With the conclusion of Sunday night’s Super Bowl LX, in which the Seattle Seahawks beat the New England Patriots 29-13, the NFL world turns its attention to the next generation and the 2026 NFL Draft. And that proces begins later this month with the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
Following Sunday night’s big game, longtime ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. took the opportunity to overhaul both his Big Board Top 25 player rankings and his individual Top 10 positional rankings. That includes Kiper’s Top 10-best quarterbacks, with reigning Heisman Trophy winner and expected top overall pick Fernando Mendoza of Indiana leading the way.
Check out Kiper’s full Top 10 list of draft-eligible quarterbacks in the 2026 NFL Draft below:
The newest Heisman Trophy winner holds down the No. 1 spot in Kiper’s quarterback ranking and it’s not even close. All expectations are he’ll be the No. 1 overall pick by the Las Vegas Raiders in April’s draft.
Mendoza capped a magical 2025 season by delivering Indiana its first-ever national championship in football. He finished the year with a FBS-leading 41 touchdowns on 3,535 yards on 72-percent passing while leading the Hoosiers to a perfect 16-0 season.
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Simpson was a somewhat surprise underclassman entrant into this year’s draft class, but it’s a gamble that is expected to pay off with a first-round selection.
In his lone season as the Crimson Tide’s QB1, Simpson turned heads early in the season before falling off as the year went on. Still, the 23-year-old finished with 3,567 yards and 28 touchdowns on 64.5-percent passing in 2025.
The Rebels quarterback is still fighting in court to gain an additional sixth season of college eligibility, but after twice being denied eligibility by the NCAA, Kiper includes Chambliss at No. 3 in his QB ranking.
After starting last season as Ole Miss’ backup, Chambliss was elevated to QB1 after an injury and immediately took Oxford by storm. Chambliss led the SEC with 4,464 total yards and 30 touchdowns, including a conference-leading 3,937 passing yards while guiding the Rebels to the CFP semifinals.
Once considered a potential Top 10 pick, Allar’s stock took a tumble this past season, which only lasted six games before the Nittany Lions QB suffered a broken left ankle halfway through 2025.
Despite the injury, the former five-star recruit still finished with 1,100 passing yards and eight touchdowns on 64.8-percent passing and three interceptions. Allar enters the 2026 NFL Draft as one of the class’ most experienced QBs after starting 35 games over the past three seasons, including during a breakout 2024.
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Nussmeier opted to return to Baton Rouge last year in a bid to win a national championship, but that never materialized during a difficult 2025 season that saw his head coach fired and himself benched.
Still, Kiper clearly sees potential in the son of Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier after the younger Nussmeier went 14-8 as a starter the past two seasons at LSU. That includes throwing for 4,043 yards and 29 touchdowns to 12 interceptions during a breakout 2024 season.
The former Georgia quarterback made the most of his lone season in Coral Gables, leading the Hurricanes to the CFP National Championship game only to be outdueled by Mendoza and Indiana.
Despite the ending, Beck is an extremely successful starting QB with a career 37-6 record over the past three seasons, the first two coming in Athens. Beck threw for 3,813 yards and a career-best 30 touchdowns on 72.4-percent passing this past season at Miami.
The former Bison quarterback breaks into Kiper’s Top 10 at No. 7 after leading North Dakota State to a 12-1 season in 2025, including a perfect 8-0 mark for the program’s 12 Missouri Valley Conference title.
The 6-foot-3 Payton earned FCS All-American status after a record-setting senior season in which he combined for 3,496 yards and 29 total touchdowns in his lone as the Bisons’ QB1. That includes throwing for 2,719 yards and 16 scores while setting the school’s single-season pass efficiency record (193.8).
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Klubnik is another veteran QB on Kiper’s list who has been extremely productive over his college career but struggled a bit as a senior.
The 22-year-old Klubnik amassed more than 10,000 passing yards and 90 total touchdowns over the past four seasons at Clemson. Despite that production, which included a career-best 3,639 passing yards and 36 TDs in 2024, Klubnik went just 26-13 over the past three years as the Tigers’ QB1.
The dual-threat Green has been extremely productive throughout his college career, combining for more than 12,000 total yards and 94 total touchdowns between Boise State and Arkansas.
But after tallying 3,756 total yards and 23 touchdowns in 2024 for the Razorbacks, the 6-foot-6 and 235-pound Green regressed some in 2025 with just 2,714 yards on 60.7-percent passing to go along with a career-best 777 rushing yards and 27 total touchdowns last season.
The Starkville, Miss. native rounds out Kiper’s Top 10 list after going 23-12 over the past three seasons as the Fightin’ Illini’s starting quarterback, including a strong senior season in Champaign.
Altmyer capped his Illinois career with a breakout senior season in which he set career highs with 3,007 passing yards and 22 touchdowns on 67.4-percent passing in 2025.
Just missed: Sawyer Robertson, Baylor; Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt; Joe Fagnano, UConn; Jacob Clark, Missouri State