When it comes to football, both at the college and pro levels, the conversations start at the quarterback position as the offensive side of the ball gets the vast majority of attention. College Football’s Week 1 slate of games had some excitement and a lot of quality play from quarterbacks and wide receivers.
While the 2027 NFL draft is a long way off, for many NFL teams it will end up being the most important part of this season, even as Week 1 of the NFL is a few days away. Quarterbacks continue
to be vital, despite a downward turn in overall passing yards, so NFL teams without long-term certainty at the position, like the Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, and Arizona Cardinals, will be spending a lot of time looking at this year’s QB class.
Before the first full week of college football, rankings had different orders for the top quarterbacks, but a similar list overall. The Athletic’s Top 5 were:
- Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
- Dante Moore, Oregon
- CJ Carr, Notre Dame
- Darian Mensah, Miami
- Julian Sayin, Ohio State
CBS Sports had Moore at the top and included Arch Manning:
- Dante Moore, Oregon
- Arch Manning, Texas
- Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss
- Darian Mensah, Miami
- Julian Sayin, Ohio State
Digging deeper into the rankings gave us Drew Mestemaker, Jayden Maiava, Noah Fifita, LaNorris Sellers, and many others.
With Chambliss and Carr yet to play (both play Sunday evening at 7:30 PM), in Week 1, many of those top quarterbacks did not disappoint. Mensah, Sayin, Moore, Manning, and Maiava all threw for over 300 yards with at least three touchdowns. The only interception from that group was a bad decision by Manning to try to force things into triple coverage.
Beyond that group, Georgia’s Gunner Stockton went 15 of 16 for 202 yards and three touchdowns before sitting out most of the second half. Indiana’s Josh Hoover, taking over for Fernando Mendoza, had four touchdown passes and 231 yards, and this bloody imagery:
Sellers attempted just 23 passes, completing 19 of them for 270 yards and three touchdowns as South Carolina trounced Kent State. Fifita completed 76% of his passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 24 yards for the Arizona Wildcats.
Not everyone had a great game in Week 1. Mestemaker, making a big step up in competition from North Texas last year, where he threw for over 4,300 yards, completed just 59% of his passes for just 241 yards on 49 attempts. On top of that, the new Oklahoma State quarterback had just one touchdown and two interceptions as the Cowboys were knocked off by Tulsa, 24-10.
There is a long way to go, starting with Chambliss and Carr on Sunday night to close out Week 1, before the 2027 NFL draft. So far so good for a quarterback class that many expect could rival some of the best in the last decade or two.
Did you watch any of the potential 2027 NFL draft class of quarterbacks in Week 1? If so, what stood out to you? Did any surprise you (good or bad)?
Join the conversation!
Sign up for a user account and get:
- Fewer ads
- Create community posts
- Comment on articles, community posts
- Rec comments, community posts
- New, improved notifications system!
Download the SB Nation app on iOS or Android.
