A day after two Wednesday mocks disagreed on whether four or five quarterbacks go in the first round, Rob Rang published a first-round mock Thursday that sends six. Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker is the first of them, third overall to the Miami Dolphins. Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss, Texas’s Arch Manning, Notre Dame’s CJ Carr, Oregon’s Dante Moore and Miami’s Darian Mensah follow.
That is the most aggressive quarterback count of the week. Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz and Rob Staton shared 20 of 32 first-round names on Wednesday and still split on the position. Rang keeps Jeremiah Smith first overall, keeps the Jets drafting three times in the top 10, and puts Manning and Carr back into Round 1 after both Wednesday mocks left at least one of them out.
The six quarterbacks, and where they land
Rang writes that the college class has not quite lived up to preseason expectations, but demand is still high: at least eight of the 32 NFL teams do not have their 2027 starter in place. His mock answers that demand by spreading the six passers across Miami, the Jets, Arizona, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Minnesota.
| Quarterback | Rang (Nov. 5) | Middlehurst-Schwartz (Nov. 4) | Staton (Nov. 4) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drew Mestemaker | 3, Dolphins | 4, Eagles | 6, Jets |
| Trinidad Chambliss | 6, Jets | 11, Ravens | Not in round 1 |
| Arch Manning | 12, Cardinals | Not in round 1 | Not in round 1 |
| CJ Carr | 16, Browns (from Rams) | 5, Jets | Not in round 1 |
| Dante Moore | 27, Steelers | 25, Vikings | 11, Cardinals |
| Darian Mensah | 30, Vikings | 15, Browns | 16, Browns (from Rams) |
| QBs in round 1 | 6 | 5 | 4 |
Mestemaker is the only name all three new mocks put in the top six. Rang compares him to Josh Allen and says his upside could have teams bidding against each other, with Miami currently in position to land “this year’s biggest fish.” Chambliss, whom Rang ranked as his top quarterback on his October big board, goes sixth to the Jets as a dual-threat fit after Geno Smith’s stopgap year. Manning, left out of both Wednesday first rounds, returns at 12 to Arizona after the Cardinals’ quarterback room flipped with the Jacoby Brissett trade.
Top 10 side by side with Wednesday’s mocks
Rang sets the order by current standings, so the winless Chargers stay first and the Titans second. That is closer to Staton than to Middlehurst-Schwartz, who used projected average draft position and put Tennessee first. The Jets still own three top-10 picks, as our Week 9 draft-order post laid out, and Rang fills them with a cornerback, a quarterback and a defensive tackle.
| Pick | Rang | Middlehurst-Schwartz | Staton |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chargers: Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State | Titans: Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State | Chargers: Jeremiah Smith, WR, Ohio State |
| 2 | Titans: Colin Simmons, EDGE, Texas | Dolphins: Leonard Moore, CB, Notre Dame | Titans: Dylan Stewart, EDGE, South Carolina |
| 3 | Dolphins: Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State | Chargers: Dylan Stewart, EDGE, South Carolina | Dolphins: Colin Simmons, EDGE, Texas |
| 4 | Jets (from Colts): Leonard Moore, CB, Notre Dame | Eagles: Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State | Jets (from Colts): Leonard Moore, CB, Notre Dame |
| 5 | Eagles: Dylan Stewart, EDGE, South Carolina | Jets: CJ Carr, QB, Notre Dame | Eagles: Zereoue Williams, OT, Utah |
| 6 | Jets: Trinidad Chambliss, QB, Ole Miss | Jets (from Colts): Chris Cole, LB, Georgia | Jets: Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State |
| 7 | Texans: Elijah Paige, OT, USC | Saints: Will Echoles, DT, Ole Miss | Texans: Xavier Gilliam, DT, Tennessee |
| 8 | Saints: Chris Cole, LB, Georgia | Cardinals: Colin Simmons, EDGE, Texas | Saints: Chris Cole, LB, Georgia |
| 9 | Commanders: Charlie Becker, WR, Indiana | Commanders: Ashton Hampton, CB, Clemson | Commanders: Ellis Robinson IV, CB, Georgia |
| 10 | Jets (from Cowboys): Xavier Gilliam, DT, Tennessee | Falcons: Charlie Becker, WR, Indiana | Jets (from Cowboys): Will Echoles, DT, Ole Miss |
The Jets’ three-pick haul is the clearest overlap. Rang gives them Leonard Moore at 4, Chambliss at 6 and Xavier Gilliam at 10. Staton gave them Moore, Mestemaker and Will Echoles. Middlehurst-Schwartz gave them Carr, Chris Cole and Ellis Robinson IV. All three writers treat New York as a quarterback buyer; they just disagree on which passer and which supporting pieces.
Where Rang breaks from the board
Three calls stand out against the rest of the week. First, Manning at 12. Middlehurst-Schwartz and Staton both left him out of Round 1, and Rang still calls him a great-potential fit for Mike LaFleur even after an uneven Texas season. Second, Carr at 16 to Cleveland. Staton said he did not see much to get excited about from an NFL standpoint; Rang calls Carr smart and tough and a fit for Todd Monken’s run-heavy attack, while noting the Browns already have four quarterbacks on the roster and still hold two first-round picks.
Third, Moore at 27 to Pittsburgh. Rang calls him the most talented passer in the class and says he does not expect the Steelers to draft a quarterback after taking Drew Allar, but would adjust if Moore slides that far. That is the opposite of Staton’s 11th-overall Cardinals pick and a later landing spot than Middlehurst-Schwartz’s 25th to Minnesota. Mensah, fourth overall in Ryan Wilson’s mock and 15th or 16th on Wednesday, falls all the way to 30 for Rang, who says he would still excel throwing to Justin Jefferson even if he is not universally viewed as a first-round talent.
Position count: Rang leans edge and corner
Beyond the quarterbacks, Rang’s first round looks more like a need mock than a pure talent board. He takes six passers, then spreads the rest across edge, corner and the offensive line, with Indiana’s Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh both going as receivers in the top 11.
| Position | Rang | Middlehurst-Schwartz | Staton |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterback | 6 | 5 | 4 |
| Wide receiver | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| Cornerback | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Edge rusher | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Offensive tackle | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Interior offensive line | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Defensive tackle | 3 | 5 | 2 |
| Linebacker | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Safety | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Tight end | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Running back | 1 | 1 | 1 |
The edge count is the other Rang signature. He has Simmons, Stewart, Devan Thompkins, Yhonzae Pierre and Boubacar Traore in the first round, five rushers to the two each for Middlehurst-Schwartz and Staton. That fits his note that several contenders still need help getting to the quarterback, including Kansas City, which he has with only nine sacks on the season when he wrote the mock.
Field Yates and Mel Kiper put Mestemaker and Carr together in the first quarterback tier in their First Draft breakdown. Rang agrees on Mestemaker as the first passer off the board, splits Carr down to 16, and goes further than either Wednesday mock by keeping Manning and Chambliss in Round 1 while still finding room for Moore and Mensah. Six is the new high-water mark for the week. The Jets, Dolphins, Cardinals, Browns, Steelers and Vikings are the six teams he has buying.
Week 10 power rankings had not landed as of early Friday Cairo time, so the next ranking update waits on the rest of the Week 9 slate. Until then, the draft board’s live debate is how many quarterbacks the first round can actually absorb.
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