The Official 2026 NFL Draft Thread
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Michael Coats Jr:
Overview
- Hometown: Louisville, MS
- Birthday: June 20, 2001
- Age: 24.8
- Jersey: No. 3
- High School: Biloxi
- Year: Sixth-year senior
Michael Coats Jr., who has two sisters, grew up in central Mississippi with his father (Michael Coats Sr.) and mother (Latisha Steele). He played baseball, basketball and football in childhood but stopped playing football after Pop Warner. He continued playing basketball when he arrived at Biloxi High School, but he didn’t play any sports his junior and senior years.
He was working at a local arcade after graduating from high school when he saw a flier for football tryouts at East Central (Miss.) Community College. Despite having bare-bones football experience, he made the team in 2020 and learned both cornerback and safety. After the 2022 season, he committed to Nevada, where he had a productive two years, including an All-MWC 2024 season. He entered the portal and transferred to West Virginia in 2025, for his sixth season.
An unlikely longshot, Coats has gone from not playing high school football to trying out at the junior college level and now being on the doorstep of the NFL. Though undersized in his height and build, he matches up well with receivers because of his athleticism. He is quick at the snap to mirror, turn and match routes with speed, up and down the field. He swarms throws and puts himself in position for on-ball production. He needs to learn how to trust his technique over grabbing, but he plays with a short memory and bounces back quickly. He is a competitive tackler and limits misses.
Dane’s takeaway
Coats’ lack of size will be more noticeable versus NFL talent, but he is an instinctual, twitchy athlete with the toughness to compete for a nickel role once in an NFL camp.
Combine stats
Tap any column header to see its definition. Scroll right to see more metrics.
STAT HT WT HAND ARM WING BP 10 20 40 VJ BJ SS 3C Pro Day 5′91/4 184 91/4 311/2 713/4 14 1.52 2.49 4.4 36 10′8 4.44 6.83 College stats
Tap any column header to see its definition. Scroll right to see more metrics.
YEAR SCHOOL GP GS TKLS TFL SACK FF PD INT 2020 East Central Community College (Miss.) — — — — — — — — 2021 East Central Community College (Miss.) — — — — — — — — 2022 East Central Community College (Miss.) — — — — — — — — 2023 Nevada 10 0 13 0 0 0 5 1 2024 Nevada 13 13 41 0.5 0 0 14 4 2025 West Virginia 12 12 30 2 0 0 7 0 - 2024 First Team All-MWC; led team in INTs and PD
- 2025 Led team in PD; graduated with degree (Dec. 2025); enrolled January 2025
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He starts going on the AFC North at about the 1 hour 26 minute mark.
He's bullish on the Browns, fo sho.
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I wonder why? ?
Two things that will define you: Your determination when you have nothing. Your attitude when you have everything. - Mike McCartney -
The SEC reclaimed the overall draft throne with day 2 & 3 picks.
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The SEC reclaimed the overall draft throne with day 2 & 3 picks.
The SEC reclaimed the overall draft throne with day 2 & 3 picks.
So you’re saying it’s quantity not quality?
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Have no fear. Early indications are the SEC will reclaim both.
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I wonder why? ?
I wonder why? ?
Because he’s a midget with major attitude problems
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Have no fear. Early indications are the SEC will reclaim both.
Have no fear. Early indications are the SEC will reclaim both.
I don’t know what the trajectory is for SEC teams heading into next year. Texas has a lot coming back Georgia and A&M seem like perennial challengers now.
Oregon and Ohio State should be prime contenders next year. Ohio State right now has the best odds of any team.
Oregon and Indiana are both in the top 5 odds wise…And USC has figured out how to recruit again as indicated by their #1 recruiting class.
Michigan is stealing signs and QBs from the SEC.
Last season it was talk about the middle and bottom of the conferences - fans don’t care how Washington stacks up with Auburn
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Have no fear. Early indications are the SEC will reclaim both.
Have no fear. Early indications are the SEC will reclaim both.
They’ve been saying that for three years now.
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I wonder why? ?
Because he’s a midget with major attitude problems
Because he’s a midget with major attitude problems
I read a little while ago, he’s working out for the Ratbirds.
He has too big of an ego to stand on the sidelines waiting for L Jackson to get hurt.
I have a feeling he’s going to be wearing one of these for a career.
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Have no fear. Early indications are the SEC will reclaim both.
They’ve been saying that for three years now.
They’ve been saying that for three years now.
Gee-I wonder why that is. LOL!
2025 1st Round Picks By Conference
SEC had 15
Big 10 had 11
Big 12 had 2
ACC had 2
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Oh No 2024 too?????
Number of 2024 First Round NFL Draft Picks by Conference
2024 First Round Picks by Conference
Current Alignment
Conference Picks SEC 11 Pac 12 8 Big Ten 4 ACC 4 Big 12 3 Independent 1 -
Oh No 2024 too?????
Number of 2024 First Round NFL Draft Picks by Conference
2024 First Round Picks by Conference
Current Alignment
Conference Picks SEC 11 Pac 12 8 Big Ten 4 ACC 4 Big 12 3 Independent 1 Oh No 2024 too?????
Number of 2024 First Round NFL Draft Picks by Conference
2024 First Round Picks by Conference
Current Alignment
Conference Picks SEC 11 Pac 12 8 Big Ten 4 ACC 4 Big 12 3 Independent 1 With all that first round talent it makes you wonder why the SEC can’t make it to the championship game. ?
Two things that will define you: Your determination when you have nothing. Your attitude when you have everything. - Mike McCartney -
Oh No 2024 too?????
Number of 2024 First Round NFL Draft Picks by Conference
2024 First Round Picks by Conference
Current Alignment
Conference Picks SEC 11 Pac 12 8 Big Ten 4 ACC 4 Big 12 3 Independent 1 With all that first round talent it makes you wonder why the SEC can’t make it to the championship game. ?
With all that first round talent it makes you wonder why the SEC can’t make it to the championship game. ?
Shall I keep going?
First Round Draft Picks by Conference (last 5 years)
Data Table:
Conference 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 TOTAL ACC 7 3 6 4 4 24 Big12 3 5 0 0 6 14 Big10 7 5 7 7 9 35 PAC 3 3 3 4 3 16 SEC 9 15 12 12 9 57 Notre Dame 1 0 0 1 0 2 BYU 0 0 1 0 0 1 -
Oh No 2024 too?????
Number of 2024 First Round NFL Draft Picks by Conference
2024 First Round Picks by Conference
Current Alignment
Conference Picks SEC 11 Pac 12 8 Big Ten 4 ACC 4 Big 12 3 Independent 1 With all that first round talent it makes you wonder why the SEC can’t make it to the championship game. ?
With all that first round talent it makes you wonder why the SEC can’t make it to the championship game. ?
Nice deflection try from your original statement. You get an A for Attempt. LOL!?
They’ve been saying that for three years now.
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I have 10 games worth of all-22 from McNeil-Warren. Going to start diving into that tonight. If anyone wants to join us in the machine shop for a rough draft viewing, you're more than welcomed to.
edit: Starting @ 8:30pm EST on discord.
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Imagine wasting time hyping up a conference instead of your own team
Ja.brill Peppers - Cleveland Brown OldBrownsFan, on 02 Jun 2017 - 5:09PM said: "No you are not the work of the devil but you are deceived by the devil." Who's got it better than us? Nooooobody! -
One of my - if not my favorite - Browns writers on the Browns '26 Draft
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If I ran college football conferences would be topped out at 10-12 teams max, and Texas A&M would be out of the SEC and in a new Southwest Conference with Texas, Texas Tech, Baylor, etc... Nebraska and Oklahoma would be in the Big 12, USC, Oregon, etc would be in the Pac 12... oh well.
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