2026 NFL Draft: Preseason quarterback rankings

College & Draft Sports

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• Texas’ Arch Manning lacks experience but oozes potential: His fundamentals and mobility give him excellent building blocks, despite his limited college snaps.

• What to make of LaNorris Sellers: While many evaluators are high on the South Carolina signal-caller, he struggled to read coverages last year. He still has a high ceiling, though.

• Subscribe to PFF+: Get access to player grades, PFF Premium Stats, fantasy football rankings, all of the PFF fantasy draft research tools and more!

Estimated Reading Time: 9 minutes

Summertime means summer scouting, and as always, we start with the position people care about the most: quarterbacks.

Here are my initial top 10 quarterbacks for the 2026 NFL Draft cycle heading into the college football season. 

1. ARCH MANNING, TEXAS

Manning has not played much college football. I am aware of that. But this ranking is through an NFL draft lens, and when you watch even his small sample size, his projection is the best of the bunch.

The nephew of Peyton and Eli, Arch is a former five-star recruit who was the No. 1 player in the 2023 recruiting class and the 28th-highest-rated prospect in 247 Sports’ history. His 6-foot-3, 220-pound frame doesn’t jump out, with both measurables ranking around the 50th percentile for the position. He has attempted just 99 passes in his college career, so his stats aren’t worthy of a mention. Instead, we turn to the tape and his traits evaluation. 

Despite being a redshirt sophomore with such limited experience, Manning is fundamentally sound and polished. He holds onto the ball strongly when scanning the field so as to not get stripped from behind. He has fantastic natural accuracy, including deep down the field. His overall arm talent won’t be a question in the NFL.

Manning is also a lot more mobile than his uncles were, earning an 81.1 PFF rushing grade in 2024. His footwork and movements can be a bit robotic due to a lack of snaps, and he needs to improve his eye manipulation of defenses and not stare down reads — even if they are correct. Manning is very green when it comes to experience, but if I had to take a quarterback right now from the projected 2026 group, it would be him. The building blocks are too good not to believe in.

2. DREW ALLAR, PENN STATE

There was talk of Allar being the second or even first quarterback off the board had he declared for the 2025 NFL Draft. Ultimately, I believe he would have been selected No. 2 overall by the Cleveland Browns.

Allar is built like an NFL quarterback at 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, both ranking in the 90th percentile for the position. You‘ll never doubt whether he has the arm talent for the league; he checks the distance and velocity arm strength boxes. He is capable of some impressive touch throws, and he particularly displayed that early in the 2024 season.

For now, Allar’s footwork is hurting him. His follow-through footwork opens his hips and creates inconsistent ball placement, evidenced by his 71.5% adjusted completion percentage in 2024. His 2.1% turnover-worthy play rate was solid, but some of those turnover-worthy plays were indefensible back-breakers.

Allar was a baseball pitcher growing up and said he either struck batters out or walked them. That’s how he sometimes plays quarterback right now. His pass-catching corps left a lot to be desired in 2024, so hopefully that unit can be better for him to build a strong draft case in 2025.

His talent is not in question — just his consistency.

3. GARRETT NUSSMEIER, LSU

Nussmeier made a late push to be a top quarterback prospect in last year’s draft class, but he decided to stay one more year after completing his first year as a starter. The son of New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier, Garrett would be a smaller NFL quarterback (6-foot-2 and 205 pounds), but his arm is much better than expected, given those measureables.

He recorded a 4.7% big-time throw percentage after making 26 big-time throws in 2024. He is a very confident player, which is rooted in his understanding of fundamentals and windows against zone defenses and his ability to put good zip on passes.

Nussmeier is a “live by the sword, die by the sword” type of gunslinger right now, and his 68.9% adjusted completion percentage last season is evidence that he has to improve his ball-placement consistency. But he isn’t afraid to make the tough throws needed to win each week. 

4. SAM LEAVITT, ARIZONA STATE

Leavitt was Oregon’s Gatorade Football Player of the Year in his senior high school season in 2022, and he went 12-1 that year while leading his team to win the Class 6A state championship.

At 6-foot-2 and 201 pounds, he showed legitimate NFL potential in his first season as a starter in 2024. He posted one of the lowest turnover-worthy play rates in the country (1.1%) with a 3.6% big-time throw percentage while showing off pro-caliber arm talent.

He does some of his best work when scrambling and when plays break down. He needs to learn how to throw the changeup and curveball with accuracy — not just the fastball. His fundamentals and post-snap reads can be inconsistent, but all of that can get better with time.

5. NICO IAMALEAVA, UCLA

It’s a shame that Iamaleava will be known more this season for off-field headlines than on-field ability, because he has true NFL talent. He has good height at 6-foot-5, but a slender build at just 215 pounds (could lead to durability concerns). He has long arms and a long wingspan, which creates a whipping throwing motion that really cranks up how fast his passes spin (like Michael Penix Jr.).

Iamaleava’s footwork is very impressive — light and quick — to create a stable throwing platform or escape pressure instantly. When he misses (71.0% adjusted completion percentage), he misses high, which is evidence of reading a play late and trying to rush a throw.

There’s a lot of talk about Iamaleava, and he certainly needs to get more consistent, but he has pro-level potential as a passer.

6. CARSON BECK, MIAMI (FL)

Beck was one of the top college football quarterbacks a year ago. He has a decent frame for NFL standards at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, as well as an adequate arm for both distance and velocity. He earned an 80.2 PFF passing grade last season, which was fine but felt like a disappointment due to potential QB1 expectations.

Instead of declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft, Beck transferred to Miami for his final season of eligibility. His play was OK in 2024, but he really struggled under pressure on his way to a 30.6 PFF passing grade in such situations. That must improve for him to get back to a first-round projection. 

7. CADE KLUBNIK, CLEMSON

There is a lot to like about Klubnik, who finished 2024 with the highest PFF passing grade among this group (87.7). The former five-star quarterback from powerhouse Westlake High School in Texas won three straight state championships from 2019-2021.

He is a good athlete who brings some dual-threat/RPO ability to the position and can continue to do so in the NFL. He has clean fundamentals and can layer throws in the intermediate levels of the field against zone defenses. However, he is small for the position. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, Klubnik would rank in the 32nd and 7th percentiles for the position in the league.

Due to those measurables, he sometimes has to throw on his toes to get the ball over the offensive line, which negatively affects power and ball placement. He also sometimes has to put his whole body into throws for necessary zip, which, again, can impact accuracy.

If you’re not the kind of analyst to let a quarterback’s size heavily cloud your assessment, you’ll love Klubnik, maybe even as high as QB1. But if you are wary of those physical limitations, they are hard to overlook. 

8. LaNORRIS SELLERS, SOUTH CAROLINA

Some seem to be getting a little ahead of themselves on LaNorris Sellers. It’s understandable why people want to be all in on him. He is 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, earned a 73.8 PFF rushing grade in 2024 and boasts a rocket of an arm. All the talent is there. But his 3.30-second average time to throw shows he is still learning how to read defenses pre- and post-snap.

Sellers presents an incredibly high ceiling as a prospect, but he struggled to read coverages last year with a 4.7% turnover-worthy play percentage (second highest among these quarterbacks). That can be expected from a redshirt sophomore in his first season as a full-time starter. But just because it can all come together doesn’t mean it will. Let’s see it from Sellers — and if we do, he’ll shoot up this list. 

9. JOHN MATEER, OKLAHOMA

If Mateer takes the next step as a prospect in 2025, now at Oklahoma, he is going to be a must-watch player every Saturday.

At 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, he is not built like a guy with a high NFL projection. But the redshirt senior has a very confident play style as a passer and runner (86.2 PFF rushing grade last season). He has a snappy ball release, which puts good pace on his passes. He is confident in avoiding pressure and actually climbing a pocket instead of just retreating. He also knows how to go through progressions with good timing and understanding.

But like a few other quarterbacks on this list, Mateer’s size is a natural negative, as he often has to put a lot of body into his throws. He is a little too boom-or-bust right now, with 18 big-time throws and 16 turnover-worthy plays in 2024. There’s a lot of Baker Mayfield in his game, but it feels like we say that with someone every year. And the fact of the matter is that not many quarterbacks who are built like Mayfield make it.

10. CONNER WEIGMAN, HOUSTON

A handful of other quarterbacks could have claimed this last spot. Weigman was my QB1 heading into last year’s college football season after a small sample size in 2023 showed a quarterback who could play well in structure and under pressure.

He was a totally different player — in a bad way — in 2024, earning a 55.3 PFF passing grade. His multi-sport background (baseball) and ability to hit throws at all sorts of arm angles and throwing platforms keep me intrigued, but his footwork was a mess last season, and he seemed to make pressure plays worse with a rushed throwing motion. Weigman simply was not a good decision maker in 2024, with a 5.4% turnover-worthy play rate. Now at Houston, he’ll need to totally reset under lowered expectations. 

This news was originally published on this post .

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