We went from spending a summer debating whether a mystery quarterback could surpass Arch Manning and Dante Moore on draft boards to now not knowing whether those two will be first-round picks come April.
Plenty changed in the first half of the college football season. Manning and Moore struggled, while Darian Mensah and Trinidad Chambliss wowed scouts with their sensational performances.
Drew Mestemaker also had a meteoric rise. He stumbled out of the gate in the season-opening loss to Tulsa, then outdueled Moore in Stillwater and capitalized on the momentum.
But many more quarterbacks deserve a mention when it comes to potential draft picks. Here are the top 10 quarterback prospects for 2027.
10. LaNorris Sellers, QB, South Carolina
Sellers cracked the top 10 primarily thanks to his latest performance. He finally displayed improvement in his accuracy, going 23-of-35 for 279 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in the win over Florida. It was the kind of performance many scouts had been waiting to see from the 6'3", 238-pound signal-caller with the rocket arm and athleticism.
He has all the traits that made Anthony Richardson Sr. a top-five pick in 2023, but Richardson hasn’t put it together due to accuracy issues. That area needs to improve weekly for Sellers’s stock to jump. Sellers has completed 61.5% of his passes for 1,338 yards, 12 touchdowns and four interceptions, plus 67 carries for 411 yards and two touchdowns.
9. Julian Sayin, QB, Ohio State
Sayin could miss an extended period after sustaining an injury to his throwing arm against Indiana last week. If Sayin doesn’t play another down this season and decides to declare for the draft, he might have to wait a while to hear his name called. Many have been wondering how much Sayin has benefited from playing with star receiver Jeremiah Smith. But Sayin is an accurate quarterback who knows how to run an offense efficiently.
Still, it might be best for him to return for another college season and show what he can do without Smith. He also lacks size at 6'1", 214 pounds, but that hasn’t been much of an issue for him, even against top competition. Sayin has completed 68.2% of his passes for 2,007 yards, 19 touchdowns and four interceptions.
8. Austin Simmons, QB, Missouri
It has been a perfect fit for Simmons with coach Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers. He lost his job to Trinidad Chambliss at Ole Miss last year, but it appears he has benefited from watching and learning. He has the size (6'4", 220 pounds) and arm strength that NFL teams covet.
Simmons struggled with ball placement in last week’s loss to his former team, completing only 56.8% of his passes. But the left-handed Simmons has put together enough good tape against top competition to gain some Day 1 chatter—the games against Florida and Mississippi State come to mind. This season, Simmons has completed 63.2% of his passes for 1,773 yards, 14 touchdowns and two interceptions.
7. Arch Manning, QB, Texas
Manning’s season has been rough, and he might need a strong performance against Ole Miss on Saturday to avoid being benched. The 6'4", 222-pound Manning is still displaying sloppy throwing mechanics, but I can’t get over his second-half performance in the win over Ohio State. Scouts are still talking about Manning’s strong performances in the final two months of last season.
But if Manning continues to regress, those flashes will soon be forgotten. Consistency would go a long way for a quarterback with all those physical traits. He has completed 63.9% of his passes for 1,295 yards, 11 touchdowns and five interceptions.
6. Jayden Maiava, QB, USC
Maiava is one of the best pure passers in college football. He doesn’t move well outside the pocket, but he has enough mobility to evade pressure and get the ball out. He can shoot his way back into games with high-level accuracy and has the ideal size for the position at 6'4", 230 pounds.
Being solely a pocket passer isn’t a bad thing, but he has been off the mark in a few games this season, which is uncharacteristic, leading to questions about whether he was playing hurt. Maiava has completed 67.9% of his passes for 2,045 yards, 18 touchdowns and three interceptions.
5. Dante Moore, QB, Oregon
It’s still unclear whether Moore will return this season after missing the past month due to a concussion sustained against USC. It also doesn’t help that Moore struggled before the injury, delivering mixed performances against Boise State and Oklahoma State.
Still, the 6'3", 206-pound Moore has an impressive résumé as a pocket passer. He’ll need to improve under pressure, but he has plenty of upside NFL teams won’t ignore. He likely would have been a top-five pick if he had declared for the 2026 NFL draft.
4. CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame
Carr lacks arm strength and athleticism, but he makes up for that with his high football IQ. He might be the safest quarterback prospect because he reads defenses well before and after the snap. With his strong accuracy, Carr could flourish in a system that runs offenses like Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay.
The 6'2", 215-pound Carr did have a rocky performance against BYU, but he showed plenty of flashes in the game. How he performs on Nov. 7 against Miami could go a long way in determining whether he’ll be a top-10 pick. He has completed 66.8% of his passes for 1,639 yards, 16 touchdowns and one interception.
3. Darian Mensah, QB, Miami
Mensah has been a pocket assassin all season. The Duke transfer has been the perfect point guard for Miami’s high-powered offense, which features stud sophomore receiver Malachi Toney. However, the high-level accuracy won’t be tested until Mensah faces a tougher schedule, which might not be until Nov. 7 against Notre Dame. Perhaps Bill Belichick will challenge him when the ’Canes play at North Carolina on Halloween.
Similarly to Carr, Mensah has average physical attributes with arm strength and mobility, but he has good size at 6'3", 205 pounds. Mensah has completed 80.8% of his passes for 1,764 yards, 18 touchdowns and one interception.
2. Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ole Miss
Chambliss’s decision to return for a sixth collegiate season could pay substantial dividends in April. Suddenly, his age (24) and lack of size (6'0", 205 pounds) aren’t a big deal because of his knack for extending plays. He thrives in big moments and has shown he has plenty of arm strength.
He might have been a Day 3 pick if he had declared in April, but his draft stock skyrocketed in the first month of the season, delivering clutch performances against LSU and Louisville. Chambliss, however, cooled off against Missouri and in the loss against Florida. If he gets another heater to end the season, that should be enough for him to be a top-15 pick. Chambliss has completed 67.6% of his passes for 1,676 yards, 14 touchdowns and four interceptions, plus 36 carries for 127 yards and six touchdowns.
1. Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State
Just last year, Mestemaker was North Texas’s new starting quarterback who didn’t play the position in high school. Two months ago, Mestemaker transferred to Oklahoma State and needed to prove himself against better competition. Many scouts now view him as a top-five prospect. It has been a fast rise for Mestemaker, the dynamic 6'3", 215-pound signal-caller who has drawn comparisons to Josh Allen. He’s not as big as the Bills’ star quarterback (6'5", 237 pounds), but Mestemaker moves well and can get hot in a hurry from the pocket.
Mestemaker knifed through Oregon’s defense with downfield shots and broke off a few lengthy runs. However, Mestemaker is still viewed as a risk because of the limited sample size. He can gain more support by playing well against Texas Tech on Nov. 14. For the season, Mestemaker has completed 67.0% of his passes for 1,940 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions, along with 21 carries for 142 yards and two touchdowns.
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