The 2026 NFL Draft is in the books, which means it’s already time to start looking at next year’s draft and some potential top picks. In what is expected be a terrific draft for quarterbacks — although, the 2026 draft was thought to be just that a year ago as well — Texas QB Arch Manning is the favorite to go No. 1 overall at BetMGM.
Manning (+175) has the best odds, followed by Oregon QB Dante Moore (+500) and Notre Dame QB CJ Carr (+650). Carr and Manning are +750 co-favorites to win the 2026 Heisman Trophy at BetMGM.
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Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has the best odds for any non-QB at +750 and is the only other player currently with single-digit odds. Buckeyes QB Julian Sayin (11-1) and South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers (12-1) have the next-best odds to be the first player selected.
New Indiana QB Josh Hoover — the transfer from TCU who will replace Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza — has 40-1 odds.
Manning, the son of Cooper and nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, opened as the favorite to go No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft as well (and win the Heisman) at BetMGM. He struggled in his opening game at Ohio State, going 17-of-30 for 170 yards with a touchdown and interception in a 14-7 loss.
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Manning decided in December to return to Texas and not enter the 2026 NFL Draft. The Longhorns made a late bid for the College Football Playoff, but finished just short at 9-3. Manning played better down the stretch, finishing the season with 3,163 passing yards, 26 TDs and seven INTs, which included leading the Longhorns to a dominant 41-27 win over Michigan in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl.
A quarterback has been selected No. 1 overall in eight of the past nine drafts (in 2022, Jacksonville took DE Travon Walker with the first pick), with Mendoza going No. 1 to the Las Vegas Raiders this year.
The 2027 NFL Draft will take place next April in Washington D.C.