{"id":305448,"date":"2025-08-21T08:34:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T08:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/305448\/"},"modified":"2025-08-21T08:34:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T08:34:09","slug":"dane-brugler-unveils-initial-ranking-of-top-2026-qbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/305448\/","title":{"rendered":"Dane Brugler Unveils Initial Ranking Of Top 2026 QBs"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Sundays, Pittsburgh Steelers fans will study Aaron Rodgers\u2019 every move. On Saturdays, they\u2019ll be watching for his successor. Though what will happen in the 2026 NFL Draft remains unpredictable and Pittsburgh has no guarantee of coming away with a new franchise passer, the Steelers will be pursuing any and all of the top names next offseason. Top NFL draft analyst Dane Brugler released his first list ranking the who\u2019s-who of the \u201926 QB class.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, Brugler lists Texas\u2019 Arch Manning No. 1 overall. Despite limited college experience with just 95 pass attempts, he\u2019s regarded as a future top pick once he declares. Blessed with the Manning genes and an impressive skill set \u2014 he\u2019s considered a far better athlete than Peyton and Eli \u2014 Arch Manning will serve as Texas\u2019 starter this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the setup and reads to the execution, his operation is rhythmic and straight out of the how-to-play-quarterback manual,\u201d Brugler wrote of Manning for The Athletic. \u201cRegardless of the action required, Manning keeps his feet, base and eyes on the same page and without panic, which allows him to stay on time and anticipate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most analysts believe Manning won\u2019t declare next year, opting to stay in school and use all of his eligibility. Even Archie Manning said as much<\/a> this offseason. But Arch Manning himself pushed back comments, telling reporters he\u2019s made no decision<\/a> about his future.<\/p>\n

Manning is the consensus No. 1. The list from there becomes a jump ball. Brugler lists South Carolina\u2019s LaNorris Sellers No. 2. A breakout player last season, his size and athleticism serve as an intriguing combination.<\/p>\n

In order, LSU\u2019s Garrett Nussmeier, Indiana\u2019s Fernando Mendoza, and Penn State\u2019s Drew Allar round out Brugler\u2019s top five. Mendoza is a sleeper<\/a> who played well despite a poor supporting cast at Cal, transferring to lead the Hoosiers\u2019 high-powered offense. Allar is a polarizing prospect with prototypical size but inconsistent mechanics. How he plays without TE Tyler Warren will be worth watching.<\/p>\n

Seniors near the top of Brugler\u2019s list include Arkansas\u2019 Taylen Green, Texas Tech\u2019s Behren Morton, and Iowa\u2019s Mark Gronowski. Notable underclassmen beyond the above names were Arizona State\u2019s Sam Leavitt (whom the Steelers have already begun scouting this season<\/a>), Oklahoma\u2019s John Mateer, and Pitt\u2019s Eli Holstein. As past NFL draft classes have proven, there\u2019s always top names who disappoint and sleepers who emerge.<\/p>\n

Speaking last week, Assistant GM Andy Weidl acknowledged this year\u2019s class<\/a> appears better than the 2025 crop. But how it shakes out over the next five months is anyone\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n

No matter who becomes cream of the crop, the Steelers will be searching high and low for a new quarterback. The only problem is they\u2019ll hardly be the only team on the prowl.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On Sundays, Pittsburgh Steelers fans will study Aaron Rodgers\u2019 every move. On Saturdays, they\u2019ll be watching for his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[4955,615,52230,7,9734,6,520,57,2360,426,691],"class_list":{"0":"post-305448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-arch-manning","10":"tag-dane-brugler","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-lanorris-sellers","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-pittsburgh","15":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","16":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","17":"tag-steelers","18":"tag-trending"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115065839160345351","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}