Way Too Early Top-5 Quarterbacks for the 2026 NFL Draft
Where will LaNorris Sellers land?
Howdy folks, it’s time to move over to the offensive side of the ball in the AndyNFL summer scouting series. Today we dive into the QB position, a fun class with a lot of question marks all throughout—as a result, these rankings, as always, are subject to change.
Before we get into it I will reiterate that I am not solidifying a grade for Texas QB Arch Manning early in the 2026 draft process, 2 main thoughts go into this.
From everything I have heard, It seems very unlikely that Arch Manning will declare this early—opting to utilize more of his eligibility than just into his RS. Sophomore season.
I want to see a much larger sample size from Manning, he has only had 2 starts to this point—and while he looked very solid in those starts, I want to see more against more proven competition.
But I will say, I do really like the glimpses we’ve seen from Arch. I think he has the makings to be a great collegiate QB and eventually a great NFL QB.
Now we shall get into my early Top-5 QBs for the 2026 NFL Draft. I hope to pick up the pace of these article drops more than I have, if I can get into a rhythm that would be wonderful. Next up in the summer scouting series following this QB article; we will have the Top-5 RBs—so keep an eye out for that.
Anyways, let’s get into it.
#1: Cade Klubnik · QB · Clemson
6’2 · 210 · SR
Cade Klubnik embodies a lot that I like to see in QB prospects. He plays in-structure fantastically and diagnoses what the opposing defense throws at him at a quick and efficient rate. He portrays solid pocket presence, showcases very functional mechanics, and is a natural improviser. The big selling point for me on Klubnik is the way he takes huge year-to-year jumps through every season of his career. This past season Klubnik recorded 3,639 passing yards and 36 passing TDs with only 6 INTs—making him among top QBs in the country all-in-all. No prospect is perfect, especially at the QB position—Klubnik’s weaknesses are he’s very inconsistent throwing on the move, and when he gets pressured can get forced into bad decisions. However, on my scouting report for Cade I have way more strengths noted than weaknesses, making him a guy I’m comfortable with in this QB1 spot to start the year.
#2: LaNorris Sellers · QB · South Carolina
6’3 · 242 · RS SO
Coming off of a massive redshirt freshman year at South Carolina, LaNorris Sellers comes in as my initial QB2. He has the dream height/weight/speed for a QB prospect, he’s a special athlete, natural improviser and excels out of structure. He makes jaw-dropping plays on film at a wildly consistent rate. He has very comfortable and functional mechanics showcasing incredible progression throughout his redshirt freshman season. Sellers showcases a natural feel down the field and showcases very solid accuracy when he doesn’t get erratic. Like I said throughout the 2024 CFB season he progressed at a great rate week-to-week, which gives me so much confidence going into the 2025 CFB season. When I studied Sellers I saw a lot of Super Bowl Champion Jalen Hurts, making him a guy I am willing to plant an early flag on and invest big on the high-upside signal caller for South Carolina. I’d like to see Sellers develop more nuance for the QB position, but this should come with time. Even out his accuracy, and showcase a bit more anticipation. But overall I am really intrigued with Sellers and think he could be the QB1 of the 2026 NFL Draft.
#3: Fernando Mendoza · QB · Indiana
6’5 · 225 · JR
Transferring from California to Indiana was an amazing move for Fernando Mendoza, and will help his NFL development tremendously. He reminded me a lot of Drake Maye early on in scouting him. Has a great frame at 6’5, 225 with the ability to naturally improvise on the fly. He has NFL level arm talent with the ability to throw from multiple arm slots and has showcased the ability to rocket throws into tight windows. He’s very smart, knows when a play breaks down and it’s time to go. He’s consistently able to make something out of nothing. I’d like to see him improve his composure when pressured, there were times on tape when he got rushed and it turned into a bad decision, and at times he got stuck onto his first read and resulted in a bad play—but all in all there’s a lot to like for me with Mendoza. Now at Indiana, the talented signal caller will take his talents to a scheme that’ll make him much more desirable on an NFL note and I believe that he will be a 1st round pick in the 2026 draft as a result. Fernando Mendoza will be a fun one to monitor this year.
#4: Garrett Nussmeier · QB · LSU
6’2 · 200 · SR
Going into his senior season Garrett Nussmeier comes in at #4 on the list. I will start this by saying I think Nussmeier has a debate to be a top-2 QB in this class, and ultimately thought about it for awhile. He has a lot of tools you like to see in a QB prospect, and above all the best is his noticeable NFL bloodlines—with him being born into football with his dad Doug Nussmeier being a successful coach. He looks downfield early and often, showcases quick decision making, and plays in-structure very well. He’s very solid at anticipatory passing, and showcases good pre-snap diagnostic of plays. However the reason he ultimately didn’t come in higher are some notable weaknesses; he can force the ball into a bad situation by hunting the big play when it’s not there, forces too many poor passes when pressured, has struggled against disguised coverages and I get worried about his light 200 lb frame. These are fixable issues though, and it is very good that he went back for his senior season where we have seen LSU QBs skyrocket their NFL stock year-to-year. I think it is a legitimate possibility that Nussmeier could be the #1 QB this April, but I want to see some more nuance developed.
#5: Drew Allar · QB · Penn State
6’5 · 238 · SR
Rounding out the Top-5 is Penn State’s Drew Allar, another QB who decided to return to school for his senior year. Allar’s an interesting study, with a monster QB frame at 6’5, 238 and elite raw arm talent to drive the ball to every level of the field naturally draws a lot of people in. However I have some pause with his mechanics, needing a lot of fine-tuning and ultimately among the reasons I think he decided to return to Penn State for his senior year (that among chasing a National Championship). He has 2-starting seasons under his belt and following this season will have 3 going into the NFL. In those 2 starting seasons, Allar has posted 5,958 passing yards and 49 passing TDs with only 10 interceptions. Frame wise, pure arm talent wise, and statistics wise he checks the boxes—but I still have some concerns here. He needs to develop consistency with timing across all facets of the position, lacking apparent composure in big moments as a result. Most of his turnovers that pop up on tape come by predetermining his throws, rather than diagnosing the play he goes one-read and results in a bad incompletion or even interception. This is the make-or-break year for Drew Allar, one where he needs to stand out or could fall down in this QB class by potential risers like Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt, Michigan State’s Aidan Chiles, Baylor’s Sawyer Robertson, or someone else.
In Summary:
NR. Arch Manning
Cade Klubnik · QB · Clemson
LaNorris Sellers · QB · South Carolina
Fernando Mendoza · QB · Indiana
Garrett Nussmeier · QB · LSU
Drew Allar · QB · Penn State
HM. Sam Leavitt · QB · Arizona State
This is a fun group, and one that’ll be very interesting to track as the college football season goes on. 3 seniors in the rankings (Klubnik, Nussmeier, Allar) and 4 mentioned with high upside (Manning, Sellers, Mendoza, Leavitt). It wouldn’t surprise me if all of these guys challenge for QB1, this seems like one of the most open years for QB1 in recent history and it’s all good talent on display. I’m super excited to see this group and how it plays, because interestingly enough I feel like I could give an argument for anyone in that Top-4 to be considered as the early QB1, which I don’t feel like about really any position group this year besides the Quarterbacks.
At this moment, Cade Klubnik, LaNorris Sellers, Fernando Mendoza and Garrett Nussmeier all reside in my early Top-20.
As always, these are very subject to change over the season and summer, and stay tuned for more content here on the substack and on my Twitter/X page @AndyyNFL covering the NFL draft all year long.