{"id":566681,"date":"2026-04-05T21:20:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-05T21:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/566681\/"},"modified":"2026-04-05T21:20:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T21:20:20","slug":"2026-nfl-draft-espn-makes-big-changes-to-top-12-qb-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/566681\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL Draft: ESPN makes big changes to Top 12 QB rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the 2026 NFL Draft around the corner, ESPN made some changes<\/a> to their QB rankings, evaluating the top 12 in this class. How did it shake out?<\/p>\n

Well, we\u2019re here to show you just that. Fernando Mendoza leads this class after leading Indiana to a national title and winning the Heisman.<\/p>\n

But after that, it could be anyone\u2019s guess as far as how the class shakes out. Let\u2019s dive into ESPN\u2019s QB list.<\/p>\n

Mendoza won the Heisman Trophy this year, while leading Indiana to a national title and 16-0 season. The Hoosiers\u2019 QB is easily the crown jewel of the class.<\/p>\n

41 touchdowns and just six interceptions? Yeah, that\u2019s pretty good! Whether he goes right away or learns from Kirk Cousins, it\u2019d be stunning if he\u2019s not the first overall pick by the Raiders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TyAlabama QB Ty Simpson (Kirby Lee \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

Simpson has been considered the second-best QB of the draft class for quite awhile now. The biggest criticism against the Crimson Tide star might be that he needs more seasoning.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a considerable range as to where Simpson will go though, such as to the New York Jets or Arizona Cardinals. Is he has polished as Mendoza? No, but he\u2019s worth a first or second round pick.<\/p>\n

Nussmeier is next up in ESPN\u2019s QB rankings and this feels like a weird ranking either way. He could very well be this good, but the injuries really hindered Nussmeier in 2025, leading to LSU\u2019s poor season based on expectations.<\/p>\n

The flashes he showed in 2024 (over 4,000 yards and 29 touchdowns) prove that he can be good. But he\u2019s certainly a project right now among the other QBs. But if Nussmeier is healthy, he can turn into something solid.<\/p>\n

Beck\u2019s biggest issues are the turnovers and it was seemingly a problem that was on its way to being fixed. But the Miami QB threw a game-ending pick in the national championship game and that\u2019s what people remember, unfortunately.<\/p>\n

He can really throw the rock, but is a little reckless. Still, Beck has a lot of experience under his belt playing for Georgia and the Hurricanes.<\/p>\n

\"Drew\u00a9 Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Allar missed the latter half of the season with an injury and missed out on rebounding with the Nittany Lions down the stretch. The former Penn State QB has all of the tools and size, and some thought he\u2019d be a high pick in 2025, but came back to school.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for him, he didn\u2019t take another leap from improvements in 2024 and obviously was injured. Allar will likely be a mid round pick and be more of a project early in his career.<\/p>\n

Another mid round QB here in Payton. He bounced back in a big way in 2025 after missing eight games in 2024 due to injury.<\/p>\n

Payton threw for 3,188 yards and had 29 total touchdowns with just four interceptions. His dual threat capabilities make him an intriguing prospect worth a Round 3 or 4 pick, let\u2019s say.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Green is another dual threat QB in this draft class as the former Razorback can make you miss in a blink of an eye. He\u2019s projected, at best, as a fourth rounder in 2026.<\/p>\n

With upside, he\u2019ll be a good project for teams looking at a guy who could contribute in a couple of seasons. He\u2019ll need to become a better pocket passer, especially against pressure, in the NFL.<\/p>\n

\"IllinoisVincent Carchietta-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Altmyer excelled at Illinois after he transferred from Ole Miss. In three years with the Illini, he improved every season, throwing for 3,007 yards, 22 touchdowns and just five picks last season.<\/p>\n

Altmyer has great rhythm for a QB, but is a big game hunter, so to speak. If he takes more safe plays, he\u2019ll be a more efficient passer. Still, it\u2019s hard to not like what he can bring to the table as a Day 3 selection.<\/p>\n

After Klubnik broke out in 2024, he looked like a future No. 1 overall pick and Heisman winning QB. That turned out to not be the case after struggling in 2025.<\/p>\n

Clemson struggled as well. Klubnik threw for just 2,943 yards, 16 touchdowns and six interceptions. He was good in play-action, which will help with NFL offenses, but being streaky is his biggest flaw it seems.<\/p>\n

Robertson could sneak into the NFL Draft as a late round QB. ESPN has the possibility of the former Baylor signal caller becoming an undrafted free agent though.<\/p>\n

Robertson is very efficient as a thrower though, but he comes from a big time spread offense. If he gets sped up in the pocket, he can struggle a bit. He\u2019ll need some work in that department.<\/p>\n

\"UConnCREDIT: Eric Canha-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Fagnano still has a chance to get drafted as a Day 3 QB, per ESPN. He was a seventh-year senior this past year and had a breakout campaign.<\/p>\n

Fagnano threw for 3,448 yards, 28 touchdowns and one pick, which was a tipped throw against Air Force. He might have some moxie, but there\u2019s not much buzz around the former UConn star as an early pick. In a quick completion offense, he\u2019ll have to make a transition to schemes with multiple reads and being challenged on a play to play basis.<\/p>\n

Weirdly enough, the Heisman runner up is the last QB on this list from ESPN. Pavia threw for 3,539 yards, 29 touchdowns and just eight picks.<\/p>\n

He has explosive play capabilities with his arm and legs, and has that swagger you love and hate from a QB. His size will certainly raise questions (as he\u2019s just five-foot-10) and played in a shotgun based offense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the 2026 NFL Draft around the corner, ESPN made some changes to their QB rankings, evaluating the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":566682,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[7307,7308,222791,125269,7312,7314,399,7315,140347,7322,398,396,397,7327,99,125272,53934],"class_list":{"0":"post-566681","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-cade-klubnik-22-westlake","9":"tag-carson-beck-20-mandarin","10":"tag-cole-payton-21-westside","11":"tag-diego-pavia-20-volcano-vista","12":"tag-drew-allar-22-medina","13":"tag-fernando-mendoza-22-columbus","14":"tag-football","15":"tag-garrett-nussmeier-21-marcus","16":"tag-joe-fagnano-19-williamsport-area","17":"tag-luke-altmyer-21-starkville","18":"tag-ncaa","19":"tag-ncaa-football","20":"tag-ncaafootball","21":"tag-sawyer-robertson-21-coronado","22":"tag-sports","23":"tag-taylen-green-21-lewisville","24":"tag-ty-simpson-22-westview"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566681","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=566681"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/566681\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/566682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=566681"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=566681"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=566681"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}