2026 NFL Draft Steals After Week 8: Why Teams Passed on Them

Eight weeks into the season, the live 2026 NFL redraft has stopped looking like draft night. The board now leans 80% on what rookies have actually done this fall, and some of the biggest jumps belong to players who waited a long time for the phone to ring.

So who are the real steals of the 2026 class so far, and did anything in the pre-draft data hint at it? We pulled the "why overlooked" signals from each player's page: age at draft, school tier, position history and where he went compared with ESPN's pre-draft rank. The short answer is that the data saw a couple of these coming and missed the rest completely.

The biggest jumps vs. draft slot

Michael Taaffe: the sixth-rounder in the top 12

Miami took Michael Taaffe out of Texas with the 158th pick. Today he sits 12th on the redraft, and the slot he'd go at belongs to Miami, so the Dolphins would happily make the same call again, just about 146 picks sooner. Through seven games he has 38 tackles, two interceptions, two passes defensed and a forced fumble while playing 94.2% of the snaps.

Why did he last so long? Honestly, the data doesn't have a great answer. ESPN had him 174th overall and 15th among safeties, so Miami drafted him almost exactly where the consensus had him. He was 23 at the draft, came from a power-conference school and ran a 4.50 at the combine. Every one of those traits sits right around the 50% mark historically, and his page estimates a 47% chance he'd beat his slot. He's a steal the numbers didn't flag. The gap opened on the field.

Hezekiah Masses: the ballhawk at 175

The Raiders grabbed Hezekiah Masses from California at 175, close to ESPN's rank of 163 overall (20th at corner). He's now 22nd on the board with three interceptions, seven passes defensed and 27 tackles on 54.7% of the snaps. That's real takeaway production from a part-time role.

He's the one guy on this list with a mild pre-draft tailwind. Players drafted at 22 have beaten their slot 56.1% of the time in our 2000-2021 sample (n=2,011), and his page puts his estimate at 55%. He also ran a 4.46 at 6'1", 179 pounds. The slender frame is the likeliest reason teams waited.

Atlanta's two late-round linebackers

The Falcons might own the best Day 3 haul in the class. Kendal Daniels (pick 134, Oklahoma) is 18th on the redraft with 52 tackles, a sack, four tackles for loss and an interception. Here's the twist: ESPN ranked him only 229th overall, so Atlanta actually took him 32-plus picks before the consensus said to. Players taken that early relative to ESPN have beaten their slot only 48.9% of the time. Atlanta trusted its own board, and so far it's paying off.

Then there's Harold Perkins, the biggest riser in the whole class at +168. The LSU linebacker went 215th even though ESPN had him 107th, so he slid more than a full round past his ranking. That's one of the signals that actually leans steal: players who slid 32-plus picks past ESPN's rank have beaten their slot 53.2% of the time. Add his age (21 or younger, 56.6%) and his position (linebackers have beaten their slot 56.8% of the time), and his page gives him a 63% estimate, the highest of this group. He has 38 tackles and 1.5 sacks on 56.1% of the snaps.

Anthony Hill and the linebacker theme

Linebacker keeps showing up. Anthony Hill went 60th to Tennessee and is now 8th, with 82 tackles in eight games on 99.5% of the snaps. ESPN had him 35th, so he slipped about 25 picks, and he checks the same two boxes as Perkins: 21 or younger at the draft, and a linebacker. His page also gives him a 63% estimate.

Three of the top nine spots on the board now belong to linebackers drafted outside the first round: Jacob Rodriguez (pick 43, now 4th), Hill (60, now 8th) and Josiah Trotter (46, now 9th). Rodriguez is the exception that proves the data isn't everything. At 24, he fell in the bucket that has beaten its slot only 44.9% of the time, and he's still up 39 spots with 68 tackles.

Will Lee rounds it out

Carolina's Will Lee (pick 129, Texas A&M) is 27th with 33 tackles, seven passes defensed and a forced fumble. ESPN had him 105th, within a round of where he went, and his profile reads neutral across the board, with a 47% estimate. He's another case where the tape and the snaps (73.7%) are doing the talking.

What it means

The pattern so far is simple. Young linebackers who slide are the one profile where the pre-draft data and the field agree. The defensive backs on this list mostly beat the odds the data gave them. Remember that the board still blends in draft slot, so these spots will keep moving week to week. Tap any name above for the full player page, or check how the class shook out in the 2025 redraft.

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