{"id":394200,"date":"2025-09-24T21:20:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-24T21:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/394200\/"},"modified":"2025-09-24T21:20:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T21:20:16","slug":"mel-kiper-ranks-top-five-nfl-draft-qb-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/394200\/","title":{"rendered":"Mel Kiper ranks top five NFL Draft QB prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Through three weeks of the NFL season, the quarterback position has emerged as a position of need for a few organizations.<\/p>\n<p>This includes the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins and Houston Texans. Through four weeks of the college football season, NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/hDK9kNGyRbI?si=zB0_SABrKYLo-5YE\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">rattled off his top five quarterback prospects<\/a> for the upcoming 2026 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>The full list is below, led by South Carolina standout quarterback LaNorris Sellers.<\/p>\n<p>South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers hasn\u2019t quite lived up to the hype expected of him so far this season, but he still ranks as Kiper\u2019s No. 1 QB prospect in the upcoming NFL Draft. Through four games this season, Sellers has led the Gamecocks to a 2-2 record with 733 passing yards (64.4 CMP%), four touchdowns and one interception.<\/p>\n<p>Sellers suffered a concussion in Carolina\u2019s 31-7 loss to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/sites\/the-dore-report\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Vanderbilt<\/a> but bounced back in a strong way against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/sites\/mizzou-today\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Missouri<\/a>, passing for a season-high 302 yards and two touchdowns. He will look to prevent an 0-3 start to SEC play (for the first time since 2021) this weekend against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/teams\/kentucky-wildcats\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kentucky<\/a>. Last season, Sellers passed for 166 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-6 win over the \u2018Cats.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/John-Mateer-1024x538.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3759914\"  \/>Oklahoma Sooners quarterback John Mateer (10) throws a pass during a college football game between the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) and the Auburn Tigers at Gaylord Family \u00d0 Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday,Sept. 20, 2025. Oklahoma won 24-17 | \u00a9 BRYAN TERRY\/THE OKLAHOMAN \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>The John Mateer train was absolutely rolling, as Oklahoma opened the season 4-0 and Mateer climbed to the top of the Heisman Trophy rankings. Disaster however struck in the Sooners\u2019 24-17 win over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/teams\/auburn-tigers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Auburn<\/a>, as Mateer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/college\/oklahoma-sooners\/news\/john-mateer-injury-update-oklahoma-qb-undergo-surgery-hand-ailment\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">suffered a hand injury<\/a> and is set to undergo surgery which will keep him out 3-4 weeks according to multiple reports.<\/p>\n<p>Through four weeks, Mateer boasts 1,215 passing yards (7th most in NCAA), six touchdowns and three interceptions. On the ground, he\u2019s rushed for 190 yards and five more scores. OU coach\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/coach\/brent-venables-131982\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener nofollow\">Brent Venables<\/a>\u00a0said the expectation is he can return at some point this year.<\/p>\n<p>Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, against weak competition, has had a bit of a rough start to the season. Through three games (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/college\/nevada-wolf-pack\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Nevada<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/college\/fiu-golden-panthers\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">FIU<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/college\/villanova-wildcats\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Villanova<\/a>), Allar boasts just 626 passing yards (209 per game), four touchdowns and one interception. Although he hasn\u2019t been great, he hasn\u2019t really had to be yet. That however will change this weekend when the Nittany Lions host <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/teams\/oregon-ducks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oregon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Against the Ducks last season, Allar passed for 226 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions in a 45-37 loss. He also rushed for 54 yards and another score. This game will be a massive make or break moment for Penn State, and very well could be for Allar and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/coach\/james-franklin-131195\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">James Franklin<\/a> as well.<\/p>\n<p>LSU\u2018s Garrett Nussmeier is just another strong arm still heating up this season. After recording eight 300-plus yard passing games last season, Nussmeier has yet to hit that number in a game this year. His best performance of the season came in the Tigers\u2019 56-10 win over SE Louisiana, in which he passed for 273 yards and three touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/coach\/brian-kelly-132649\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Brian Kelly<\/a> and the team will certainly need strong play from Nussmeier starting now, as four of LSU\u2018s next five games are against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 Rankings. Nussmeier is the son of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/coach\/doug-nussmeier-133470\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Doug Nussmeier<\/a>, who is currently the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints. After starting the season 0-3, the Saints could potentially have the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Fernando-Mendoza-1024x538.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3759925\"  \/>Sep 20, 2025; Bloomington, Indiana, USA; Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Elijah Sarratt (13) and IIndiana Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza (15) celebrate after a touchdown during the second half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Goddin-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Fernando Mendoza has been one of, if not THE, most impactful transfers in all of college football this season. After leading the Hoosiers to a 3-0 record against weak competition, Mendoza passed for 267 yards and five touchdowns in a 63-10 drumming of No. 9 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/sites\/orange-blue-news\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Illinois<\/a>. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/sites\/golden-bear-report\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Cal<\/a> transfer currently leads all of college football with his 14 passing scores and has totaled at least four passing touchdowns in three consecutive games.<\/p>\n<p>Following the win over Illinois, Mendoza skyrocketed to the top of the Heisman Trophy rankings. His Hoosiers are currently ranked No. 11 in the country and could rise even higher with monster matchups against <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/teams\/iowa-hawkeyes\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Iowa<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/teams\/oregon-ducks\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Oregon<\/a> looming on the horizon. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.on3.com\/rivals\/coach\/curt-cignetti-131110\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Curt Cignetti<\/a> hit big on a transfer arm last season with Ohio\u2019s Kurtis Rourke, and has seemed to found another diamond this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Through three weeks of the NFL season, the quarterback position has emerged as a position of need for&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":325434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5792,7,5796,15521,5801,6,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-394200","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl-draft","8":"tag-drew-allar-22-medina","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-garrett-nussmeier-21-marcus","11":"tag-john-mateer-22-little-elm","12":"tag-lanorris-sellers-23-south-florence","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-nfl-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115261369479968301","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394200","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=394200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/394200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/325434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=394200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=394200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=394200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}