The identities of the top two quarterback prospects of the 2026 NFL Draft have been clear for some time now. Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza is all but Sharpied into the No. 1 overall draft slot, and though it’s unclear if he’ll hear is name on Day 1, Alabama’s Ty Simpson has distanced himself as QB2. According to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, though, “there’s no consensus opinion” on the identity of QB3, and there could be a long wait before we find out who will claim that honor.
For awhile now, it’s looked like a group of three passers has established itself as the next tier of draftable quarterbacks. This group contains LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, Penn State’s Drew Allar, and Miami’s Carson Beck. Nussmeier looked like a promising first-round candidate after throwing for 4,043 yards in his first season as a starter. Having sat three years, waiting for the starting job to open, Nussmeier was primed to ride the momentum of his 2024 campaign to another solid year. Unfortunately, he was plagued by an abdominal injury, and after losing two games, Nussmeier ended up getting benched in two more before sitting the rest of the season.
Allar has looked the part of prototypical quarterback ever since he committed to the Nittany Lions as a consensus five-star recruit. As a sophomore, first-year starter, he showed outstanding discipline with 25 touchdowns to only two interceptions, despite only completing 59.9 percent of his pass attempts. He improved his completion percentage over the next two years but lost discipline as he threw 11 interceptions in 22 games. He also never ranked higher than 65th in the NCAA in passing yards per game. Having never quite reached his potential, Allar’s collegiate career ended with a season-ending injury.
Like Nussmeier, Beck’s time as a starter at Georgia came after sitting for three years. After watching his team win consecutive national championships, Beck’s legacy in Athens was established as a passer who always just came up short. Beck owned a two-year record of 24-3, but one of those losses was to Alabama in the SEC Championship in 2023, and he was injured during the Bulldogs’ College Football Playoff run in 2024. Beck transferred to play for the Hurricanes, and in one season, led the team to their first College Football Playoff appearance and a run that ended in a loss at the National Championship Game.
Smith also mentions Clemson passer Cade Klubnik. A consensus five-star recruit, like Allar, Klubnik peaked as a second-year starter in his junior year. Finishing the season with an average of 259.9 passing yards per game with 36 touchdowns to only six interceptions, Klubnik was listed right alongside Nussmeier as a potential first-round candidate before the 2025 season. Klubnik’s legacy may be highlighted by the end of a Clemson dynasty, though. After an 11-year span in which the Tigers never lost more than three games in a season and won two of four championship game appearances, Clemson lost four games in each of Klubnik’s first two seasons as a starter and six games in his final year. His scoring production also dropped drastically in his final year as he threw only 16 touchdowns.
Smith is also intrigued by Arkansas quarterback Taylen Green. The intrigue around Green comes mostly from his abilities as a dual-threat passer. Over four years as a starter — two at Boise State before joining the Razorbacks — Green never threw more than 20 touchdowns in a season, while his completion percentage hovered around 60 and his interceptions increased with each year. Green showed electric rushing ability, though, with 1,024 yards and 19 touchdowns as a starter at Boise State and 1,379 yards and 16 touchdowns at Arkansas.
Nussmeier and Klubnik may have killed their first-round potential with brutal results in 2025, but teams could still be really impressed by their ceilings. Meanwhile, Beck improved what looked like a lost career with a strong final season, and Allar and Green hold plenty of potential even if they didn’t produce the best results in college. All it takes is for one team to fall in love with any of these prospects and pull the trigger first. It will be extremely interesting to look out for which teams attach themselves to each quarterback and how early they’ll be willing to do it.
Cole Payton
Has a little Taysum Hill ability in him
The longest wait of all might be for the Jets to draft a QB not named Mr. Irrelevant
Beck might be the 1st of that group to go with Allar being the last…
I think it’s Nussmeier. His down year was at least partially injuries and his skill set really lends itself to a Shanahan derived offense, which is a lot of them at this point.
Him or Beck
It’s either beck or nussmeier
Drew Allar is the clear cut #3 quarterback in the class he has everything that a team wants he has size, arm, strength, mobility, toughness
Unlike Mendoza and Simpson.. drew is likely going to get drafted into a much better situation on a much better team than the Raiders and likely the Jets for Mendoza and Simpson
Allar biggest downfall in college was not letting the ball just rip. He second-guess himself a lot, but with the past catchers, he had his four years in college is very understandable. Why he he hesitated a lot to throw the ball. if he can work on that, not be hesitant and just let the ball rip and trust these receivers he will do just fine.