Most midseason 2027 quarterback boards still have Oregon’s Dante Moore or Texas’ Arch Manning near the top. Justin Melo’s updated top-10 goes the other way: Notre Dame’s CJ Carr is No. 1, Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker is No. 2, and both Manning and Moore have slipped.
Melo’s list lands six weeks into the college season, when he says the top six quarterbacks are as divisive as any group he can remember at this point on the calendar. Carr and Mestemaker are climbing. Manning and Moore are trending down.
The top 10
- CJ Carr, Notre Dame
- Drew Mestemaker, Oklahoma State
- Arch Manning, Texas
- Dante Moore, Oregon
- Darian Mensah, Miami
- Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
- LaNorris Sellers, South Carolina
- Austin Simmons, Missouri
- Jayden Maiava, USC
- Julian Sayin, Ohio State
Carr to No. 1
Carr threw for 1,378 yards, 16 touchdowns and one interception while running Notre Dame’s offense at a high level after losing Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price from last year’s backfield. Melo highlights his mechanics, processing, timing through progressions, and ball placement, and puts him in the mix for QB1 even with only 18 career starts on the sample.
The Nov. 7 home game against Miami is flagged as a measuring stick for both Carr and Mensah. Carr’s climb sits one spot above where Dan Treacy had him in this week’s other major quarterback ranking, which still kept Moore at No. 1.
Mestemaker jumps past Manning and Moore
Mestemaker is the clearest riser. In five games at Oklahoma State he has 1,575 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions after following coach Eric Morris from North Texas, where he led the FBS in passing yards a year ago. Melo calls his Week 2 showing against Oregon resume-defining and labels him the most intriguing quarterback in the class right now, even while noting the play can still look erratic.
That No. 2 ranking is a sharp break from Treacy’s board, which had Mestemaker sixth. On Melo’s list he sits ahead of both Manning and Moore.
Manning and Moore slide
Manning falls to No. 3. Melo credits the athleticism and ability to make difficult throws under duress, but says scouts have not seen the consistency they hoped for six weeks in — accuracy, ball placement, going through progressions, and staring down receivers all show up as issues. The ceiling is still high; the growth has been slower than expected.
Moore drops to No. 4. He returned to Oregon as a projected high pick after a 3,565-yard, 30-touchdown 2025 season, then struggled in a Week 2 loss to Oklahoma State and left with a concussion in Week 4 that has kept him sidelined. Melo still likes the release and mechanics, but flags bad habits behind a regressing offensive line.
The rest of the top 10
Mensah is fifth after 15 touchdowns, zero interceptions and an 84.2 percent completion rate at Miami. Melo likes the clean mechanics and processing against pressure, with open questions about arm strength and zip on deeper routes.
Chambliss is sixth as a dual-threat producer at Ole Miss (16 total touchdowns in five games) with the usual debates about size and age. Sellers is seventh after a bounce-back season in Columbia. Simmons cracks the list at eighth with a big arm and 14 touchdowns against one interception at Missouri. Maiava is ninth after 2,045 yards and 18 touchdowns at USC. Sayin closes the top 10 with 1,772 yards, 17 touchdowns and two interceptions at Ohio State, with scouts still arguing over whether the arm strength projects as a starter.
What comes next
Carr at BYU, Manning against Florida, Mensah against Florida State and Sayin at Indiana can all reshuffle this group again before the next round of boards. Melo’s ranking is the clearest midseason case yet for Carr as QB1 — and for Mestemaker as the quarterback who has actually passed the preseason headliners.
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