Part 5, QB: The Fernando Mendoza Question
Franchise-changer or "goody two-shoes?" Scouts have many thoughts on the Indiana QB. Also: What do we make of Ty Simpson? Teams eyeing a savior picked a bad year to need a quarterback...
This is the 42nd year, and the fifth at Go Long, in which Bob McGinn has written a position-by-position series previewing the NFL draft. Previously, it appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette (1985-’91), the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (1992-2017), BobMcGinnFootball.com (2018-’19) and The Athletic (2020-’21). Until 2014, many personnel people were quoted by name. The series reluctantly adopted an all-anonymous format in 2015 at the request of many scouts. Listed times in the 40-yard dash reflect the average of hand-held clockings from the combine and pro days. Electronic times from the combine aren’t compatible with most pro days and therefore weren’t utilized.
Fifth of 12 parts: quarterbacks.
By Bob McGinn
What was expected to be an exceptional draft year for quarterbacks has turned into a nightmare for NFL teams.
“Horrible,” “very weak” and “terrible” were just some of the adjectives used by executives in personnel to describe what’s left of a quarterback class almost completely gone sour.
In almost unprecedented fashion, one quarterback after another forecast for the first round ran aground. Some faded due to performance or injury, others failed to meet expectations and wisely returned to school.
“There’s not a real difference-maker,” said one scout who painstakingly graded all the quarterbacks. “There’s no bona-fide, can’t-miss quarterback.”
For him, that included Fernando Mendoza, who ascended during Indiana’s drive to the national championship while almost all his peers disintegrated. When asked to compare Mendoza to a sundry list of quarterbacks when they were entering the draft, one veteran evaluator said he’d rate Mendoza behind Joe Burrow, Matthew Stafford, Justin Herbert, Drake Maye, Sam Darnold, Sam Bradford, Matt Ryan and Carson Palmer. He said Mendoza would be about even as a prospect with C.J. Stroud and Joe Flacco.
In mid-September, ESPN’s Pete Thamel polled 25 NFL scouts and executives to see who they projected as the top quarterback in the 2026 draft. South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers led with eight votes followed by LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, seven; Miami’s Carson Beck and Oklahoma’s John Mateer, three; Penn State’s Drew Allar, two, and Arizona State’s Sam Leavitt and Texas’s Arch Manning, one.
In early May, one week after the 2025 draft, Dane Brugler published a way-too-early 2026 mock draft in The Athletic. “Five passers are included, and a few others could push for the first round,” he wrote. “It should feature a stark upgrade in quarterback talent.”
His mock included Manning at No. 1, Sellers at No. 2, Allar at No. 5, Nussmeier at No. 16 and Mendoza at No. 27.
Todd McShay’s early top-10 included Nussmeier No. 1, Sellers No. 4, Clemson’s Cade Klubnik No. 5 and Allar No. 7.
Manning, Sellers and Mateer went back to school, as did Oregon’s Dante Moore. Beck was OK, Klubnik’s star waned and Nussmeier struggled while playing hurt. Allar, after a slow start, had his season end after six games with an ankle injury.
Alabama’s Ty Simpson, a first-year starter, played well in the first two months before fading down the stretch. Somewhat surprisingly, he declared for the draft. Leavitt went back, too.
There was some hope that Ole Miss’s Trinidad Chambliss might provide a second-day option but that ended when the Mississippi Supreme Court granted him another year of eligibility. He isn’t in this draft.
“I actually thought the best quarterback in this draft class stayed in school and got paid a lot of money to go to Texas Tech,” one scout said in reference to Brendan Sorsby, who had been at Cincinnati. “I’ll take this guy over Mendoza all day long. It’s amazing how these guys stay in school. It just changes things.
“Simpson is a backup. I didn’t like him. This is really a bunch of backups. They are not starter-caliber guys.”
Part 2, TE: Kenyon Sadiq and the hunt for matchup nightmares
Part 3, T: Why Francis Mauigoa ‘n co. may define the 2026 NFL Draft
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QUARTERBACKS
1. FERNANDO MENDOZA, Indiana (6-4 ½, 236, no 40, 1): Became the first player from the Big Ten to win the Heisman Trophy since Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith in 2006. “He was the steady Eddie and part, a big part, of a really good team and now he emerges as the No. 1,” one scout said. “He’s got a lot of really good qualities. He’s big, tough and smart. He’s motivated, driven. He’s overcome a lot of adversity. He went from not being invited to walk on at Miami to Yale to, hey, we’ll take you at Cal to getting beat up out there to some extent,” said one scout.