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The Athletic’s Dane Brugler joined Best Pod Available to break down a loaded 2027 quarterback class. Who has the clearest path to QB1?
Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr scrambles with the ball during a NCAA football game against Stanford at Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2026, in South Bend.
The 2027 NFL Draft quarterback class has been one of the more unpredictable storylines of the college football season.
The Athletic’s Dane Brugler joined Best Pod Available, the podcast I co-host, to help sort through it. When we asked him who has the clearest path to QB1, Brugler didn’t go with Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback CJ Carr or Miami Hurricanes quarterback Darian Mensah – or even Texas’s Arch Manning.
No, his answer was Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker.
“It’s wild that I’m going to say Drew Mestemaker, but that’s who I would say,” Brugler said.
Why Drew Mestemaker is the QB1 for now
Mestemaker’s path to this point is unlike anything we have seen. He hadn’t started at quarterback since middle school, became a walk-on starter at UNT, and is now six games into his career as a Big 12 quarterback at Oklahoma State. Brugler believes that resume speaks to the tools Mestemaker brings to the table.
He described Mestemaker as “big, strong, athletic,” with an above-average arm that can attack quick-expiring windows and also take some life off the ball to layer throws between coverages. Brugler compared him to Tyler Shough (New Orleans Saints). He also believes Mestemaker is younger and carries considerably more upside than Shough did as an NFL starter.
The lack of experience cuts both ways.
Brugler pointed to Cam Ward and Jayden Daniels as examples of quarterbacks who likely would have been mid-round picks after their junior seasons. Both went back to school and became top-two picks. Coming into the year, most evaluators viewed Mestemaker as a 2028 prospect who needed more reps. If his trajectory holds, he could face a real decision about whether another season in Stillwater would make him exponentially better.
Texas quarterback Arch Manning sits on the opposite end. Plenty of teams thought Manning would be the top quarterback in the class because of the development that was expected. Brugler noted that it has been up and down for him through the first half of the season.
Brugler also said this class is loaded in terms of volume. He doesn’t expect it to match the year six quarterbacks went in the top 12, though. Many of these passers are clearly talented, but something in their profiles could hold them back.
Where CJ Carr and Darian Mensah stand
Carr and Mensah were the two names Brugler said would make sense as an answer to the QB1 question. His ranking could look different in a couple of months.
“If you ask me this question in December, maybe those two, one of those two names would be my answer,” Brugler said.
The date to watch is Nov. 7, when Notre Dame and Miami meet. Brugler believes that game and the College Football Playoff will carry far more weight for both quarterbacks than anything else this season.
On Mensah, Brugler was clear that he’d be a first-round pick if the draft were held now.
He isn’t sure that he should be. Mensah doesn’t have an explosive arm and can occasionally get spooked in the pocket. Brugler credited his accuracy, touch, confidence, and understanding of where to go with the football. The big question is whether Mensah has a ceiling he will hit quickly. Miami’s ability to put money on the table could also factor into his NFL decision.
Carr’s evaluation centers on his operation. He is only a second-year starter, and Brugler said there are still plenty of things for him to work through.
“He’s another guy that the tools aren’t amazing, but he’s above the line, right?” Brugler said.
Brugler added that Carr has been on this path since he was a kid because of his family lineage. He summed up where both quarterbacks stand like this:
“But how they perform November 7th and in the college football playoffs, I think, will go a long way to determining, okay, are they going to be a top 10 pick or maybe do they fall a little bit?”
I covered Carr’s recruitment closely, and one nugget has always stuck with me. Tommy Rees, now the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons, compared Carr to Matt Ryan coming out of high school. Carr doesn’t have exceptional tools. If you ask me, what fits that comparison is the command he plays with, and it shows up every week.
Other risers on Brugler’s radar
We also asked Brugler about several defensive risers.
Of Chris Cole (Georgia), Xavier Gilliam (Tennessee), and Cal safety Kingston Lopa, he picked Cole as the most likely to land in the top 15. He said he shortchanged Cole as his No. 22 player in the preseason. He also believes South Carolina edge rusher Dylan Stewart’s talent keeps him in the top-15 conversation.
The biggest climber on his board is Utah left tackle Zereoue Williams. Brugler admitted he didn’t know who Williams was over the summer.
Nov. 7 will shape this quarterback race. We will know a lot more about where Carr stands after that night in South Bend.
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