2026 NFL Draft Winners & Losers: Giants Win Big, Cowboys Reload, Packers Missed Opportunities

Big Game Energy breaks down the biggest winners and losers from the 2026 NFL Draft. We recap how teams like the Giants, Cowboys, and Chiefs loaded up with talent, while franchises like the Jaguars, 49ers, and Packers left us with major questions. Plus, quick thoughts on how our Texans and Eagles came out of draft weekend and what it all means heading into the 2026 NFL season.

Who crushed draft weekend? Who reached? And which teams may regret their decisions by training camp?

 00:00 NFL Draft Winners & Losers
 00:39 Eagles and Texans Draft Recap
 02:17 Why the Giants Were the Biggest Winner
 04:46 Cowboys Defensive Haul Featuring Caleb Downs
 06:39 Chiefs Reload Yet Again
 10:23 Jaguars Biggest Head Scratcher
 11:59 49ers Questionable Draft Strategy
 14:39 Packers Missed Opportunities

From first-round steals to confusing day two reaches, we break down every major storyline and give our honest reactions from draft weekend. Let us know which teams you think won and lost the draft.

Transcript

Spencer 0:00

Big game energy. April 27th. Good morning, fine folks, James and Spencer hanging out with you. The NFL draft happened this weekend. Winners and losers. A lot of teams got better and some questionable decisions were made at the same time.

James 0:15

Every year, you know our teams. Try to get better every April, like you mentioned it, it's NFL's Christmas in April, and that's what we did. I hope the Eagles with their draft picks, man, got a little bit better to, make us be Super Bowl champions for Super Bowl 61, man. And God dang la

Spencer 0:32

Oh, you're feeling pretty good about the Eagles, huh? I'll say the Eagles are not one of the teams we were gonna discuss in this episode today, Uhhuh. But before we jump into it too much. Texans for me, Eagles for you. We weren't gonna discuss them as winners today, but how we feeling on our draft? How you feeling just overall for the Eagles? Yeah.

James 0:50

Overall, I didn't think it was like the slam dunk. I just felt like it was a wide open type of layup transition, we did some things offensively moving forward in the future with, before, like I, like we mentioned earlier. Right now the defense is one of the cheapest in the NFL. Now it's time to reverse that psychology and reverse that checkbook.'cause when the defense becomes more expensive, we'll need the offense to be very inexpensive, like once 20, 28, 20 29, and then 30 come around. So I thought they did okay with the ARD trade. Definitely helped me feel a little bit better about our outlook, for this upcoming season.

Spencer 1:28

And for the Texans, it was very much a meat and potatoes draft. They added depth at the offensive line. I love the Keilan Rutledge and Caden McDonald selections. I did a lot of mock drafts before the draft where I had McDonald in the first round and Rutledge in the second. So they made both those picks. They just flip flopped'em. So I was extremely happy. They made some questionable choices. Like when they chose Marlon Klein in the second round that I was a little bit concerning, but hey, if it's their guy and they like what they see, I'm okay with it. I gave the Texans overall a B minus, like not a slam dunk home run draft. But I like a lot of the pieces they got.

James 2:08

Yeah, I gave the Eagles a b, like I said, nothing too crazy,'cause even for me. You draft a quarterback, like what are we doing?

Spencer 2:16

Yeah,

James 2:16

that's me.

Spencer 2:17

But the winners of the NFL draft for me, teams that were the winner, this draft James, they came from the NFC East. The biggest winner of the entire weekend, in my opinion, was the New York Giants,

James 2:31

oh,

Spencer 2:32

ARVE, Reese fifth, overall, Francis Ma and Noah at 10th. Overall, Colton Hood in the second round, and Malachi. Field in round three. Those four guys I mentioned at the top, ARVE Reese, he's gonna transform that defense for the Giants almost overnight. You can put him off the edge, use him off the ball. He's the most physical specimen we've seen in the combine in a long time. Super excited to see what he can do for the Giants there on Defense and Francis Maui, Noah. You got a good tackle to anchor the right side of the offensive line opposite of Andrew Thomas there for the New York Giants protecting Jackson Dark's. Gotta be a priority. Colton Hood cornerback from Tennessee, a lot of people had him as a first round grade. They get him in the 37th overall spot. And then Malachi Fields made a lot of plays for the Notre Dame fighting Irish last year. Lowkey Electric should be able to replace a lot of the production that they lost. When Wonell Robinson left Infra Agency, then they added some picks. In round six, they had three six round picks, added some depth. Wow. At the defensive line. An offensive line spot. But James, the Giants got a lot better.

James 3:39

You know what that means, right? They're gonna be in third place in the NC. Oh my God. Whoa. Hey, man. That's an upgrade. Hey, going from fourth to third. Is an upgrade.

Spencer 3:49

So this wasn't that much of a needle moving draft to you, is what you're saying?

James 3:52

No. I won't go that far. Of course, if you watch the draft, you might've saw Micah Parsons and Malik Nabors talking about it, and Malik had some thoughts about his own draft class. So I feel like there's something going on there. Who knows, I'm not reading too much into those depths, but No, I agree. I think the Giants did get better. You gotta go with best player available. You get your needs. Of course the asset is Jackson Dart. You bring back in Malik Neighbors from his injury season last year. This team should get a lot better. Heck, they beat the NFC East Champs last year with basically nobody at MetLife. So I think this team did get better. For me is always jokes, for me, I'm, like I said, I'm okay with them being third'cause you know who's gonna be fourth in the NFC East. You name that team next. Vince, you name that team

Spencer 4:36

Yeah. I do have the other team that you're wanting me to name as the bottom feeders, which it's, I read that more as you say, you're being really high on the commanders this year is what I hear. No, my other winner from the NFC East in the draft ER was the DOS Cowboys. Caleb Downs and Malachi Lawrence in the first round. But James Caleb Downs is the highlight here. He was both of our top player in the class and they get him 11th overall. They also added json Barham from Michigan to add more depth on the defensive line and continue to add more depth on the offensive line that has been depleted over the last few years. Get Drew s Shelton from Penn State. So I really liked a lot of the things that the Cowboys did, but especially when you get a player as good as Caleb Downs at number 11 overall, again, he should be someone that's gonna completely change the makeup of this defense overnight. I really believe Caleb Downs. Is that good?

James 5:28

No, I agree. I'm with you as this. I'm not complaining as much like I joked on the stream with you all. You and Ruben. Y'all killed it on Thursday night. I'd rather say my ex-girlfriend's name than the Cowboys because, Ugh. But. No, we had Caleb Downs in our first mock draft going to number two of the jets. We didn't think that was gonna happen just because, do you really draft a safety that high now these days? But we thought he was the second best player, maybe the best athlete in this whole draft. And to get him at 11, like you mentioned, his best player available, you're gonna grab them. And it's a need because the Cowboys defense was God awful. And then you get Lawrence from Central Florida, you get that need replacing, you lose Micah Parsons to the trade to green Bay. You lose DeMarcus Lawrence to Seattle. You gotta replenish that, that need and they did that. So I gotta give'em credit for that. I know it seems like the last couple years they've been getting on Jerry Jones and Steven Jones. I know in the early DAK years it was all offensive line, but they definitely need to get this defense.'cause you look at the N FCEs, you got still. The gauntlet of Philadelphia's offense. Hopefully you get a healthy Jaden Daniels and then the Giants, they're getting healthier and getting better.

Spencer 6:37

Yeah, the NFC East is gonna be tough next year. I got one more winner. This one is from the A FC though, and it is a team that none of us like to see get better, but you gotta give credit where it's due. The Kansas City Chiefs got a lot better. In this year's draft. So they traded up and a lot of people were saying that the trade up was a bit rich, but they trade up to number six from nine and they get Mansor Lane, the top cornerback in the draft. Then they at the end of the first round, get Peter Woods defensive tackle from Clemson should really be nasty next to Chris Jones providing pressure up the interior of the defensive line for them. Steve Spagnola got him a good piece there also in the second round. Got another good piece for that pass rush. R Mason Thomas. I'm an OU guy. He was excellent last year for the Sooners. And then two more picks. I love the Emmett Johnson pick from Nebraska. He was a very good running back. He was someone I had my eye on as a late round gym for fantasy football purposes. He goes to a situation where I know they just signed Kenneth Walker and he's gonna be a workhorse three down back. But if he were to go down, Emmett Johnson is a name to keep on your radar because. He could slip in there and be the compliment to Kareem Hunt and just some potential there in an Andy Reed system. And then I also got a shadow Garrett Nussmeier in the seventh round. I actually really like. This chief's quarterback room with Patrick Mahomes, Justin Fields as the backup slash gadget guy, and now Garrett Nus Meyer as a young buck up and coming that can learn underneath Patrick Mahomes. Yeah.

James 8:10

Yeah, no, that quarterback room slightly reminds me of when the saints used to have Drew Brees. Hill and then whoever else was third string, just that you got options, like you mentioned gadget player, you got the starter and now you got the young buck. For the chiefs to get, Garrett Nussmeier. I know we have some, former, LSU friends that don't like Garrett Nussmeier, but I like what I saw. Was he the most efficient and best quarterback in the college football? No, but I like some of the intangibles that I see. Better, with his arm and with his, is he a gun slinger? Yeah. Can he throw a ton of picks? Yeah. But I sometimes think those players fit in the NFL because you gotta be confident to throw the ball. And if you're not confident, you're not gonna be playing much longer. Heck, check all the guys out in the FL They thought they were confident in the NFL, but for the chiefs, I'm just glad. Hey, we hit on the Mason. The Mason, cornerback from LSU. I'm glad we,

Spencer 9:07

man. Story lame.

James 9:08

Yeah, man, I'm glad we got him. Again, at six. Is it a bit rich? Yeah. But at least you're not the titans draft in Y receiver two at number four. Oh, I'm just, I don't wanna,

Spencer 9:17

yeah. Yeah. I thought about making the titans one of my losers in the draft, but I actually looked at their draft class. They actually did very well after I, again, car Tate. I don't think he's a bad player, but Right. We had him, I, for me, he was my wide receiver. Three. I had Tyson and Lemon above him. I know you were more of a lemon guy and you got your wish. You got your boy.

James 9:37

Yeah. Yeah, I got my boy. Yeah. I, we just thought Tate was gonna go to Miami yeah, no further down than Miami, but hold up, spin. Yo, the jets weren't a winner.

Spencer 9:46

Nah, I don't have the Jets as a winner. It's the Jets. Something will go wrong for them. I don't have them as losers though. I think they did well, three first round picks. They did good. They have three first rounds next year as well. The jets will be better in coming years as long as they don't make any mistakes.

James 10:00

Right.

Spencer 10:01

But to the losers now, the three losers I have, I'm gonna give them some credit before we list them and my problems with their classes, I'm gonna give them some slack because none of these teams had a pick in the first round. All right. Now that being said, that is the case, but I still think their first picks on day two we're very questionable, to say the least. So we're starting with my Biggest Loser of the weekend. That is the Jacksonville Jaguars. Their first pick was number 56 overall. And what did they do? They reached for a tied in. Tied in Nate Bocher from Texas a and m. They add him to a position that I didn't think they had a massive need for. Brent Strange. Gave them a lot of production. Last year and the year before, before he was injured. I didn't see this as a big glaring need for them. And then after that, yes, Emmanuel PreOn in the third round was someone that people thought would be a first round pick. But other than that. They really didn't have a lot of eye-popping, talented picks, a lot of project picks like Jalen Husky Al Regis. Some of these guys just didn't seem like they were established, ready to go. And this is a Jacksonville Jaguars team that I felt like coming out of a disappointing playoff loss against the bills after winning the A FC South. I thought they were primed to try to take a step forward and. With this draft class on paper right now, I don't see a pathway for that to happen.

James 11:27

Yeah. I'm with you. I've seen the videos and it looks like the guys that are drafting these players got the players that they wanted, but it felt like all 10 of them were just reaches outside of, could you have good drafted actually maybe best player available. I'm with you Smith. Hey, anyone who drafts two tight ends in the same draft class is a definite loser for me. Unless you're playing the army. Wishbone, offense. We need multiple tight ends. It's a one tight end type of league, big dog. You don't need two in the one draft class. That's just me. I'm picky.

Spencer 11:59

The 49 ERs are my next loser. They had the first pick of day two. They had 33 overall after trading out of the first round and accumulating more draft picks, and they sure did make a lot of picks. But their first pick, being de Jean St. Stribling from Ole Miss, another guy who, again, coming outta college, you'd think he is probably more of a raw prospect, right? Probably someone that's gonna take a little bit to come along. And I'm not saying they need someone like that to contribute right away. They have Mike Evans, they have solid receiving core right now as it stands by adding Stribling to that group. It feels like there was an opportunity missed with Denzel Boston. Still on the board there. Correct. As well as some players at other positions of need for them, it just felt like a weird pick, but to me the worst pick of the entire first two days was the third pick for the 49 ERs in the third round. With the 90th overall pick, they selected Kaylyn Black from Indiana. Okay. Okay. This was a guy that was not very high up on many boards, and I don't believe he even got an invite to the combine. That's how off the board he was, and they drafted him in the third round when there were other guys, a guy like Emmett Johnson who I mentioned earlier guys like Nicholas Singleton. There was a lot of options I felt on the board that were better running back options than Calin Black. Now that being said. I am also of the belief having played fantasy football for seven plus years with Kyle Shanahan in the league. When he has a running back that he likes, it's okay. He'll figure it out. He's gonna get good production out of him. So Kaylyn black while sketchy on paper, I'm sure is actually gonna end up being a pretty good player. Yeah,

James 13:46

no, you mentioned it. Their first pick, the ole Miss receiver stribling. We most people had'em ranked as maybe the 90th hundredth best player. So unless there's something I didn't see or a lot of people didn't see, and we're talking other people who actually watch all the games and all the film as their primary job, their income, I don't know. Yeah. I'm surprised I get why they went receiver, but maybe like you mentioned. Denzel Boston is an option. But I, I will say at least they got some needs. The only thing I like about their draft is like they picked positions that they needed because either injury, for example, Christian McCaffrey's always hurt. B is always hurt. And then with the receivers that, that receiver group goy, I'm surprised they didn't draft seven receivers. As their draft class, they should have just did that at least know, hey, two of them are gonna play hopefully.

Spencer 14:39

And my last loser hits close to home for me a little bit. James, my Green Bay Packers. Didn't really do much. Their first pick was the 52nd overall pick, and they selected Brandon Cease from South Carolina, a cornerback who, again, not someone who's NFL ready. And there were definitely other cornerbacks still on the board at this point, or could have even made a slight move up to get someone like doer Pons who went two picks before that to the Jets and German McCoy who. Was on the board deep into the fifth round, who many had as a top 21st round pick was also on the board. And so I, it's another opportunity I feel like they missed. Other than that, the rest of their class, again, they didn't have a whole lot of picks this year, right? They only made six total selections. The rest of the picks really nothing to write home about. So the packers. Again, two straight seasons as the seventh seed with this draft class. It would not shock me, James, if the Packers are out of the playoffs in 2026.

James 15:36

Yeah. You got a point because guess you, we mentioned it. You think Chicago's gonna be better? We know Detroit had a off year. They hopefully to get better. We want Kyler, Murray and Justin Jefferson to light it up in Minnesota. Can they get better? I dunno if you it. It is just tough when you don't have a first round pick and you're picking 52nd at all these teams. Of course. Hey, I'm gonna be biased. Hey, getting Demon Jackson, but dude, hey, come on Green Bay. Why are we drafting a kicker? You can sign this guy off the streets, bro. What? What are we doing? At least

Spencer 16:09

he's got a cool name. Trey Smack.

James 16:11

Yo,

Spencer 16:12

I like that name. Smack him in the face.

James 16:14

We're gonna have to do a sh like a episode on Best Jersey. Names not the players, but just, Hey, yo.'cause

Spencer 16:20

Best Jersey. I love that.

James 16:22

Yeah, dude, imagine, hey, I don't know what his number would be, but let's say he smacked two and it's damn that's cold. Like I don't know how many smacking two he's these.

Spencer 16:32

It has to be like the Dave Chappelle skit. He has to be five. What? The five singer fingers set of the face slap.

James 16:39

I thought Green Bay probably should have went receiver. You lose Romeo Dobbs, you know the Green Bay. But again, you know, big extension

Spencer 16:45

to Jayden Reed before the draft, they could count that as part of a win.

James 16:49

Of course they also got Matthew Golden who did perform well in the playoffs, but we'll see how much production he gets in the regular season. Yeah. I of you, man, green Bay. Yeah.

Spencer 16:58

Yeah. So lot of teams got better, but those are my three teams that I felt like were the losers. But y'all let us know in the comments. Who won? Who lost the draft this weekend in Pittsburgh? Who got better? Who got worse? And what players do you think got overdrafted or went under the radar?