Is Oklahoma State Cowboys sophomore quarterback Drew Mestemaker the next Fernando Mendoza?
Mendoza, a former three-star recruit out of Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, won over the hearts of college football fans last season, leading the Indiana Hoosiers to their first national championship and winning the Heisman. He hopes to continue that magic carpet ride in the pros after the Las Vegas Raiders selected him No. 1 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Mestemaker’s journey is even more unlikely than Mendoza’s. He wasn’t even his high school’s starting QB. He punted and played safety at Vandegrift High School in Austin, serving as a backup QB. Clearly, those coaches made a mistake.
After earning the starting QB job for the North Texas Eagles in 2025, the former walk-on tied for second in the country in passing TDs (34) and ranked first in passing yards (4,379). Since joining former North Texas head coach Eric Morris at Oklahoma State, he’s been popping on the radar of NFL scouts.
Drew Mestemaker generating early NFL Draft buzz
On Thursday, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler published his preseason QB rankings for the 2027 draft (scheduled April 29-May 1 in Washington), listing Mestemaker at No. 4 behind CJ Carr (Notre Dame Fighting Irish), Dante Moore (Oregon Ducks) and Arch Manning (Texas Longhorns). Before the start of the 2025 season, Brugler ranked Mendoza at the same spot.
Others in the scouting community like Mestemaker but aren’t as high on him as Brugler. NFL Mock Draft Database (which aggregates rankings from other scouts) lists him as QB7.
That said, it’s easy to draw comparisons between Mestemaker (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) and Mendoza (6-foot-5, 225 pounds). Both are tall, precise pocket passers with enough mobility to open up the whole playbook.
