Zakee Wheatley waited his turn to become an impact defender in Penn State’s program. The wait was worth it. Wheatley, a fifth-year player who made 28 starts at safety the last two seasons, took to social media on Wednesday to thank Penn State’s fans, his family and his coaches as he begins preparations for the 2026 NFL draft.

Ranking the 10 best defensive tackles in the 2026 NFL Draft originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. Much is left to be determined before the 2026 NFL Draft, but a regular season's worth of action has made it clear that teams in need of defensive upgrades are in luck.

The Iowa State Cyclones are set to undergo some major changes with their roster under new head coach Jimmy Rogers. He runs a different scheme than Matt Campbell

The NFL is changing one critical rule with the NFL Draft coming to Pittsburgh in 2026. In the first round of the draft, usually, a given team has ten minutes to select their pick, but this year, that will be shortened by two minutes to just eight minutes.

On Wednesday, the NFL announced they have shortened the time between picks for the first round of the 2026 NFL draft.

Schefter added that NFL teams "were on board" with shortening the length of the first round, which typically ended close to midnight. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell had first floated the idea of reducing the time between picks during Day 2 of the 2025 draft in Green Bay.

Oregon Ducks quarterback Dante Moore has seen his 2025 NFL Draft stock rise ever since he led the Ducks to a win over Penn State during their “whiteout” game in