Jordyn Tyson Headlines Texas Prospects in 2026 NFL Draft

Jordyn Tyson, a wide receiver who graduated from Allen High School, enters the 2026 NFL Draft as a consensus first-round pick and the most closely watched Texas prospect in this year’s class.

Tyson is the kind of player North Dallas football families have been tracking for years. He attended three high schools, John Paul II, Frisco Independence, and Allen, before closing out his prep career with one of the more remarkable senior seasons in area history: 79 receptions, 1,499 yards, and 12 touchdowns at Allen. That’s the same program that has won more Texas state titles than most districts have winning seasons.

His college path was equally unconventional. Tyson played his freshman year at Colorado, then spent three years at Arizona State, appearing in only 33 games across his entire college career. Injuries followed him. Still, scouts don’t discount what he showed when healthy.

His best year came in 2024 at Arizona State: 75 receptions, 1,101 yards, 10 touchdowns. Last year he caught 61 passes for 711 yards and eight touchdowns, a slight step back but enough to keep him in the first-round conversation. NFL.com’s latest mock draft projections have him going as high as No. 8 to the New Orleans Saints. ESPN’s Mel Kiper projects Tyson lands with the Kansas City Chiefs at No. 9. Other projections are more conservative, including one that drops him to the New York Jets at No. 16 and another that has him falling to the Cleveland Browns at No. 20.

First round. Almost certainly.

Tyson isn’t the only Texas-connected prospect worth watching when the three-day draft opens Thursday, April 23.

KC Concepcion, a wide receiver out of Texas A&M, is considered a fringe first-round pick. Concepcion transferred to College Station in 2024 after two years at NC State, and scouts project him as a slot receiver at the next level due to his size. He’s a name A&M fans in Preston Hollow will recognize, and he could hear his name called late in round one or early in round two.

Then there’s Eli Stowers. The former Denton Guyer quarterback turned Vanderbilt tight end may be the most fascinating story in this entire class.

Stowers was the star quarterback for Guyer’s state runner-up team as a junior in 2019, accounting for 47 touchdowns and 4,113 yards of total offense entering that year’s state championship game before suffering an injury in a 24-0 loss to Austin Westlake. He also won a state title in the high jump in 2019, clearing 6 feet, 10 inches. That’s the rare two-sport excellence that makes high school coaches in this part of Texas still talk about him.

His college path zigzagged. Stowers started at Texas A&M, moved to New Mexico State for a year, then landed at Vanderbilt, where he developed into one of the nation’s top tight ends. NFL.com projects him going at No. 31 to the New England Patriots, which would make him the second tight end selected in the draft. ESPN mock drafts push him into the second round, with one projecting the Baltimore Ravens take him at No. 45 and another placing him with the Philadelphia Eagles at No. 54.

The range of projections for both Tyson and Stowers reflects genuine uncertainty in a draft class where NFL teams have spent months evaluating prospects at the combine and in private workouts. A four-pick swing in projected draft position isn’t unusual. It’s the nature of the process.

What isn’t uncertain is the Texas footprint in this class. Allen, Denton Guyer, and Texas A&M all produced first-round or near-first-round talent. The Friday Night Lights machine that runs through North Texas, the one that fills stadiums at HP and Allen and Guyer every September, keeps feeding the league at the highest level.