no different. With that in mind, Bryan DeArdo decided to take a look at the record that are most likely to get broken on Super Bowl Sunday. 

Let's check out a few from his list: 

Most Super Bowl wins: 6. The Steelers and Patriots are currently tied for this record, but New England will officially break the marks if the Pats can beat the Seahawks. Seven Super Bowl wins in 60 years would be an impressive feat. The only other teams that even have five Super Bowl wins are the 49ers and Cowboys. 

Youngest QB to win the Super Bowl. At 23 years and 162 days old, Maye is set to become the second-youngest quarterback to start in a Super Bowl. Hall of Famer Dan Marino was just 23 years and 127 days old  when he made the start for the Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX. Marino was the youngest starter ever, but he didn't win. The record for youngest winner is currently held by Ben Roethlisberger, who was 23 years and 340 days old when the Steelers beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL. 

Most return yards in a game. This record is held by Desmond Howard, who was voted the MVP of Super Bowl XXXI after totaling 244 return yards for the Packers in a win over the Patriots (He had 154 kickoff return yards and 90 punt return yards). Two of the best returners in the NFL will be playing in this game -- Marcus Jones and Rashid Shaheed -- and it's certainly possible that either of them could top this record. Jones' highest return total in 2025 was 167 while Shaheed's was 148. 

DeArdo included several more records that could go down and you can check those out here.

4. Coaching carousel is complete: Grading the final hires

We handed out some coaching grades on Friday and with the last two positions now essentially filled, we're going to hand out two more grades today. The Cardinals officially hired Mike LaFleur on Sunday, who just happens to be the brother of Packers coach Matt LaFleur. Mike LaFleur spent the past three seasons as the Rams' offensive coordinator under Sean McVay. 

Here are two quick notes about the hiring: 

• Brotherly Love. The LaFleurs are the third set of brothers to coach at the same time in the NFL, joining the Grudens (Jon and Jay both coached in 2018-19) and the Harbaughs (John and Jim). 
• Sean McVay's coaching tree has a lot of branches. Since being hired by the Rams in 2017, McVay has done an impressive job of finding future head coached. Mike LaFleur is the seventh member of McVay's coaching staff to get a head coaching job. Of those seven, four of them still have a job: Zac Taylor, Matt LaFleur, Kevin O'Connell and Mike LaFleur. 

LaFleur is taking over for Jonathan Gannon, who was fired by Arizona in January after three seasons. As for the Raiders, they're expected to hire Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak, but he obviously can't take the job until after the Super Bowl, so they'll be waiting at least another week before they're able to make officially make the hire. 

So about those grades, let's get to them. 

• Cardinals: C. We don't yet know whether LaFleur plans to call the plays in Arizona, but it's worth noting that the Cardinals' quarterback situation is very much up in the air with Kyler Murray seeming at least somewhat unlikely to be back. Is LaFleur capable of scheming a different quarterback into position to succeed? He couldn't do it in New York with the Jets, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can't do it now, several years later and in a different role. We just don't know.
• Raiders: A. Arguably the most sought-after offensive head coach on the market this cycle, Kubiak seemingly had his choice between the last two available head coaching jobs, and ended appears to be choosing the one in Las Vegas. He's the latest branch off the Shanahan tree, as his father Gary and Kyle's father Mike worked together for years and then Klint himself worked under Kyle in San Francisco as the 49ers' passing game coordinator in 2023. The Shanahan/Kubiak style of offense makes for a good fit with presumptive No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza, who obviously had to be on the Raiders' mind when making this hire.

There were coaching hires made this offseason and we graded every single one of them here.

5. NFL Mock Draft: Raiders make the obvious choice with top pick

I feel like we've only been talking about the Seahawks and Patriots for the past week, so let's talk about some other teams right now, and we're going to do that by taking a look at Ryan Wilson's latest mock draft.  

Let's check out his top 10 picks: 

1. Raiders: QB Fernando Mendoza (Indiana)
2. Jets: LB Arvell Reese (Ohio State)
3. Cardinals: OT Francis Mauigoa (Miami)
4. Titans: EDGE Rueben Bain Jr. (Miami)
5. Giants: WR Carnell Tate (Ohio State)
6. Browns: OT Spencer Fano (Utah)
7. Commanders: EDGE T.J. Parker (Clemson)
8. Saints: RB Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame)
9. Chiefs: DL Caleb Banks (Florida)
10. Bengals: EDGE David Bailey (Texas (Tech)

In 2024, there wasn't a single defensive player taken until the 15th overall pick. This year, there could be more than five defensive players taken in the top 10 alone. One reason we could see a splurge of defensive players taken is because this isn't a great QB class. After Mendoza, Wilson only has one other QB going in the first round. 

If you want to know who that QB is and where he's going, you'll have to check out Wilson's full mock here. 

6. Extra points: NFL international schedule starting to take shape

It's been a busy weekend in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.

• Saints headed to Paris. There had been reports that the Saints would be playing in Paris this year and that is now official. The NFL announced on Monday that New Orleans will serve as the home team for the league's first ever international game in France. Although the NFL didn't reveal who the Saints would be playing, a French media outlet has reported that New Orleans will be playing the Browns on Oct. 25 (Week 7). 
• NFL returning to Spain in 2026. After holding a game in Madrid for the first time in 2025, the NFL will definitely be returning in 2026. The league has signed a multi-year partnership, so there will also be games played in Madrid after the 2026 season. With the exception of the Jaguars, the NFC will be hosting the international games this year and the Bears are the only NFC team with marketing rights in Spain, so I don't be surprised if they end up hosting the Madrid game in 2026.
• Seahawks for sale. The Seahawks are expected to go up for sale after the Super Bowl, according to multiple reports. The team has been owned by the estate of Paul Allen since 2018 when he passed away. His sister, Jody, took over as controlling owner after that, but Paul's will stated that the team was to eventually be sold. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Seahawks actually got fined $5 million in 2025 for failure to comply with ownership requirements. CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones has reported that Jeff Bezos could be a name to watch here as a possible new owner. 
• 49ers find their defensive coordinator. With Robert Saleh headed for Tennessee, the 49ers had an opening at defensive coordinator and they filled that over the weekend by agreeing to terms with Raheem Morris, CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones has reported. The former Falcons coach will be the fourth defensive coordinator that the 49ers have had over the past four seasons. Before taking the Falcons head coaching job in 2024, Morris was the Rams defensive coordinator for three seasons (2021-23), so now, he'll be returning to the NFC West. 
• Dolphins hire defensive coordinator. Jeff Hafley's coaching staff in Miami is starting to take shape. Last week, we saw him hire an offensive coordinator (Bobby Slowik), and now, he's tabbed Sean Duggan to serve as his defensive coordinator. Duggan was the Packers' linebackers coach in 2025 so he worked with Hafley in Green Bay last year. He also worked with Hafley at Ohio State and Boston College, so the fact that he's headed to Miami isn't a huge shock. 
• Pro Bowl is on Tuesday night. If you have nothing to do on Tuesday night, then you might want to tune into the Pro Bowl Games. We've got all the details on the event here.