Fernando Mendoza, Indiana Football News: Draft Scout Player News

Draft Scout College Football Player News

11/09/25 - QB Fernando Mendoza, rJr/2027, Indiana, (DS#1 QB)

The volatility and unpredictability of the 2025 college football season has rippled through the group of draft-eligible quarterbacks. ESPN repolled 25 NFL scouts and executives about who will be the first quarterback taken in the 2026 NFL draft, with the results drastically different from six weeks ago. In the latest poll, Indiana's Fernando Mendoza was the top vote-getter with 13 votes, putting him ahead of Oregon's Dante Moore (6) and Alabama's Ty Simpson (3). Notably, none of those quarterbacks received a vote in the first poll, and all have eligibility remaining.

The other three quarterbacks receiving votes were Oklahoma's John Mateer (1), Cincinnati's Brendan Sorsby (1) and South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers (1). Only Sellers and Mateer had votes in the first poll. "It's not a stellar class," one scout told ESPN. "If you add the maybes [who have eligibility and could leave school], now it gets interesting. The top is better than last year's class, for sure." The top of this year's crop has flipped from Sept. 20, when seven different quarterbacks received votes, with Sellers (8) edging out LSU's Garrett Nussmeier (7). Both players and their teams have struggled this season. Others receiving votes in the first QB1 poll were Miami's Carson Beck (3), Mateer (3), Penn State's Drew Allar (2), Arizona State's Sam Leavitt (1) and Texas' Arch Manning (1). The sentiment regarding the class has soured a bit since the initial polling. Along with the dip in play from Sellers and Nussmeier, Allar suffered a season-ending injury and Manning hasn't resembled anything close to what his family and recruiting pedigrees projected. While Mendoza is the top vote-getter, he has yet to establish himself as a no-brainer No. 1 overall pick. He is trending that way, but there is not yet conviction behind those projections. - Pete Thamel, ESPN College Football

(DS#1 QB) rJr/2027