It’s looking increasingly likely that Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza will probably be the primary college QB to listen to his name called within the 2026 draft, and he bolstered his case on Saturday by leading the Hoosiers to a victory over Ohio State within the Big Ten Championship Game. Unsurprisingly, multiple sources have told Tony Pauline of EssentiallySports.com that Mendoza will declare for the draft.
Along with the stellar season Mendoza is having, which has him firmly in the combination for the Heisman Trophy, several of the opposite top passers who’re eligible for the draft appear headed back to campus in 2026. In accordance with Pauline, there’s an “overwhelming belief” that Oregon’s Dante Moore will return to the Geese next season, where the 20-year-old has an eight-figure NIL package waiting for him. Along with the cash, Moore could use more time to proceed developing and growing into the potential that his elite physical tools create.
Like Moore, Alabama’s Ty Simpson doesn’t have an ideal deal of starting experience, and he could due to this fact stand to profit from one other 12 months in college (where he’ll remain under the tutelage of renowned offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Ryan Grubb). Although much can obviously change in a 12 months’s time, Moore and Simpson project as early frontrunners for the 2027 Heisman, and Pauline hears that Simpson can be more likely to forego the NFL draft for one more season.
Nevertheless, as ESPN’s Wealthy Cimini observes, Mendoza, Moore, and Simpson are the consensus top QB prospects for 2026, and ESPN draft analyst Jordan Reid says there’s a considerable drop-off between that trio and the following tier of signal-callers. So if Moore and Simpson don’t declare, then Mendoza will essentially comprise a one-man class, which is able to make his decision to show pro even easier.
It can also drive up the worth to accumulate the best to draft him. As of the time of this writing, the Titans have the No. 1 overall pick within the 2026 draft, but they only chosen Cam Ward with the highest pick in 2025 and can proceed to develop him within the hopes he can grow to be their franchise QB. They may demand a hefty trade package for his or her top selection if teams just like the Jets, Browns, Raiders, or Saints resolve Mendoza is their guy.
We recently learned that evaluators are split on Mendoza’s skilled ceiling, but the necessity to seek out a high quality quarterback all the time results in overvaluation of faculty passers. Plus, it’s not as if the California transfer has not earned the mantle of best QB in his class. He boasts a 71.5% completion percentage together with an FBS-leading 33 passing touchdowns (against just six interceptions) and 10.66 air yards per attempt. And while his stats within the Ohio State victory don’t jump off the page (15/23, 222 yards, one TD, one interception), his mettle in leading the Hoosiers to victory in a championship game against an elite defense surely caught the eye of NFL front offices.
We all know that Jets GM Darren Mougey has already scouted Mendoza in person – Mougey witnessed the 22-year-old engineer a dramatic comeback win over Penn State – and Mendoza will proceed to be one in all the most-discussed prospects within the run-up to the draft. The identical could possibly be true of South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers, who’s having a disappointing 12 months but who continues to be viewed as a late first-round pick, per Pauline. Sources near Sellers consider there is just too much risk for him in returning to school and maybe reducing his draft stock even further, so he may make the choice to declare.