Gilberto Manzano’s third 2027 mock draft is his first to go two rounds deep, and it puts eight quarterbacks in the top 38 picks without a clear favorite among them. Jeremiah Smith goes first to the 0-6 Chargers, Drew Mestemaker is the first quarterback at No. 2 to Miami, and the Jets use the first of their three first-round picks on Ole Miss defensive tackle Will Echoles rather than a passer.
“There are still many good quarterback options, but it’s tough to name the No. 1 prospect at the position,” Manzano wrote on Wednesday, October 21. He expects that uncertainty to push teams toward “the defensive talent at the top of the 2027 draft,” and his top 10 includes four defenders and two offensive tackles. The order follows the current standings, and he projects one trade, with the Raiders and Browns swapping first- and second-round picks.
Manzano’s first round
| Pick | Team | Player | Pos. | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles Chargers (0-6) | Jeremiah Smith | WR | Ohio State |
| 2 | Miami Dolphins (0-5) | Drew Mestemaker | QB | Oklahoma State |
| 3 | Tennessee Titans (1-5) | Colin Simmons | EDGE | Texas |
| 4 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-5) | Dylan Stewart | EDGE | South Carolina |
| 5 | Washington Commanders (1-4-1) | Leonard Moore | CB | Notre Dame |
| 6 | New York Jets (via Dallas) | Will Echoles | DT | Ole Miss |
| 7 | Philadelphia Eagles (2-4) | Trevor Goosby | OT | Texas |
| 8 | Houston Texans (2-4) | Jordan Seaton | OT | LSU |
| 9 | New York Jets (via Indianapolis) | Charlie Becker | WR | Indiana |
| 10 | Arizona Cardinals (2-4) | CJ Carr | QB | Notre Dame |
| 11 | Las Vegas Raiders (trade with Cleveland) | KJ Duff | WR | Rutgers |
| 12 | New Orleans Saints (2-4) | Chris Cole | LB | Georgia |
| 13 | New York Jets (2-4) | Trinidad Chambliss | QB | Ole Miss |
| 14 | Atlanta Falcons (2-4) | Ashton Hampton | CB | Clemson |
| 15 | Cleveland Browns (via Rams, trade with Las Vegas) | Darian Mensah | QB | Miami |
| 16 | Seattle Seahawks (3-3) | Cam Coleman | WR | Texas |
| 17 | Cincinnati Bengals (3-2) | Greg Johnson | G | Minnesota |
| 18 | Baltimore Ravens (4-2) | Jamari Johnson | TE | Oregon |
| 19 | New York Giants (3-2-1) | Nick Marsh | WR | Indiana |
| 20 | Carolina Panthers (3-2) | Jadan Baugh | RB | Florida |
| 21 | Detroit Lions (3-2) | Devan Thompkins | EDGE | Alabama |
| 22 | Pittsburgh Steelers (4-2) | Dante Moore | QB | Oregon |
| 23 | Denver Broncos (4-2) | Trey’Dez Green | TE | LSU |
| 24 | New England Patriots (4-2) | Kade Pieper | G | Iowa |
| 25 | Jacksonville Jaguars (4-2) | Xavier Gilliam | DT | Tennessee |
| 26 | Cleveland Browns (4-2) | Ellis Robinson IV | CB | Georgia |
| 27 | Dallas Cowboys (via Green Bay) | A’Mauri Washington | DT | Oregon |
| 28 | Chicago Bears (4-2) | Yhonzae Pierre | EDGE | Alabama |
| 29 | Buffalo Bills (5-1) | Sahir West | EDGE | UCLA |
| 30 | Minnesota Vikings (5-0) | Arch Manning | QB | Texas |
| 31 | Kansas City Chiefs (5-0) | Trevor Lauck | OT | Iowa |
| 32 | San Francisco 49ers (6-0) | KJ Bolden | S | Georgia |
Smith to the Chargers, Mestemaker to Miami
Manzano calls Smith “a generational talent” and a 6-foot-3, 223-pound “menace downfield” who has drawn comparisons to Julio Jones, and says it is “increasingly likely” that he goes first overall in April. Smith has 52 catches for 984 yards and 12 touchdowns. For a Chargers team that has drafted tackles Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater in the first round and hired Jim Harbaugh and Mike McDaniel, “perhaps Smith… can revive Herbert’s career,” he wrote.
Mestemaker has thrown for at least 300 yards in five straight games, and Manzano sees similarities to Josh Allen. He also warns that the North Texas transfer has started for only a little over a year, and that defenses will get a better read on him as the season goes on. His suggestion for Miami: keep Malik Willis as a bridge so Mestemaker can learn from the sideline first.
Simmons and Stewart go 3-4 as the Jets wait on a quarterback
Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons goes third to Tennessee despite his ankle injury. “He’s already proved enough to be a top-five pick,” Manzano wrote, pointing to 31.5 sacks in two-plus seasons and a motor no one at the position can match. South Carolina’s Dylan Stewart follows at No. 4 to Tampa Bay, which Manzano calls a gamble given his one-game suspension, a back injury that cost him the first two games and only 5.5 sacks over the past season and a half. Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore, “the safest defensive prospect in this class,” lands in Washington at No. 5.
With the Dallas pick at No. 6, the Jets take Echoles to rebuild a defense that lost Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner less than a year ago. “There will be enough QBs to choose from later on,” Manzano wrote. New York then adds Indiana receiver Charlie Becker at No. 9 with the Indianapolis pick and Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss at No. 13 with its own. Field Yates had the Jets taking CJ Carr and Ashton Hampton in the top 10 in his top-10 mock the same day.
Tackles in Philadelphia and Houston, Carr in Arizona
Philadelphia takes Texas tackle Trevor Goosby at No. 7. Manzano does not expect the Eagles to rush into a quarterback despite Jalen Hurts’ health concerns, noting they just traded Cam Jurgens to Baltimore and lost Lane Johnson to retirement. Houston then grabs LSU’s Jordan Seaton, who he says offers more athleticism than Goosby, to settle a right tackle spot that has gone back and forth between Braden Smith and Trent Brown.
Carr goes 10th to Arizona. Manzano thinks the Notre Dame quarterback “might be the fourth-best quarterback in this year’s class” because of average size and arm strength, but says scouts see him as the safest option because of how well he reads defenses. He has 16 touchdown passes and one interception, and Manzano links him to coach Mike LaFleur’s time working under Sean McVay.
The trade and the rest of the quarterbacks
The one projected trade sends the Raiders up to No. 11 for Rutgers receiver KJ Duff, a 6-foot-6, 225-pounder “being called the next Mike Evans” for his catch radius. Duff has 42 catches for 741 yards and nine touchdowns and was named the Big Ten’s Offensive Player of the Week after two scores at Maryland. Cleveland moves down to No. 15 and still gets Miami’s Darian Mensah, who is completing 80.8% of his passes with 18 touchdowns and one interception.
Oregon’s Dante Moore, out for the past month with a concussion, slides to Pittsburgh at No. 22. Arch Manning goes 30th to Minnesota after what Manzano calls a “dreadful” season, though he expects one team to bet on the upside Manning showed late last year. In the second round, Missouri’s Austin Simmons goes 35th to Tampa Bay and USC’s Jayden Maiava goes 38th to the Eagles.
Other first-round picks include Georgia linebacker Chris Cole to New Orleans at No. 12, Florida running back Jadan Baugh to Carolina at No. 20 and Tennessee defensive tackle Xavier Gilliam, one of the season’s biggest breakout players, to Jacksonville at No. 25.
Round 2
| Pick | Team | Player |
|---|---|---|
| 33 | Chargers | Anthonie Knapp, OL, Notre Dame |
| 34 | Dolphins | Deuce Alexander, WR, Ole Miss |
| 35 | Buccaneers | Austin Simmons, QB, Missouri |
| 36 | Titans | Kewan Lacy, RB, Ole Miss |
| 37 | Commanders | Cayden Green, OL, Missouri |
| 38 | Eagles | Jayden Maiava, QB, USC |
| 39 | Cardinals (via Houston) | Brauntae Johnson, S, Notre Dame |
| 40 | Colts | Princewill Umanmielen, EDGE, LSU |
| 41 | Cardinals | Ahmad Moten Sr., DT, Miami |
| 42 | Rams | Boubacar Traore, EDGE, Notre Dame |
| 43 | Saints | David Stone, DT, Oklahoma |
| 44 | Jets | Kingston Lopa, S, Cal |
| 45 | Falcons | Bear Alexander, DT, Oregon |
| 46 | Cowboys | Sammy Brown, LB, Clemson |
| 47 | Seahawks | Zabien Brown, CB, Alabama |
| 48 | Browns (trade with Las Vegas) | Teitum Tuioti, EDGE, Oregon |
| 49 | Bengals | Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, LB, Notre Dame |
| 50 | Ravens | Justin Scott, DT, Miami |
| 51 | Giants | Kelley Jones, CB, Mississippi State |
| 52 | Lions | Jaylen McClain, S, Ohio State |
| 53 | Panthers | Luke Reynolds, TE, Virginia Tech |
| 54 | Broncos | Rasheem Biles, LB, Texas |
| 55 | Patriots | Ryan Coleman-Williams, WR, Alabama |
| 56 | Steelers | Carter Smith, OT, Indiana |
| 57 | Browns | Melvin Siani, OT, Texas |
| 58 | Packers | Samson Okunlola, OT, Miami |
| 59 | Bears | Matayo Uiagalelei, EDGE, Oregon |
| 60 | Jaguars | Duce Robinson, WR, Florida State |
| 61 | Bills | OJ Frederique Jr., CB, Miami |
| 62 | Vikings | Quincy Rhodes Jr., EDGE, Arkansas |
| 63 | Chiefs | Reed Harris, WR, Arizona State |
| 64 | 49ers | Will Heldt, EDGE, Clemson |
Kody Malstrom’s October mock, also released Wednesday, went the other way at the top: Notre Dame’s Carr was his first quarterback at No. 2 to Miami, with Mestemaker third to Tennessee. For how the analysts compare, see Mel Kiper’s first 2027 Big Board and Josh Edwards’ latest mock.
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