Diego Pavia's draft party will have been a lonely place on Saturday night. Day three of the 2026 NFL Draft was drawing to a close, pick 257 announced, and unfortunately, it wasn't him. The reigning SEC Offensive Player of the Year — the best quarterback in college football's toughest conference — sitting around watching Fernando Mendoza go first overall 72 hours prior, knowing that if he had made some smarter, more mature decisions, it could well have been him.
2026 Draft Highlights
He wasn't the only one to slide down the board. Caleb Downs and Rueben Bain Jr. both tumbled out of the top ten — a collapse that left the Bengals shaking their heads in disbelief after they'd traded their 10th pick to the Giants for Dexter Lawrence, having fully expected both players to be long gone before they selected again. Jermod McCoy, arguably the best cornerback in the entire draft, fell all the way to the fourth round before the Raiders extended an olive branch at 101 overall, praying that the former Tennessee Volunteer's current injury isn't as bad as everyone makes out.
At the opposite end of the scale, there was joy for the consensus QB2 Ty Simpson. Despite having just 13 starts to his name, the Raiders selected him at 13th overall, much to the seeming dismay of head coach Sean McVay, who didn't seem too impressed with the selection his front office made for him.
The Baltimore Ravens have since handed Pavia a lifeline, penning the former Commodore to a three-year deal to hopefully develop behind two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. He has also done Vanderbilt a favor on his way out as well, helping them land five-star quarterback Jared Curtis, something that has caught the eye of online betting sites. The early 2026 college football spreads at Bovada now make Vandy a +8000 shot to win the SEC next season; still long shots, but slightly shorter-priced outsiders than they were not too long ago.
But while Pavia has his shot, others haven't been so lucky. Not only have they gone undrafted, but they also haven't been invited to any NFL training camps either. As such, the UFL could beckon, but for whom? Well, here are the three best undrafted free agents currently unsure of what their immediate future may hold.
Dontay Corleone
Dontay Corleone arrived at Cincinnati as a 3-star prospect in 2021, redshirted, and then detonated. As a redshirt freshman in 2022, he produced 45 tackles, 5.5 for loss, three sacks, two forced fumbles — third-team All-American, first-team All-AAC. He followed that up with a further 39 tackles — 6.5 of them for loss — and three more sacks in 2023. That earned second-team All-Big 12 honors after Cincinnati's conference move, and he would again secure first-team All-Big 12 in 2024 — despite a blood clot diagnosis that had begun quietly disassembling everything.
That diagnosis is the pivot point. It's the one thing that scouts circled, then underlined, then used to justify crossing his name off boards entirely. And anyone who was considering taking a chance on him was put off by a mediocre 2025 season in which Corleone managed just 13 tackles all year long. At 6'2" and 305 pounds, his size doesn't ideally fit a traditional nose technique at the pro level either. Add that to both the medical concern compounded and a production collapse, and it's clear to see why his draft hopes were nixed entirely.
But here's what the blood clot can't erase: the motor. Corleone plays with a relentless physicality that would fit perfectly with the Birmingham Stallions and their smashmouth defensive scheme that requires exactly that kind of interior menace. He wouldn't need to generate double-digit sacks, just make the center's life as uncomfortable as possible on every single snap. On a full professional workload, with genuine medical monitoring around him, that's a realistic ask.
Fa'alili Fa'amoe
Fa'alili Fa'amoe arrived at Washington State from American Samoa as a 3-star defensive lineman in 2020, before being converted to offensive tackle as a redshirt freshman. He earned his first starts in the final seven games of 2022, then went on to start all 12 Cougars games at right tackle in 2023, landing on Outland and Lombardi Trophy watch lists.
Wake Forest gave him a senior season worth documenting: all 12 starts, 787 snaps, a 71.2 PFF pass-blocking grade on a 9-4 team, and a Shrine Bowl invitation. Then Bleacher Report recommended a switch to guard — his most viable NFL path, they said — despite zero career snaps at the position. Not one. The 2026 offensive line class was simply too deep, and scouts flagged heavy feet and vulnerability against speed rushers as disqualifying at tackle. In the end, no one took the punt on him at either position.
In the UFL, both the St. Louis Battlehawks and San Antonio Brahmas run gap-scheme rushing attacks where Fa'amoe's power profile and finishing ability at the point of attack can thrive without requiring elite lateral athleticism. His guard conversion is a gamble — but it's one he can actually run in a UFL system designed for developmental players finding their professional identity. Thirty-eight starts in his legs. A position to discover. The UFL has the snaps to find out.
Eric McAlister
Eric McAlister put up 1,190 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns in his final college season at TCU. Across two seasons with the Horned Frogs, 111 receptions, nearly 2,000 yards, and 15 touchdowns. Before that, a Mountain West breakout at Boise State — 47 receptions, 873 yards, five scores — after catching 11 passes for 259 yards and four touchdowns as a true freshman. Under normal circumstances, that résumé warranted a day-three selection. It's hard to argue otherwise.
These weren't normal circumstances. More than a minor run-in with the law erased his draft stock entirely, and ultimately, no team selected him. No UDFA offers have materialized either. Still, the route-running refinement is a real on-field note. And while it doesn't come close to explaining the silence, it could well be the reason that he gets a chance to prove himself in the near future.
The DC Defenders taking that gamble is a real story. They have receiver corps needs, they have a system that can deploy an explosive perimeter target, and they have a developmental mandate that sometimes means absorbing risk. McAlister has to make the football louder than everything else. If he can do that, he may very well find a route back to the top level.