Louisville’s six-year run without a first-round NFL Draft pick stretched into another night Thursday, after Chris Bell went unselected when the 2026 NFL Draft opened with the first 32 picks. Bell was the only Cardinal with first-round potential, and his absence from the opening round means the wait continues for a program that once had regular first-round company.
The weight of that drought is easy to measure. Louisville fans have now gone six years without a first-round pick, a stretch that stands in sharp contrast to the program’s recent past. Mekhi Becton was the last Cardinal taken in the opening round, going No. 11 overall to the New York Jets. Before that, Louisville had two first-rounders in the 2018 draft, when Jaire Alexander went No. 18 overall to the Green Bay Packers and Lamar Jackson followed at No. 32 overall to the Baltimore Ravens.
That earlier success did not begin in 2018. Louisville had a first-round pick in 2016, when Sheldon Rankins was selected, and again in 2015, when DeVante Parker went in the opening round. The Cardinals had three players chosen in the 2014 draft, with Calvin Pryor going No. 18 overall, Marcus Smith at No. 26 overall and Teddy Bridgewater closing the round at No. 32 overall.
Last year, Louisville did place Tyler Shough in the NFL Draft, but he went No. 40 overall to the New Orleans Saints, part of a pair of second-round selections for the Cardinals. That kept the program in the draft conversation, but not in the place Louisville once occupied when opening-night picks were part of the program’s identity.
Bell’s slide Thursday leaves the next round with more pressure than anticipation for Louisville. If the Cardinals are going to end the drought, they will need one of their next draft-eligible players to do what Bell could not on opening night: break back into the first 32 names called.
