Mel Kiper Jr. on the Top QB Options for the Browns in the 2026 NFL Draft – Sports4CLE, 6/30/25

Mel Kiper Jr. on the Top QB Options for the Browns in the 2026 NFL Draft – Sports4CLE, 6/30/25

all right So the Browns have two first round picks um after the trade where they traded back and took Mason Graham in next year’s draft Many think it’s a stronger quarterback class next year We’re going to go there Mel Kyper with an early look at the top quarterbacks in the 2026 NFL draft
I think Drew Aller has a chance to Penn State We’re going to got to get the Arch I think Arch will go back I don’t know if the Manners will allow Arch after one year as a starter to come out You know Payton and Eli went back So Arch we’ll leave Arch We don’t know what Arch is going to be He only played in three games against some bad teams right so what’s what Arch Manning becomes sam Levit let’s leave him out of the equation at Arizona State He’s only 20 years old Had the one big year at Arizona State So Sam Lev Arch Manning Lenor Sers at South Carolina is a talented kid
Very talented
Garrett Nusmeer Kade Clubnick at Clemson uh Carson Beck as well Uh then Nico is at UCLA right left Tennessee to go to UCLA We’ll see what Nico can develop into out there Carson Beck what he can do after leaving Georgia for Miami But right now I think this is the Drew Aller year Drew Aller contemplated maybe leaving Kron Allen and Nicholas Singleton came back the two running backs just like happened with with you know uh Trayvon Henderson They added Quinn Sean Judkins at Ohio State and then Will Howard came in and all this was going on at Ohio State I think when you look at having a guys guys like that back should help him and should allow Drew Aller with another year to really step it up to maybe become a number one pick overall or somewhere in that mix to be the first quarterback We’ll see what happens with Archfield That’s And I do think when you look at TJ Parker at Clemson the edge rusher Kaden Proctor the offensive tackle at Alabama Caleb DS the safety at Ohio State Peter Woods defensive tackle from or def some I say defensive lineman they move him around even on the edge from Clemson Kellrick Faulk an edge guy at Auburn are all uh players I think we’ll be keeping an eye on going into this season So we’ve talked about Drew Aller local kid Um certainly it would not surprise me at all if he becomes you know the the camour that kind of flies up draft boards Size arm strength all that Needs to go out and do it in that offense at Penn State Yeah And it’s it’s it’s funny we’re talking about this We just recorded our uh upcoming draft podcast early draft podcast Those will be coming out next week Orange Brown Talk And I do have Drew Aller in my top five quarterbacks but I have him number five right now I’m not as high on him as Mel Kyper And I think part of that is I want to like him more than I do When I say that I say I say that because when you look at Drew Aller I mean again 6’5″ 238 pounds he looks the part Like you want to draw up a quarterback in a lab You want to put that on a computer and 3D print it That’s Drew Aller The reality of Drew Aller is weird to me because again he has all these physical tools but he needs a lot of refinement I think his mechanics get a little too inconsistent and decision-m I think needs to be better especially in big games I that interception he had against Notre Dame in the Orange Bowl you know that’s going to be you know the thing that I think is looked at the most over these next handful of weeks before you know fall camp starts in Happy Valley you know even these last six or seven months I’m sure that play had you know was an was kind of proof of why he needed to stay in school for another season He needs refinement but his ceiling is really high As for the guys that Mel Kapper mentioned I have I love Lenora Cers Garrett Nusmeer Kate Clubnick All three guys I think are really good The guy he didn’t mention and I want to throw out there Fernando Mendoza from Indiana a transfer from Cal who is a guy who’s 6’5 200 225 pounds You know Cal flies under the radar a lot And this was a guy that I think after the 2025 draft you know people on Twitter were starting to talk about and this is a guy who has all those physical tools He’s big he’s mobile his arm the ball pops out of his hands Yeah he he could stand to be more aggressive throwing the ball down the field needs to protect himself better with 40 sacks although I’m not sure if that’s a Mendoza problem or a Cal offensive line problem but I think he is going to be the X-factor of this entire class going to Indiana which I it’s still weird to talk about Indiana being a college football playoff contender even after making it last year But you know with the job Curt Signetti did and that offense playing the way it did with Curtis Ror the quarterback playing through most of the season on a torn ACL imagine giving the keys to a guy in Fernando Mendoza who is a potential number one pick But bottom line with the quarterback class it looks so deep and there are so many good quarterbacks to keep an eye on this fall It’s going to be a fun football season I think for draft experts

Dave Bacon and Tim Bielik respond to Mel Kiper’s early look at potential quarterbacks in the 2026 NFL Draft.

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