The 2026 NFL rookie quarterback class is...not the greatest, as we'll have zero of them starting in Week 1. But next year? Oh, next year looks good, with multiple players who could be plugged in and start immediately for the right team. But what are those right teams?
The idea of "fit" here is a bit hard to describe because we have to factor in a few things. Current personnel matters, but we don't know how coaching staffs can change between now and the 2027 draft, for example. I'm also making some educated guesses about where teams will be drafting next season based on current rosters and expectations.
Arch Manning
Projected NFL team: Arizona Cardinals
This is, IMO, the most obvious fit in this draft class. The Arizona Cardinals have an offense that should be pretty good in 2026, but the team is missing one important piece: a quarterback. The trio of Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew and Carson Beck is very much not a group that's going to lead the Cardinals to the promised land.
Manning carries giant expectations because of his last name and he hasn't quite lived up to them in college, but late last season, we started to see why the hype is there. He has ideal size for an NFL quarterback and has an arm that do anything that's asked of him, but unlike his famous uncles, he also has the athleticism to make plays with his legs. He's got to work on consistency, but the tools are there for Manning to be an elite player at the next level.
One concern here: Arizona might not be as bad in real life as we expect. While people expect this to be the NFC's worst team, a big part of that is that they play in a division with three Super Bowl contenders. But even if they go 0-6 in divisional games, there are still 11 other games for the team, and if Brissett can play like he did in 2026, the team might accidentally play itself out of the Manning lottery.
Dante Moore
Projected NFL team: New York Jets
The New York Jets missed out on Dante Moore in 2026 after he opted to return to Oregon. He won't be able to get out of joining the Jets in 2027.
Would the Jets want someone who — we assume — ducked them this offseason? Sure. He's the second-best quarterback prospect in this class and there's no real guarantee that he went back to Oregon specifically to avoid the Jets. That's just speculation.
Why Moore feels like a good fit for the Jets is that he represents a different kind of quarterback than the Jets have previously gone after. Sam Darnold wasn't nearly as accurate in college as Moore is. Zach Wilson was, but he was also playing for a Group of Five-era BYU team and felt like someone who was still a work in progress. But with a second season as Oregon's starter under his belt, Moore has something that the last two Jets first-round quarterbacks didn't have: he's actually going to be pro ready, a guy who doesn't come with a ton of question marks. He's a quarterback you can actually trust. That's new for the Jets.
C.J. Carr
Projected NFL team: Miami Dolphins
Look: I'm a Malik Willis believer, but I think we have to be realistic about something: he's 27 years old and will be playing on his third NFL team. Do I think he's one of the league's 32 best quarterbacks and is, thus, deserving of a starting job? Sure! But in the same way that Tyrod Taylor was perpetually a top-32 quarterback who ended up just being a journeyman with occasional starting opportunities, that's likely the eventual outcome for Willis. The Dolphins have given him virtually no help this year and will be picking near the top of next year's draft, so it makes sense that this coaching staff will want to see what they can do with a young quarterback.
C.J. Carr is still a work in progress, someone who has an arm that can put the ball anywhere but allows himself to force too much at times. Ideally, he lands somewhere in the NFL where he can sit for a year.
The Dolphins have Willis under contract, and he can start for 2027 while the team works behind the scenes to ready Carr for 2028, both from a developmental perspective and from a "bringing in some talent so he doesn't have to deal with the same limitation that's being forced on Willis in 2026."
Julian Sayin
Projected NFL team: Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns need a savior, and I think Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin has a chance to be that savior. Ohio State quarterbacks have a so-so reputation in the NFL and Cleveland Browns quarterback have a [redacted] reputation in the NFL, so I can see why you might question this, but I think there's something here.
The thing I liked about Sayin in Cleveland is that he's just such a well-rounded player. It seems that the Browns like to chase flashy players. There was the Deshaun Watson trade, and before that the team's most recent first-round quarterbacks were Baker Mayfield and Johnny Manziel. A level-headed, accurate passer like Sayin might be just the thing that the Browns need.
He'd also join a really intriguing roster. Denzel Boston and KC Concepcion will have a season under their belts. Tight end Harold Fannin Jr. is one of the league's ascending players at the position. If the Browns didn't have the league's worst starting quarterback right now, then they might be able to do something with this offense in 2026. Instead, they'll have to wait until next season to solve their biggest issue.
Darian Mensah
Projected NFL team: Atlanta Falcons
Darian Mensah's debut for Miami went about as well as it could have, as the former Duke quarterback was 27-for-30 for 401 yards and five touchdowns in a dominant win over Stanford.
Mensah's NFL stock is on the rise right now, something that could, in theory, put him out of reach for an Atlanta Falcons team that plays in a division where it should be relatively easy to luck into some wins. But assuming Mensah doesn't keep playing at this level forever, there's a chance he lands right about where Atlanta should be picking.
Atlanta feels like a good fit because Mensah is mostly a pocket passer with some ability to maneuver in the pocket, and he possesses a very good arm that might not be quite at the level of some of the players we talk about as big-armed passers. He seems like a guy who'd be great for Kevin Stefanski, because he's got a lot of tools, but not necessarily a lot of elite ones.
Drew Mestemaker
Projected NFL team: Minnesota Vikings
The Drew Mestemaker story is great. Here's a kid who wasn't even a starting quarterback in high school but who walks on at North Texas, manages to work his way up the depth chart until he enters 2025 as the starter and then has a breakout season, leading the Mean Green right to the brink of a playoff appearance.
Mestemaker's Oklahoma State debut didn't go quite as well. The Cowboys managed just 10 points in the upset loss, with Mestemaker going 29-for-49 for 241 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. Definitely not a great showing.
Why I like Mestemaker here is that his story suggests that he's someone who is going to work hard. The Vikings are going to be too good in 2026 to land a shot at one of the elite options in this class, but Mestemaker is someone you can work with, a player who can sit and learn for a year and then, unlike J.J. McCarthy, can turn that time into a lesson that propels him to future success.
Add us as a preferred source on Google