Day: April 21, 2026

The NFL Draft is mostly about finding young players to help teams build for a better future. Rookies can’t always step right in and change a franchise’s trajectory right away. But sometimes that’s exactly what a team needs. And there are a bunch of teams that know that one good draft — maybe even one good pick — could make all the difference in the world in the 2026 season. For some, the draft could turn them into an instant playoff contender. For others, it could put them on a Super Bowl path. So here’s a look at 10 teams that would benefit the most by nailing their draft class this week. Five of them could go from a losing record right into the playoff race. And five of them could be a threat to win it all. Potential playoff contenders 5. Washington Commanders2025 record: 5-122026 picks: 1.7, 3.71, 5.147, 6.187, 6.209, 7.223 So many of their problems last season had to do with Jayden Daniels’ injuries. But not all of them. They were clearly lacking firepower on offense and needed to fix a terrible defense, too. They focused their free agency money on completely rebuilding the defense. If that works, they can get right back in the playoff chase with the right offensive pick. They desperately need another receiver to pair with 30-year-old Terry McLaurin. They could get one easily with the seventh overall pick. If they decide to go defense there — the Commanders reportedly are high on Ohio State LB Sonny Styles, if he’s still available — they’d have to take a receiver at 71, which is their only other pick in the first three rounds. If they can get a plug-and-play receiver and another valuable defensive player — a linebacker is fine, but a corner would be better — then it’s a short leap from 5-12 to contention in the NFC, especially if Daniels can stay on the field. 4. Tennessee Titans2025 record: 3-142026 picks: 1.4, 2.35, 3.66, 4.101, 5.142, 5.144, 6.184, 6.194, 7.225 They’ve got a new coach and an offensive coordinator who should be really good for quarterback Cam Ward. They also gave him a new weapon (receiver Wan’Dale Robinson), beefed up the offensive line and restocked the pass rush and defense for head coach Robert Saleh. So they are already much improved, but it’s still a big leap from 3-14 to the playoffs. And they could use more offensive playmakers — receiver and running back — and a little more defensive help on the edge. They could find either with the No. 4 overall pick, where they could be eyeing Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love if he gets past the Cardinals at No. 3. If they do that, and add an edge rusher and a receiver with their next two picks (Nos. 34 and 66), they’ll have addressed all their biggest needs. Making the playoffs will still be an uphill climb in a suddenly stacked division. But they’ll have the talent in place, at least, to give it a run. 3. New York Giants2025 record: 4-132026 picks: 1.5, 1.10, 2.37, 4.105, 5.145, 6.186, 6.192, 6.193 They are on the verge of a breakthrough anyway with young quarterback Jaxson Dart and new coach John Harbaugh. But they still have a ton of holes to fill. They need plenty of help on defense, especially after trading defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, and another weapon on offense would be a big help, too. But they now have two top-10 picks (Nos. 5 and 10) after the Lawrence trade, and a high second-rounder (37), too. That gives them a shot at three players who should step right in and help. They could add one of the two best receivers in the draft to pair with Malik Nabers and maybe a top safety or linebacker to strengthen the middle of their defense. And there figures to be some gifted defensive tackles available to fill Lawrence’s spot early in the second round. They need more talent overall, especially on defense, to make a really big leap. But they were 4-13 in a weak division last season. Strengthen their defense and add a little explosion to their offense, and they won’t challenge the Eagles, but a wild card is within reach. 2. New Orleans Saints2025 record: 6-112026 picks: 1.8, 2.42, 3.73, 4.132, 4.136, 5.150, 5.172, 6.190 Kellen Moore already has them headed in the right direction with promising young quarterback Tyler Shough. They even improved their offensive line (with guard David Edwards) and added another running back (Travis Etienne) to help out the aging Alvin Kamara. Now imagine how good the offense could be if they got another target for Shough — a receiver to take a little of the pressure off the underrated Chris Olave. That might be enough to boost their 6-11 record, and they don’t need much in a division that was won by the 8-9 Panthers last year. They could also use some help along the defensive line, where they don’t have much beyond Chase Young (10 sacks), especially if they don’t eventually re-sign 36-year-old Cam Jordan (10.5 sacks). But they had a top-10 defense last season. They could fill either need with the No. 8 pick, and can fill both with three picks in the top 75. 1. Dallas Cowboys2025 record: 7-9-12026 picks: 1.12, 1.20, 3.92, 4.112, 5.152, 5.177, 6.180, 7.218 They are the easiest team to fix on this list. They already have the offense to contend for a lot more than just the playoffs. But they have a defense capable of dragging them all the way into the basement of the league. Fix the defense and they’re an instant playoff contender. And they definitely should be able to do that with two first-round picks. They have huge holes at every level, but with picks 12 and 20 they should be able to come away with a new starter at two positions. Take your pick from corner, edge rusher and linebacker. And while they don’t have a second-round pick, they should be able to fill the third need at least a little in the third round, at pick 92. Getting better players at all three spots won’t turn this into a Super Bowl defense, but they’re already good inside (with defensive tackles Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark), and they added reinforcements in the secondary with safety Jalen Thompson and corner Cobie Durant. Add three more starters, and they’ll at least be around the middle of the pack. With that offense, that’s enough. Potential Super Bowl contenders 5. Baltimore Ravens2025 record: 8-92026 picks: 1.14, 2.45, 3.80, 4.115, 5.154, 5.162, 5.173, 5.174, 6.211, 7.250, 7.253 They were already going to be on the edge of contention once they got Lamar Jackson back healthy, but they’re really close after adding edge rusher Trey Hendrickson in free agency. What they need now is a final push, which they can get by adding a little beef to both lines. The offensive line is the priority after losing center Tyler Linderbaum in free agency, and they should be able to get help there with the 14th overall pick. A center or guard will help protect Jackson and clear room for running back Derrick Henry. And if they can use a second- or third-rounder to get a big body to clear space for Hendrickson on the defensive side, he could have a huge year. The only other thing they’re really missing is a second receiver to complement Zay Flowers. But this is a run-based offense, so if they can dominate in the trenches, they’ll be a dangerous playoff team. 4. Cincinnati Bengals2025 record: 6-112026 picks: 2.41, 3.72, 4.110, 6.189, 6.199, 7.221, 7.226 The Bengals already used their first-round pick (10) to acquire defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence from the Giants, a bold move they felt was necessary because they didn’t think they could get an impact defender at that spot in the draft. Lawrence is certainly far better than any defensive tackle they could have found there. But it was a clear sign they are going for it all this year, since they’re already loaded on offense as long as quarterback Joe Burrow is healthy. What they need to do now is fix the back end of the defense, preferably with a new starting cornerback. And it also wouldn’t hurt to bulk up the offensive line to make sure Burrow stays on the field. It won’t be as easy without that first-rounder, but they still have picks 41 and 72. If they hit on those, they’ll have the support to let Burrow carry them the rest of the way. 3. Kansas City Chiefs2025 record: 6-112026 picks: 1.9, 1.29, 2.40, 3.74, 4.109, 5.148, 5.169, 5.176, 6.210 Their dynasty looked like it was dying even before quarterback Patrick Mahomes got hurt last season, but they’re not ready to see their window slam shut just yet. Mahomes coming back healthy is the most important thing. But they need some help to get Steve Spagnuolo’s defense back on track too. Specifically, they need an edge rusher because their pass rush (33 sacks) was terrible. They should be able to find that with at least one of their two first-round picks (9, 29). A cornerback is a necessity too, since both of last year’s starters — Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson — are gone. If the Chiefs can give Spagnuolo better pass-rushers and coverage, he’ll have that unit back in the top five soon enough. Then they’ll have support for an offense with Mahomes and new running back Kenneth Walker III, and maybe their dynasty won’t be dead after all. 2. Philadelphia Eagles2025 record: 11-62026 picks: 1.23, 2.54, 3.68, 3.98, 4.114, 4.137, 5.178, 6.197 Even if the Eagles trade receiver A.J. Brown (and they might), they still have plenty of offensive weapons, and they’ve got a defense that has plenty of talent in the back, especially at linebacker and cornerback. But what got them off their game last season is their lack of dominance in the trenches. That should, and likely will, be the focus of their four picks in the top 100. In fact, it would be a shock if GM Howie Roseman doesn’t use one of the Eagles’ first two picks (Nos. 23, 54) on an offensive lineman. They need better play in the interior and some depth at tackle, too. If their line gets stronger, it’ll do wonders for running back Saquon Barkley and quarterback Jalen Hurts. And on defense, they know they need an edge rusher too, after they failed to bring back Jaelan Phillips. They’re strong inside with Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, but need a lot more off the edge. If they can disrupt opposing quarterbacks a little more and return to their dominant running style, they’ll be a lot better equipped for a long postseason run. 1. San Francisco 49ers2025 record: 12-52026 picks: 1.27, 2.58, 4.127, 4.133, 4.138, 4.139 They were 12-5 last season, so it’s really a short leap to being in the run for a championship, which they were for most of last season. They still have more than enough weapons on offense, especially after signing receivers Mike Evans and Christian Kirk. But they can guarantee their status among the NFC’s elite if they can strengthen their pass defense. To do that, they need two things: a better pass rush and at least one playmaker in the secondary. Pass rush might be the bigger need, even if Nick Bosa and Mykel Williams are healthy. They didn’t have a single player with more than four sacks last year. Alas, they didn’t have a single corner who picked off a pass, either. They have only two selections in the first two days — Nos. 27 and 58 — but those are their two obvious positional targets. They need to strengthen those areas to compete in the loaded NFC West anyway. And if they can survive that division, a Super Bowl run definitely won’t be out of reach.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves. Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: Orioles-Royals got wild You might think, looking at the final score of 7-5 in the Orioles-Royals game from Monday, that this one was fairly offense-centric throughout. The truth is that all but two runs were scored from the ninth inning onward — everything changed as the game approached its original endpoint, and escalated from there. Observe! In the bottom of the second, with the game still scoreless, Royals’ right fielder Jac Caglianone hit his first homer of the year, off of starting pitcher Kyle Bradish. Despite giving up 10 hits and walking three, Bradish gave up just that one run in his 5.1 innings of work: the next four Orioles’ relievers would allow just one hit and no runs combined. Seth Lugo went seven shutout innings against Baltimore, and then Matt Strahm pitched a scoreless eighth for a hold. Closer Lucas Erceg got the O’s down to their last strike, with Kansas City up 1-0… and then he blew it. Catcher Samuel Basallo tied things up, 1-1, and the two teams headed to extras in what had been, to that point, a pitching-focused battle. While the 10th was scoreless and continued that trend, it was also the end of it. With two outs and the only baserunner on Blaze Alexander, who was placed there to start the 11th, DH Dylan Beavers managed a single to put the Orioles ahead for the first time all night. The lead did not last. Center fielder Kyle Isbel bunted Isaac Collins to third to kick off the bottom of the inning and put the tying run for Kansas City 90 feet away. Shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. then singled Isbel home to make things even once more. The Royals wouldn’t score again, however, bringing Baltimore back to the plate, where Basallo once again made his presence felt with an RBI single to give the O’s another lead. This wouldn’t be a one and done like every other inning in the game for both sides, however. Baltimore poured it on from here. Second baseman Jeremiah Jackson followed Basallo’s single with one of his own, then third baseman Weston Wilson — who had entered as a pinch-runner earlier — drew the walk to load the bases. Center fielder Leody Taveras would then hit his second homer of the year, clearing the bases with a grand slam; 7-2, Orioles. Cameron Foster came on in relief for Baltimore to try to close out this five-run lead, and it looked like he might falter in that. DH Salvador Perez led off with a single, then right fielder Lane Thomas walked to load the bases. Nick Loftin, who was playing second after coming in as a pinch-hitter earlier in the game, doubled in three runs, making it 7-5 with no outs. That was all Kansas City could manage, though: the next three batters were retired by Foster in order, with a backwards K to wrap it up against Isbel. The Orioles now sit just one game under .500 and 2.5 back in the AL East, which is collectively off to a slow start. The AL Central isn’t looking much better off, but the Royals have managed to sink to the bottom of it, anyway, thanks to losing what is now eight-straight. MLB’s strikeout leader is Dylan Cease There were some understandable questions about why the Blue Jays would be willing to give Dylan Cease a seven-year, $210 million deal this offseason, given the right-hander posted a 4.55 ERA in 2025 with the Padres. Teams are looking at far more than a basic stat like ERA when they make these decisions, though, and something no one could question was Cease’s ability to throw swing-and-miss pitches. Whatever Toronto saw that made him worthy of a franchise-record deal for a pitcher seems to be on display for all now, as Cease struck out 12 Angels on Monday in a 5-2 Blue Jays’ W, tying his own earlier mark for the most in a game so far in 2026, and now leads the majors in strikeouts with 44 on the season. Cease is also the fastest Blue Jays pitcher ever to 44 strikeouts, per Blue Jays Nation; whatever little adjustment Toronto thought he needed to unlock his best self seems to have taken hold already. Of course, this is five starts and 25.2 innings, so no need to hand the righty the AL Cy Young Award just yet, but still: this is one hell of a start. Both referring to last night and 2026 as a whole for Cease. Big Dumper dongs Cal Raleigh bashed 60 homers for the Mariners in 2025, a record for the team, for catchers and for switch-hitters. He hasn’t been nearly as powerful out of the gate in 2026, but he has shown some flashes of that pop. We got another example that it’s still there yesterday, when Big Dumper went the other way on a sinker to the outside part of the zone, sending it 382 feet into the bullpen. That’s Raleigh’s third homer of the year; through 24 games last season, he had nine. Still, Raleigh always being a 60-homer guy — or even a 50-homer guy — wasn’t an automatic just because it was done once. There have been just 10 such seasons in MLB’s long history, and all. The more important thing are the signs that Raleigh can get out of his slump, which has impacted more than just his power. Hitting a ball 382 feet the other way is one such sign that Raleigh will bounce back, maybe sooner than later. Rodriguez’s awkward adjustment Nintendo used to have majority ownership of the Mariners, but now, the video game developer and publisher is just a minority investor. Apparently that’s all that’s needed for center fielder Julio Rodriguez to have some video game-esque reactions and adjustments to a fly ball hit at him, though. Look at this weirdo — the play, not Rodriguez. That ball just kept hooking, which Rodriguez did not account for, but he still made a ridiculous change in direction himself for a catch that looked like a buggy animation from a baseball video game instead of a real one. No not Honkbal, Honk Ball The square footage of a baseball field is immense, the probabilities for where a ball in play could land impacted by everything from the ability of the hitter and pitcher themselves to where the ball is in the zone and where the bat meets it and how hard. Somehow, this ball was struck in such a way that it landed near a goose that had otherwise been unbothered, and that bird took flight as a result. Everyone was unharmed, that’s the important thing. Except for this baseball that Cubs’ shortstop Dansby Swanson had crushed an inning before, anyway. And also the psyche of Phillies’ fans, that’s probably not at its strongest at the moment. Philadelphia dropped its sixth game in a row here, managing just one run against the Cubs. That’s just one more than the goose recorded. Ohtani makes it 52 Dodgers’ star Shohei Ohtani did not make everyone wait long to see if he could extend his on-base streak to 52 games, tying the longest such streak of the last decade. In the third inning against Rockies’ starter Jose Quintana, the DH hit a liner to right for his first hit of the game. While Ohtani had reached earlier on an error, those do not count for on-base streaks, but even this hit didn’t prove necessary, either, since he picked up a pair of walks later in the game, as well. He is now a single game away from moving into the top 25 for longest on-base streaks in MLB history. The top of the mountain is still a ways away, however: that Ted Williams guy was quite the hitter himself, and he made it on in 84-consecutive games back in 1949. Still! Ohtani can rocket most of the way up the list before he even runs out of April — the top few spots aside, history’s longest on-base streaks are mostly clustered together — fewer have reached where Ohtani is now, and even fewer have gone much further than this. D’aww No babies were harmed in the making of this catch. Listen, you don’t have anywhere to go — there’s a baby in your hands. The ball is coming right at you, so your options are to attempt to catch it or at least deflect it from the direction of the child, or let the ball hit you, which hey, might hurt enough to make it tough to hold onto the baby. The right call was made here. The better call? Giving the baseball to the baby afterward. The rest of this Dodgers-Rockies game wasn’t quite so cute for Colorado fans — they lost, 12-3 — but hey. Foul ball baby! Friends don’t rob friends of hits Elly De La Cruz and Junior Caminero were happy to see each other prior to the Reds-Rays tilt. The two early 20s Dominican-born infielders are close friends — Caminero described De La Cruz as his “brother” postgame, even, per MLB — so it was no surprise to see them embrace before they faced off on Monday. Then the game started, though, and De La Cruz showed no mercy to Caminero on this ball hit to the shortstop’s right. Make sure you watch through for the reaction by Caminero. In that exchange where he called De La Cruz a brother postgame? Caminero also joked through an interpreter that, “I’m not going to give him any food tomorrow. We were talking about exchanging something, but I’m not going to give him anything.” Man, baseball is a rough game. Red Sox win early Patriots’ Day matchup The Red Sox played their traditional Marathon Monday early game on Patriots’ Day, this time to wrap up a four-game series against the Tigers. Boston was attempting to even things up and not drop the series to Detroit, which had won the previous two games, and sent Sonny Gray to the mound to do it. Gray had to be lifted after 2.2 innings with hamstring tightness, however, so the bullpen had to hop in early. In the fourth, 23-year-old rookie third baseman Hao-Yu Lee picked up his first career hit and RBI with a single off reliever Zack Kelly to tie things up 2-2. A couple of innings later, pinch-hitter Jahmai Jones subbed in for Kerry Carpenter and delivered a hit to left-center to drive in the go-ahead run. Boston’s bats would wake up from here on. With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, Ceddanne Rafaela pinch-hit and drove in two runs — nearly three — with a single to right, to put the Sox up 5-3. That was not going to be enough to win, but the Sox drove in another before the inning ended when backstop Carlos Narvaez singled in a run, and then Boston added two more in the eighth. And good thing, too, because the Tigers made it 8-6 against relievers Ryan Watson and Aroldis Chapman before running out of outs in the ninth. Boston needed this W badly, to avoid dropping alone into fifth place in the AL East. The Tigers could have used it, too, in the way all teams need a win, but Detroit is at least just half-a-game out in the AL Central, not staring up from the bottom like the Sox. Boston gets the Yankees next, starting Tuesday, while Detroit takes on a Brewers team that is in last place, sure, but is also 12-9 while doing it — a better record than the Tigers have.​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports