Sayre Bedinger’s 2027 mock after the Jeffery Simmons trade: Drew Mestemaker goes second to the Titans, seven quarterbacks go in Round 1 and Arch Manning lands with the Steelers at 24

Sayre Bedinger’s newest 2027 first round, posted on the morning of Sunday, November 1, is built around one trade and one theory: if the Titans were willing to send Jeffery Simmons to Chicago, they may be ready to move on from Cam Ward.

So Bedinger sends Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker to Tennessee at No. 2, right after Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith goes first to the Chargers. Notre Dame’s CJ Carr follows at No. 3 to Miami, and by the end of the night seven quarterbacks are off the board, with Texas’s Arch Manning at No. 24 to Pittsburgh and Missouri’s Austin Simmons closing the round for Minnesota.

Bedinger’s first round

The order is the one going into NFL Week 8, with the Titans holding Chicago’s pick at No. 28 from the Simmons deal and the Jets picking three times in the top 12.

Pick	Team	Player	Pos.	School
1	Los Angeles Chargers	Jeremiah Smith	WR	Ohio State
2	Tennessee Titans	Drew Mestemaker	QB	Oklahoma State
3	Miami Dolphins	CJ Carr	QB	Notre Dame
4	Washington Commanders	Colin Simmons	EDGE	Texas
5	Houston Texans	Xavier Gilliam	DL	Tennessee
6	Philadelphia Eagles	Dylan Stewart	EDGE	South Carolina
7	New York Jets (via Colts)	Leonard Moore	CB	Notre Dame
8	Arizona Cardinals	Darian Mensah	QB	Miami
9	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Charlie Becker	WR	Indiana
10	New Orleans Saints	Ashton Hampton	CB	Clemson
11	New York Jets	Trinidad Chambliss	QB	Ole Miss
12	New York Jets (via Cowboys)	Chris Cole	LB	Georgia
13	Las Vegas Raiders	Nick Marsh	WR	Indiana
14	Cleveland Browns (via Rams)	Dante Moore	QB	Oregon
15	Atlanta Falcons	Jordan Seaton	OT	LSU
16	Baltimore Ravens	Greg Johnson	OL	Minnesota
17	Seattle Seahawks	Ellis Robinson IV	CB	Georgia
18	New England Patriots	KJ Bolden	S	Georgia
19	Carolina Panthers	Kelley Jones	CB	Mississippi State
20	Dallas Cowboys (via Packers)	Will Echoles	DL	Ole Miss
21	New York Giants	Jadan Baugh	RB	Florida
22	Jacksonville Jaguars	Brauntae Johnson	S	Notre Dame
23	Cincinnati Bengals	Jamari Johnson	TE	Oregon
24	Pittsburgh Steelers	Arch Manning	QB	Texas
25	Detroit Lions	Yhonzae Pierre	EDGE	Alabama
26	Cleveland Browns	Jordan Ross	EDGE	LSU
27	Denver Broncos	Trey’Dez Green	TE	LSU
28	Tennessee Titans (via Bears)	Cam Coleman	WR	Texas
29	Buffalo Bills	Kade Pieper	OL	Iowa
30	San Francisco 49ers	Trevor Lauck	OT	Iowa
31	Kansas City Chiefs	KJ Duff	WR	Rutgers
32	Minnesota Vikings	Austin Simmons	QB	Missouri

The Titans change course

Bedinger calls Mestemaker at No. 2 “our first real drastic change of strategy for the Titans.” His reasoning is the Simmons trade itself: Tennessee had just given the defensive tackle a big new contract in the offseason, and he reads the decision to move him as a verdict on Ward as much as on the roster. “Ward has clearly disappointed the franchise,” he writes, “and they might be ready to move on after another 10 games.”

Ward did his best to argue the other side a few hours later, in a 43-36 overtime loss to the Bengals that dropped the Titans to 1-7. With Chicago’s pick, Bedinger’s Titans also add Texas receiver Cam Coleman at No. 28, a player he says was “arguably on par with Jeremiah Smith” coming into the season before his drops this year, even though Tennessee spent a 2026 first-rounder on Carnell Tate.

Carr at No. 3 is the highest Bedinger has had him. He sees the Notre Dame quarterback as one of the few in the class to rise to expectations and says the Dolphins can let Malik Willis bridge the gap for another year.

Seven quarterbacks in Round 1

After Mestemaker and Carr, Miami’s Darian Mensah goes eighth to Arizona and Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss goes 11th to the Jets, a pick Bedinger says New York would “run to the podium” to make. He argues that Chambliss being 25 next season should not matter and calls him one of the most pro-ready quarterbacks in college football.

Oregon’s Dante Moore, whose season was shut down after his concussion, still goes 14th to Cleveland with the pick from the Rams. Bedinger notes that teams that had Moore as their QB1 before the season will find it hard to move him far, and that the Browns landing a quarterback with a pick from the Myles Garrett trade “would almost be poetic.”

Manning’s spot at No. 24 comes with a warning. Bedinger says his own view of the Texas quarterback “has changed pretty significantly” this season, that Manning is not developing at the pace he needs to, and that “his 1st-round status is hanging on by a thread.” He still thinks some owners will want him and that Pittsburgh could give him a softer landing.

Austin Simmons at No. 32 is the round’s last surprise. Bedinger acknowledges that the Missouri left-hander is said to be leaning toward returning to school, but says his progress this season could earn better reviews from NFL teams than he expects, and the Vikings need a long-term answer after trading JJ McCarthy.

The Jets’ three picks and the defense

The Jets use their first two picks on Notre Dame cornerback Leonard Moore at No. 7, with the pick from the Colts, and Chambliss at No. 11, then finish with Georgia linebacker Chris Cole at No. 12 with Dallas’s pick. Bedinger compares Cole to Sonny Styles and Arvell Reese as a linebacker who can rush off the edge and cover.

Texas edge rusher Colin Simmons goes fourth to Washington, with Bedinger pointing to at least one sack in every game, 5.5 against Tennessee and 16 tackles for loss through six games. Tennessee defensive lineman Xavier Gilliam goes fifth to Houston, the highest he goes in any of the 13 recent mocks we tallied this week, and South Carolina edge rusher Dylan Stewart sixth to Philadelphia.

Where Bedinger differs from the pack

Besides Gilliam, Bedinger is higher than the consensus on Notre Dame safety Brauntae Johnson, 22nd to Jacksonville, and he has two Iowa linemen back to back, guard Kade Pieper at No. 29 to Buffalo and tackle Trevor Lauck at No. 30 to San Francisco. LSU edge rusher Jordan Ross at No. 26 to Cleveland is in no other first round in our count.

He has no room for Texas tackle Trevor Goosby, and Indiana receiver Charlie Becker goes ninth to Tampa Bay, about where most mocks have him. For two more takes built on a similar order, see Walt and Charlie Campbell’s latest first rounds.