NFL draft Day 3 picks that can be starters on defense for their team in 2026
What is the ideal definition of a value pick in the NFL draft? There are all kinds, but let’s go with the prospects who are selected in the third day of the draft, and turn into impact starters in their rookie seasons. Every year has a few such examples, and in the 2025 season, there were 11 players who started at least 10 games (including the postseason) in their inaugural NFL seasons after they were selected in the fourth through the seventh rounds. New England Patriots safety Craig Woodson started 19 games Buffalo Bills DL Deone Walker started 18 games Miami Dolphins DL Jordan Phillips started 16 games Tennessee Titans WR Elic Ayomanor and New York Jets DB Malachi Moore each started 14 games Baltimore Ravens LB Teddye Buchanan started 13 games Cincinnati Bengals LB Barrett Carter started 12 games Houston Texans RB Woody Marks ( Secret Superstar Woody Marks, to be exact ), Tennessee Titans WR Chimere Dike and TE Gunnar Helm , and Carolina TE Mitchell Evans each started 10 games Who might break through and beat the odds from the 2026 class? Here are six prospects on the defensive side of the ball with the right combination of talent, potential, scheme fit, and opportunity. Opportunity is a big deal for any Day 3 pick trying to bash through the barriers and find a starting role, and that could work well for Southeastern Louisiana’s Kaleb Proctor, who the Cardinals selected with the 104th overall pick in the fourth round. Right now, the Cardinals’ defense under Nick Rallis has 2025 first-round pick Walter Nolen and 2024 first-round pick Darius Robinson on the interior defensive line, along with veterans Roy Lopez and Andrew Billings . Nobody in that group has really set themselves up as a force multiplier just yet, though Nolen showed some things in his rookie year when he was healthy. Now, here comes the 6’2”, 291-pound Proctor, who in his fourth season with the Lions had nine sacks, 39 total pressures, 18 solo tackles, 22 stops, and two tackles for loss. If you’re worried about strength of competition as it transfers to the NFL, the Cardinals aren’t, and you shouldn’t be either. Just watch the LSU tape, when Proctor racked up two sacks and five stops, and looked like a destruction machine throughout. “The good thing is he played against LSU this year,” Cardinals assistant general manager Dave Sears said of all that after Proctor was picked. “Obviously, that’s the tape that everybody is going to go to, but he did play against other schools in the past. FBS schools and stuff like that. Then you have him in an All-Star game, so you get to watch him for multiple practices against bigger schools. It’s a case where the kid succeeded in each one of those opportunities, and he’s also been able to stack weight. I think at his Pro Day, he was up into the 290s, so he still tested very well. You’re seeing some growth potential as well as being able to compete when you put him on the same level as some of those bigger school guys.” Maybe Proctor gets a lot of preseason reps, and based on that, he could find himself as an integral part of the interior rotation sooner than later. Because in today’s NFL, with its increasing use of two-deep safety shells and lighter boxes, you need credible rotations of interior wreckers who can do their thing. The Chiefs made it very clear which side of the ball they wanted to improve in the 2026 draft, as defensive players went with their first four picks — LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane with the sixth overall pick after a trade-up deal with the Cleveland Browns , Clemson interior defensive lineman Peter Woods with the 29th overall pick they got from the Los Angeles Rams in the Trent McDuffie trade, Oklahoma edge-rusher R Mason Thomas with the 40th overall pick in the second round, and Oregon defensive back Jadon Canady with the 109th overall pick in the fourth round. Of the four players, Canady’s ultimate role may be the most interesting. Last season for the Ducks, the 5′ 10½”, 181-pound Canad [... truncated ...]
