PFF: Arizona State DB Keith Abney, WR Jordyn Tyson mocked in 1st round; Cardinals take safety

A pair of former Arizona State Sun Devils were mocked as first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft by Pro Football Focus on Monday.

Wide receiver Jordyn Tyson is projected to go No. 6 overall to the Cleveland Browns and cornerback Keith Abney II at No. 32 — the final selection of the opening round — to the Seattle Seahawks, according to PFF’s Gordon McGuinness.

Tyson, despite a slew of injuries going back to 2023, is a consensus first-round pick and has been viewed as perhaps the top receiver in the class, with Ohio State’s Carnell Tate among his closest challengers.

McGuinness has Tate going to the New York Giants one spot before Tyson at No. 5.

He missed 3.5 games in the 2025 season due to a hamstring strain and lower-body injury but was still among the Big 12 leaders in receptions (61, seventh), touchdowns (eight, T-5) and yards (711, 14th).

Tyson only had one drop last season after seven in 2024 and grew up to NFL size (6-foot-2 and 200 pounds) at the end of his three seasons at ASU.

McGuinness, like Cleveland, isn’t sure what the QB situation will be next season but said Tyson “would make a lot of sense.”

He dropped just 1.6% of the catchable passes thrown his way this season and earned an 89.0 PFF receiving grade against man coverage.

Abney has been largely projected as a Day 2 draft selection (rounds 2-3) but has sneaked into the first round before Monday, with Pro Football and Sports Network slotting him at No. 32 to Seattle in late December.

He finished the regular season as the FBS leader among cornerbacks in coverage snaps without allowing a touchdown (458), according to PFF.

The 6-foot, 190-pound defensive back did so with the fourth-most snaps and allowed a 44.4% completion rate (had 12 passes defensed and two interceptions) that only one cornerback in the top 90 of snaps beat.

He had 70 solo tackles over the past two years.

With Seattle potentially losing cornerback Tariq Woolen to free agency — he had 33 solo tackles, 12 passes defensed and one pick in the regular season — McGuinness said they could use Abney’s “physicality.”

Abney doesn’t bring Woolen’s size, but as his 77.9 PFF run-defense grade shows, he plays with the type of physicality on which the Seahawks’ defense thrives.

In this exercise, the Arizona Cardinals at No. 3 overall take Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, for the second time in a running tally of mock drafts that he has been linked to the franchise.

The DB has been compared to Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton and is seen as a potential replacement for Jalen Thompson, who hits free agency this offseason. ESPN’s Matt Miller mocked Downs to Arizona in November when the Cardinals held the No. 9 pick in the 2026 draft.

McGuinness agrees with Miller in that third overall is “rich” for a safety. The pick then would be due to the Cardinals not being likely to nab a quarterback  with Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza projected No. 1 to the Las Vegas Raiders and Oregon’s Dante Moore forgoing the draft for another year in college.

No. 3 overall is rich for a safety, but Downs is a special athlete and the top prospect on the PFF Big Board. He finished the 2025 season with PFF run-defense and coverage grades above 80.0 and should be an impact player at the next level.

Arizona Sports’ Damon Allred contributed to this report.

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