College Football Playoff 2026 NFL Draft prospects to watch in CFP quarterfinals

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The 2025-26 College Football Playoff quarterfinals are finally here with quarterfinal matchups taking place in the Cotton, Orange, Rose, and Sugar Bowl’s. These games will take place just days before the final weekend of the NFL’s regular season and fans of eliminated teams can officially set their sights towards the 2026 NFL Draft.

We already went over some potential first-round prospects in round one a few weeks back and we’ll do the same for this slate of quarterfinal matchups taking place over the New Year’s holiday. We’ll use the big boards at both Tankathon and NFL Mock Draft Database for reference. Check out our latest 2026 NFL mock draft here.

Wednesday, December 31

No. 10 Miami vs. No. 2 Ohio State, 7:30 p.m. ET

Arvell Reese, LB, Ohio State (Top 5)

Rueben Bain Jr., Edge, Miami (Top 5)

Caleb Downs, S, Ohio State (Top 10)

Carnell Tate, WR, Ohio State (Top 10)

Francis Mauigoa, OT, Miami (Top 15)

Sonny Styles, LB, Ohio State (Top 20)

Kayden McDonald, DT, Ohio State (Late First Round)

The New Year’s Eve matchup between Miami and Ohio State will be appointment viewing if you’re an NFL Draft nerd as there’s a chance that half of the top 10 could be taking the field at AT&T Stadium. The Buckeyes have multiple players who should hear their names called early and Arvell Reese is a prospect who could potentially go No. 1 overall. Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has unleashed the 6’4”, 243-pound monster this season and he’s shot up draft boards by showing off his versatility, racking up 62 combined tackles, 10 TFLs, and 6.5 sacks to earn consensus All-American honors. Former Tennessee Titans general manager Ran Carthon has recently compared him to both Micah Parsons and Abdul Carter as an off-ball linebacker that could make an immediate impact upon entry into the league.

Reese could be shortly followed by a pair of potential top-10 prospects in teammates Caleb Downs and Carnell Tate. Downs is a three-time All-American at safety and earned both the Thorpe Award and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year honors this season as the leader of a Buckeye secondary that shut opponents down. Tate will be the latest product out of the Ohio State wide receiver factory and while he was overshadowed by Jeremiah Smith, he was still a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist in his own right with 838 receiving yards and nine touchdowns for the year. Sonny Styles and Kayden McDonald round out OSU’s group of projected first rounders and with this amount of elite talent, you can see why they are currently ranked No. 1 in defensive SP+.

On the Miami side of things, Reuben Bain Jr. could contend with Reese as the top defensive player selected in April after a dominant season where he earned ACC Defensive Player of the Year. We’ve already seen him do damage in these playoffs as he recorded three sacks and a blocked field goal in their 10-3 first-round win over Texas A&M. Meanwhile on offense, Fraincis Mauigoa has a good combination of size and speed at offensive tackle and should be the second o-lineman taken off the board behind Utah’s Spencer Fano.

Thursday, January 1

No. 5 Oregon vs. No. 4 Texas Tech, 12 p.m. ET

Dante Moore, QB, Oregon (Top 10)

David Bailey, Edge, Texas Tech (Top 15)

Kenyon Sadiq, TE, Oregon (Top 20)

Matayo Uiagalelei, Edge, Oregon (Late First/Early Second)

A’Mauri Washington, DT, Oregon (Late First/Early Second)

Emmanuel Pregnon, OG, Oregon (Late First/Early Second)

Oregon buried James Madison as expected in the first round and a handful of their potential first-rounders didn’t even play that much as they were able to turn to their backups pretty early in the contest. Dante Moore did in fact play the whole game and he ended up accounting for 313 passing yards and five total touchdowns on the day with two interceptions being his lone blemishes. Some like The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner are currently projecting the Las Vegas Raiders to take him with the No. 1 overall pick and we’ll certainly be hearing his name a lot as draft season unfolds.

Texas Tech assembled one of the more disruptive defenses in the entire country this season and David Bailey has been a major force for a unit that led the entire nation in takeaways. The 6’3”, 250-pound edge rusher transferred in from Stanford this season and immediately began wrecking games for the Red Raiders, totaling 43 tackles, 13.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles to earn Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year. Analysts like NFL Draft Buzz’s Lennox Tate have lauded Bailey’s explosiveness off the first step and his ability to even drop into coverage, but still feels that he needs to bulk up a bit more when entering the league. A pass-rush needy team like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could land him in the 10-15 range, but there’s always room for him to rise.

No. 9 Alabama vs. No. 1 Indiana, 4 p.m. ET

Fernando Mendoza, QB, Indiana (Top 5)

Ty Simpson, QB, Alabama (Top 20)

Kadyn Proctor, OT, Alabama (Late First Round)

The nation will get a look at the Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza on New Year’s Day as he leads Indiana into its first Rose Bowl appearance in 58 years. The QB arrived from Cal via the transfer portal last offseason and made his mark by leading the Hoosiers to a perfect 13-0 mark, racking up 2,980 passing yards, 240 rushing yards, and 39 total touchdowns for the year. The Heisman winner was the perfect conductor of Indiana’s offense and that bears out with him ranking in the top 10 in both EPA per dropback and success rate. He has both the poise and grit of an NFL quarterback and has good size at 6’5”, 225 pounds. Like the aforementioned Dante Moore, his name has been bandied about as the potential No. 1 overall pick and he could very well be the most talked about commodity during draft season.

Meanwhile, Alabama will be putting two potential first rounders on the field in Ty Simpson and Kadyn Proctor. We saw both men help lead the Crimson Tide to a 34-24 road win over Oklahoma in the first round, with Simpson throwing for 232 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Alabama will be getting offensive tackle LT Overton back after missing the first round with an illness. Overton is projected as an early second round prospect, but can always boost his stock over the next three months.

No. 6 Ole Miss vs. No. 3 Georgia, 8 p.m. ET

C.J. Allen, LB, Georgia (Late First Round)

It feels strange to see a lack of first-rounders in a game involving Georgia and C.J. Allen will be the only projected Night 1 selection to be showcased in the Sugar Bowl. The 6’1”, 235-pound linebacker earned consensus All-American status this year with a strong campaign where he tallied 85 combined tackles, eight TFLs, four passes defended, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and a partridge in a pear tree. Analysts have praised traits of his like closing speed and tackling technique and some even identified him a draft sleeper before the start of the season. If you’re a fan of one of the current Super Bowl contenders in the NFL, you could be landing Allen’s services at the end of the first rounf.

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