Troy Finnegan’s latest 2027 NFL Draft quarterback rankings keep Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker at No. 1, and Finnegan now calls him the clear-cut top quarterback prospect in college football. The biggest move is behind him: South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers jumps from seventh to fourth after a 27-24 upset of Tennessee, passing Notre Dame’s CJ Carr, Texas’ Arch Manning and Missouri’s Austin Simmons.
The list was published late Tuesday, October 27, after Oregon coach Dan Lanning said Dante Moore is unlikely to play again this season because of the concussion he suffered against USC. Moore holds at eighth.
Finnegan’s top 10
| Rank | Quarterback | School | Last week | Middlehurst-Schwartz, Oct. 27 | Josh Edwards’ Oct. 28 mock |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drew Mestemaker | Oklahoma State | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | Trinidad Chambliss | Ole Miss | 2 | 2 | 32 |
| 3 | Darian Mensah | Miami (FL) | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| 4 | LaNorris Sellers | South Carolina | 7 | 8 | Not in Round 1 |
| 5 | CJ Carr | Notre Dame | 4 | 4 | 7 |
| 6 | Arch Manning | Texas | 5 | 7 | Assumed to stay in school |
| 7 | Austin Simmons | Missouri | 6 | 3 | Assumed to stay in school |
| 8 | Dante Moore | Oregon | 8 | 6 | 26 |
| 9 | Drake Lindsey | Minnesota | 10 | Not ranked | Not in Round 1 |
| 10 | Brendan Sorsby | Not playing in 2026 | Not ranked | 9 | Not in Round 1 |
The fifth column is Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz’s quarterback ranking from the same day, and the last is where each player went in Josh Edwards’ October 28 mock draft, which assumes Manning and Simmons return to school.
Mestemaker widens the gap
Mestemaker went 21 of 36 for 386 yards and four touchdowns in Saturday’s 57-24 homecoming win over Colorado, a game in which Oklahoma State trailed 24-20 late in the first half and then scored the last 37 points. Finnegan says Mestemaker is still improving every week, which fits someone early in his development at the position, and that his ability to push the ball downfield from awkward pockets and arm angles is “a unicorn trait in this class.”
Chambliss holds on after a rough night
Trinidad Chambliss stays second even though he turned the ball over three times, once on a Hail Mary, in Ole Miss’ loss at Texas. Finnegan puts much of that on the people around him: running back Kewan Lacy was hurt again, leaving the Rebels with almost no running game, and Texas’ man coverage kept his receivers from separating. He credits Chambliss for still fitting throws into tight windows under pressure in the second half and says one off day will not knock him off the No. 2 spot. Charlie Campbell had Chambliss sliding in his Week 8 stock report.
Mensah third, with a ceiling
Miami’s Darian Mensah completed 31 of 37 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns in a blowout of Pitt, and the Hurricanes have since collected three weekly awards for him. Finnegan calls him the point guard the Miami passing game needs and a real Heisman Trophy contender, but doubts he can climb much higher on the list because his physical traits are satisfactory rather than special. In his favor, Finnegan says, Mensah has now run an efficient offense at several schools under several coordinators.
Sellers jumps three spots
Against Tennessee, Sellers completed 18 of 32 passes for 210 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and ran 18 times for 96 yards and two scores, including the individual effort on the tying touchdown that Finnegan says most quarterbacks could not make. He writes that Sellers is starting to look like the player many expected before the 2025 season, that he is comfortable working through progressions and out of messy pockets behind an inconsistent line, and that he still makes too many head-scratching mistakes.
Carr, Manning and Simmons slip a spot
Carr falls from fourth to fifth after Notre Dame’s bye. Finnegan says this week’s game against Navy may not reveal much, but the following week against Miami will. Manning drops from fifth to sixth after a night Finnegan calls the story of his career in a nutshell: an excellent first half with accurate downfield throws, including one Cam Coleman dropped, then a stalled offense, a turnover and few easy completions after halftime. Simmons, who did not play last week, moves from sixth to seventh and faces Arkansas, Texas, Georgia, Kentucky and Oklahoma to finish the regular season.
Moore, Lindsey and Sorsby
Finnegan says Moore’s 2025 tape is better than anything any quarterback is producing now, with the possible exception of Mestemaker, but his 2026 tape was uninspiring, partly because of an offense whose coordinator was fired after seven games, and the severity of the concussion adds a new question for teams. He also notes that Moore passed on a likely top-five selection a year ago to chase a title with Oregon.
Minnesota’s Drake Lindsey moves up from 10th to ninth. He struggled against Iowa’s defense, as most quarterbacks do, but showed some escapability, using it on a 39-yard completion to Jalen Smith that set up the Gophers’ game-winning field goal. Finnegan doubts his ceiling is much higher than this.
Brendan Sorsby enters at 10th without playing a snap this season, after leaving Texas Tech because of a gambling scandal. Finnegan says he will be a difficult and unique evaluation but has more physical tools than many of the passers ranked ahead of him, so some teams will like him if he checks out in interviews. He got the spot because of the problems of others: USC’s Jayden Maiava had a very tough night, UCLA’s Nico Iamaleava is coming off a torn ACL, NC State’s CJ Bailey looks more like a 2028 prospect, and Ohio State’s Julian Sayin now has a right elbow injury on top of uneven play. Those four and LSU’s Sam Leavitt are listed as the next ones out.
No published comments yet. Start the conversation.