Last April, bottles were already popping within the first 10 minutes of the NFL Draft, with Jaxson Dart and Walter Nolen's names being called in Round 1. Ole Miss's draft class of 2026 might not be as glitzy and glamorous, but Round 2 is where the real value is this time.
Day 2 on Friday night is when the Rebels finally break the seal, and hardly anyone needs a headset to know who’s getting the call. All eyes are on a certain vertical threat who’s been climbing the big board since he torched the Combine. It’s De'Zhaun Stribling’s world; everyone else is just playing zone.
De'Zhaun Stribling first Rebel off the 2026 NFL Draft board?
A 4.36 blazing 40-yard dash speed at the Combine later, Stribling got calls from basically half the league for a Top 30 visit; not an unofficial or virtual meeting. A Top 30 visit.
Although ESPN's Draft board and the majority of others see him as a mid-Round 3 pick at best, everyone in the loop of the insider buzz of the NFL teams knows just how high up Stribling is on multiple teams' draft boards on Day 2. The hype alone makes him an early Round 2 pick.
With Stribling NFL teams get a menace of a vertical threat with elite speed for a 6'2" wideout. Teams know they're getting a steal in Round 2 with the Rebels former #1 jersey WR, with potential to be a reliable backup WR2 ready to step in on Sundays from Day 1, and more potential to develop into a WR1 with some training.
There is a slightest bit of chance that an NFL team in a mood to pull an absolute wildcard no one saw coming, drafts OT Diego Pounds or monster-frame DT Zxavian Harris in Round 2, but the chance of any of them overtaking Stribling looks microscopic. He's in a league of his own, and it’s only fitting he’s suiting up to step to the occasion.
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