Fernando Mendoza, Indiana
With the Pittsburgh Steelers almost guaranteed to be in the quarterback market again next offseason, I made it a priority to study more prospects than usual during the summer scouting period. The unique thing about the class was just the relative youth in the group, with so many talented passers that simply hadn’t played a ton of snaps in college, making it even more difficult to project the trajectory of each player. Some of the top names on the consensus board have seen their stock fall drastically, and a few newcomers have burst onto the national spotlight. If nothing else, it’s been an interesting start to the draft cycle.
With Mike Tomlin’s club on bye this week, I wanted to get eyes on the bigger names in this class and gauge their progress so far this year. There isn’t a generational talent locked in as the top pick as of right now, but I still believe there are a few passers worth getting excited about, even if they aren’t the same household names that were highly touted several months ago. One housekeeping note before getting into my updated rankings: youngsters such as Texas QB Arch Manning, Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles, and Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt are players that I foresee going back to school for various reasons and thus won’t be included. Without further ado, here we go!
1) Fernando Mendoza, Indiana
After entering the fall as my QB1, Mendoza has done nothing to relinquish the throne, throwing for 16 touchdowns and just one interception in his first five games as a Hoosier. He’s got the prototypical size you look for in a signal caller, very good overall arm talent, and is a quick decision maker that annihilates defenses that try to heat him up with pressure. Over the first month of the season, he’s taking fewer sacks and isn’t putting the ball in harm’s way, all without sacrificing the aggressiveness down the field. His cover-2 hole shot from the opposite hash against Iowa is as good of a throw as you’re going to see all season long. Indiana’s system is reliant on RPOs and easy button throws for the quarterback, but my hope is that we’ll see him in more true dropback settings as the level of competition rises down the stretch because I’m confident that he can handle more responsibility on his plate.
CAL Committed three penalties to start this drive, but Fernando Mendoza bailed them out a bad spot with an absolute missile on the run.
That’s arm arrogance personified. pic.twitter.com/zBsHPo0tpP
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) May 6, 2025
2) Dante Moore, OregonÂ
A couple weeks ago, I wrote about Dante Moore, stating that he was currently playing the quarterback position better than anyone else in college football. That is still true. Last weekend, the junior led Oregon to a massive victory versus Penn State on the road under the lights, highlighted by a few spectacular plays out of structure down the stretch. He’s got a compact, smooth stroke that allows him to be consistently accurate to all three levels of the field. The biggest thing that stands out is the unwavering poise that he displays in the pocket regardless of pressure, game script, or atmosphere. His internal clock and pocket habits are excellent, which has led to him taking just one sack on 32 pressured dropbacks this season. Tougher tests are on the horizon, which will surely factor into his decision to declare or not, but Dan Lanning and company couldn’t have scripted a better start to his 2025 campaign. Needless to say, I’m buying the hype.Â
3) LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
Anyone can look at LaNorris Sellers and come to the conclusion that the physical tools are simply off the charts. He’s got a bazooka attached to his right shoulder and rare playmaking ability with his combination of athleticism and contact balance. The Missouri tape from week 4 showcases promise as a passer, with multiple reps of him cycling through his progressions and winning from within the pocket. He’s shown incremental improvements with his ball placement as well, but he’s still taking sacks at an alarming rate (28.6% P2S% per PFF). Sellers still needs plenty of seasoning but is still on track to be one of the first players off the board in April because of his limitless potential.Â
4) Ty Simpson, Alabama
Of all the prospects on this list, Simpson is by far the hardest one to appropriately rank because he’s only started four games despite being at Alabama since 2022. Having said that, there are a plethora of Sunday-caliber throws on popular NFL passing concepts littered all over his tape. He’s a rhythmic distributor that has been surgical over the middle of the field this season (19/23, 356 yards, and 5 TDs), with some of his most impressive anticipatory throws coming against Georgia last week. He’s a functional athlete with a surprising a surprising amount of polish to his game, and it’s led to him playing with a ton of confidence to start 2025. There’s a dangerously small sample size present here, but in all honesty, his best stuff is just more translatable than guys ranked below him in this exercise.Â
Alabama QB Ty Simpson working a very popular NFL concept (smash-drive) from under center, showing he can throw the backside dig with anticipation.
That’s Sunday football… pic.twitter.com/WXug9TPPAw
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) October 1, 2025
5) Garrett Nussmeier, LSU
Nussmeier hails from a football background, and his clean mechanics, efficient post-snap processing, and non-stop aggressiveness to push the football made him an intriguing watch over the summer. Unfortunately, his second act as the signal caller for the Tigers has been less inspiring than his debut campaign. His decision-making continues to be a significant flaw in his profile, especially considering he already lacks the ideal physical tools for a starting quarterback at the NFL level. His toughness cannot be questioned, however, as he’s currently playing through an oblique injury that is obviously affecting his ability to drive the ball, and the hope is that he can get healthy down the stretch. The preseason first-round billing still seems rich at this stage of the proceedings, but he’s a better player than what we’ve seen thus far.
6) Drew Allar, Penn State
He can certainly spin it, but the Drew Allar experience continues to be a roller coaster ride of a lifetime. Seemingly every week, no matter the opponent, we get a glimpse of his obvious strengths and glaring weaknesses, but the unfortunate reality is that he hasn’t yet taken the next step in his development to make us feel comfortable with him as the face of an NFL franchise. He does understand how to play the position with size that makes it difficult for guys to get him on the ground, and as we saw in the Oregon game last weekend, his arm is strong enough to make challenging throws even with defenders hanging off him. However, the scattershot accuracy remains a significant concern, and the lack of growth in that department has continued to lead to underwhelming performances in big games. It’s fair to say that this might just be who he is as a player, at least until he proves otherwise.Â
Talent is not a question w/ PSU QB Drew Allar.
1) Drills an off-platform backside dig on 3rd and long to move the chains
2) Excellent touch throw off his back foot to drop one in the bucket on the sail route
3) 4th down/4th Q laser beam w/ a rusher on his back
Sunday stuff. pic.twitter.com/Adt1Qk7xPP
— Derrick (@Steelers_DB) May 1, 2025
7) John Mateer, Oklahoma
The Washington State transfer is another new addition to the rankings because of a live arm and quick release, competitiveness that jumps off the screen, and creation capacity when he gets outside the pocket. Mateer is a good athlete and a true dual threat, evidenced by the fact that he ran for over 1,000 yards last season after forcing a whopping 53 missed tackles in the Pac-12. He’s definitely still figuring out how to color between the lines and avoid unnecessarily bailing out of the pocket prematurely, but there have been flashes of improvement in structure under Ben Arbuckle. Although he refused to come out of the game after injuring his hand early against Auburn, the 21-year-old underwent surgery recently, and we don’t have a definitive timetable on his return just yet. If he can get back on the field soon, the Sooners have a myriad of high-stakes matchups down the stretch, which would help us determine whether he’s a legit NFL Draft prospect or just another fun college football phenom.
Mentioned In This Article: Drew Allar Fernando Mendoza Garrett Nussmeier John Mateer LaNorris Sellers NFL Draft Steelers top Ty Simpson