With millions to be made via NIL and an open transfer policy, projecting who will enter the NFL draft in a given year is more complicated than ever. This is especially true at quarterback.
With that said, it is impossible for scouts not to fantasize about the talent potentially available in the 2027 NFL Draft — a class that could include a handful of franchise-altering QBs (and several stars elsewhere).
Everyone knows about Arch Manning and Dante Moore, but this class will offer a lot more than just those two superstar passers. That’s why I’ve tiered my 16 favorite draft-eligible quarterbacks below and will be updating this list all season long.
DAY 3 PROSPECTS
There are a handful of quarterbacks across the country firmly on scouts’ radars who have not yet shown the consistency to project as future NFL starters.
UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava (6-foot-5, 215 pounds) and Oklahoma’s John Mateer (6-1, 224) are already well known by a lot of college football fans and play for prominent programs that will help them generate plenty of buzz, should they play well this season. Both are gifted athletes with strong arms and NFL-caliber size, but questions linger about their accuracy and decision-making on and off the field.
Nico Iamaleava has desirable physical traits but a lot to prove after taking a step back last season at UCLA. (Photo by Samuel Stringer/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
A pair of current Day 3 prospects have already squared off in a Week 0 ACC showdown. North Carolina State’s CJ Bailey (6-6, 218), a true junior with a whip of an arm, struggled in a 31-8 loss to Virginia. Beau Pribula (6-2, 209), meanwhile, led the Cavs with 110 rushing yards and completed nine of 11 passes, including two long touchdowns off of play-action. He is a fifth-year senior who began his college career at Penn State. His 11 touchdown passes (against nine interceptions) for Missouri last season were a career high. The 2026 season opener was just the 11th start of his college career.
DAY 2 PROSPECTS
In this era of eye-popping statistics, LaNorris Sellers (6-3, 238) and his 60.8% completion rate with 13 touchdowns against eight interceptions last year hardly look like the stuff of an early-round draft pick. But the South Carolina star is among the biggest of this year’s quarterback prospects and has the strongest arm. And Sellers’ best traits may be his intangibles. He was voted a team captain as a redshirt freshman. No freshman at South Carolina had ever earned that distinction before.
Like Manning, Sellers needs to do a better job in the quick game. His accuracy is actually worse on short throws. Improving in this area could vault him into the first-round conversation. But if he doesn’t make gains in this area — in his third season as a starter — Sellers could drop into the Day 3 “project” zone.
And that brings us to Brendan Sorsby (6-3, 235), who, of course, is an unprecedented case.
He has the physical talent to warrant first-round consideration, but he’ll enter the draft following a one-year layoff after being ruled ineligible for sports betting. The NFL’s opinion of his off-field decision-making was made obvious when the league opted not to hold a supplemental draft this summer after Sorsby had declared for it. A QB-starved league actually shut the door in the face of a first-round-caliber quarterback. Folks, the NFL just doesn’t do that.
In a piece full of juicy quotes from anonymous NFL scouts and executives, FOXSports.com’s Ralph Vacchiano and Eric Williams did a fine job of breaking down the unique talent and concerns with Sorsby.
The 2027 NFL Draft is still seven-plus months away. With that amount of time to repair his image, I think Sorsby’s talent wins out and — pardon the pun — a team “gambles” on him on Day 2.
Jayden Maiava finds Trent Mosley for 68-yard TD, extending USC’s lead over Fresno State
Jayden Maiava (6-4, 230) is a redshirt senior with excellent size and a very strong arm. A year ago, Maiava showed a tendency to spray the ball when his feet weren’t settled, and he struggled to loft the ball between defenders. Few are better at developing quarterbacks than Lincoln Riley, and Maiava has the traits worth investing in. But he’ll have to prove himself this season without the luxury of throwing to Makai Lemon and J’Kobi Lane.
Maiava, Sorsby and Sellers are all relative wild cards. Teams prioritizing consistency over traits might like Mississippi’s Trinidad Chambliss (6-0, 210) and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin (6-1, 214) more.
As the only national champion of the bunch, Chambliss demands a close look despite the fact that he’s shorter and older (25) and was the backup to begin three of his four collegiate seasons.
He led Ferris State to the DII crown in 2024 and then transferred to Ole Miss, where he began last season as the backup to Austin Simmons. However, when Simmons injured his foot in Week 2, Chambliss seized his opportunity, emerging as SEC’s Newcomer of the Year by completing 66.1% of his passes for 22 touchdowns against just three interceptions. Chambliss is also a legitimate scrambling threat, showing impressive vision, elusiveness and acceleration to scoot for eight touchdowns on the ground. The season prior at Ferris State, he ran for 25 scores.
Chambliss may be short, but he’s got a compact, well-developed frame similar to Baker Mayfield and Russell Wilson. Like them, Chambliss is a gifted passer who throws with better vision and arm strength than one might expect given his height. The biggest question shouldn’t be about his size but how well he can acclimate to a pro-style offense. I hope he attends one of the prominent All-Star games to ease that transition.
The biggest question with Sayin might be how much scouts are willing to overlook the fact that his receiving corps at Ohio State will likely be better than the ones he inherits in the NFL.
With all due respect to Fernando Mendoza, Sayin was the most accurate passer in the Big Ten last year, completing a staggering 77% of his throws for 32 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. Critics will point out that it’s considerably easier to produce when one is throwing to the likes of Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, perhaps masking an average arm.
I disagree. National championships are the expectation at Ohio State, and Sayin showed impressive poise in his first year as a starter. While he lacks elite size and isn’t the scrambling threat of many others on this list, he sees the field well and rarely puts the ball in harm’s way, showing impressive diagnostic skills for a player beginning his true junior season. He demonstrated as much all the way back in the 2025 season opener, against Texas in what was Sayin’s first career start.
Julian Sayin connects with Jeremiah Smith for 48-yard TD, giving Ohio State an early lead versus Ball State
Finally, let’s acknowledge two very young quarterbacks more likely to be in play in the 2028 or 2029 NFL drafts but have already shown enough to excite scouts. After all, it has become almost an annual tradition of at least one breakout quarterback ascending from “sleeper” to one of the most exciting prospects of the draft.
The most compelling breakout superstar this year might be Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker (6-3, 215), a strong-armed gunslinger who transferred to Stillwater earlier this year to continue playing under head coach Eric Morris. Last season at North Texas, Mestemaker led the country with 4,379 passing yards.
It’s worth noting he was a late-blooming prep who didn’t start in high school and walked on at North Texas. He’s just a redshirt sophomore but is already creating buzz in the scouting community.
Another redshirt sophomore, Minnesota’s Drake Lindsey (6-5, 230), is another QB to watch.
He completed 63.2% of his passes with 18 touchdowns against six interceptions while leading Minnesota to eight wins last season. Lindsey is one of the few quarterbacks in this article with experience playing under center, and he throws deep balls with excellent trajectory.
DAY 1 PROSPECTS
The next three quarterbacks on my board lack elite physical traits, but they are accurate and instinctive passers whose games translate easily to the NFL. The flashes for each are bright. But they need to prove that previous breakout campaigns were not a fluke.
I’m eager to see how CJ Carr (6-2, 215) progresses in his junior year, with Notre Dame’s offense no longer being funneled through first-round running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price.
Their presence undeniably made things easier on Carr, but he showed a savvy and poise last year that was uncommon for a first-year starting quarterback. Despite being smaller than many of his peers at the position, many of his best throws were downfield strikes to beat blitzes, showing the combination of pre-snap recognition, courage and accuracy that have scouts excited about where his game is headed. The 2027 NFL Draft will mark 20 years since Brady Quinn was the last Fighting Irish QB to be drafted in the first round. Carr could end that streak.
CJ Carr is vying to become the first Notre Dame QB drafted in the first round since Brady Quinn in 2007. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
Similar to baseball players working their way to the majors through various levels of A-ball, Darian Mensah (6-3, 205) has spent the past two seasons starring at Tulane (2024) and Duke (2025) and now will be throwing fastballs at the University of Miami. Despite a relatively weak supporting cast, Mensah guided the Blue Devils to an ACC title — its first since 1962 — and could have a bigger title in mind given the current talent at The U.
In both size and style, Mensah reminds me a bit of Jayden Daniels. He has a slight build and needs to play with greater game-to-game consistency, but he’s elusive and accurate in the pocket and on the move.
After leaving Arizona State for LSU, Sam Leavitt (6-2, 216) is also playing with an entirely new supporting cast. I think that could be a good thing for his development as a passer. Prior to suffering a season-ending Lisfranc injury in his right foot last year, Leavitt often relied too heavily on star wideout Jordyn Tyson. Leavitt needs to prove his health first, of course, but also showcase better field vision and ball distribution.
It’s why I’m excited about his pairing with Lane Kiffin and all the talent at LSU. Love him or hate him, Kiffin is one of the sharpest minds in football. I think coupling the exciting backyard element of Leavitt’s game with Kiffin’s clever play design is going to light up SEC defenses this year and spark a steady rise up the draft boards.
TOP-5 TALENTS
The unquestioned top two quarterback prospects to open this season are Arch Manning (6-4, 222) and Dante Moore (6-3, 220), both of whom would have been top-five picks this past spring had they declared.
It might surprise some to learn that I’m actually higher on Moore — if the draft were held today.
The tape shows that the Oregon quarterback is the more accurate of the two, with Moore especially better than Manning in the quick game — an increasingly important skill in today’s high-tempo NFL. Moore has already earned kudos this summer from scouts who have traveled through Eugene and seen how he’s bulked up from a year ago. That’s significant, as a relatively slight frame was one of the real concerns scouts had last year about him, along with his relative inexperience.
He entered this season with 20 career starts, including five at UCLA as a true freshman back in 2023. Last year was his first as a full-season starter, and he starred immediately, completing 71.8% of his throws for 30 touchdown passes with 10 interceptions. Projecting him to the NFL is relatively easy given his arm talent: He’s not only accurate but possesses a snappy release and consistently throws receivers open with both velocity and touch.
CJ Carr, Arch Manning and Darian Mensah early Heisman favorites? Can a non-QB win it this season? | Big Noon Kickoff
But, as with a lot of young quarterbacks, Moore’s decision-making and accuracy have waned in the face of pressure. Now bigger, stronger and more seasoned, I think he’s going to demonstrate improvement in these areas and contend for the national championship, Heisman Trophy and No. 1 overall draft pick all in the coming year.
With Manning, it is important to recognize his growth amid impossible expectations when trying to project what he can become. No player in college football is under a more intense microscope.
Given the attention Manning has drawn over his three-plus years at Texas, it is easy to forget that he has started just 15 games at the college level. Last year, he completed 61.4% of his passes for 26 touchdowns and seven interceptions. By any standard other than being a Manning, this production — again, his first as a starter — would be considered a stellar achievement, especially when you factor in that he ran for another 10 scores.
And that’s the point. Manning is already very good. And it is so easy to think this is just the beginning. He blends prototypical size with a rocket arm and excellent mobility. He checks every box and I think he’s going to shatter last year’s numbers and team with Auburn transfer Cam Coleman to rival Ohio State’s Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith as the most dynamic QB-WR combo in college football. (Manning, of course, had a rough go last year at Ohio State, but this Saturday in Austin should be an epic clash.)
If Manning corrects a few flaws in particular over the next few months, he’ll likely be the favorite to go first overall in the 2027 NFL Draft — if he turns pro.
