The quarterback class for the 2027 NFL Draft hasn't quite lived up to the hype in terms of their college football play this season. Texas' Arch Manning is the most notable example of someone whose stock has fallen, currently ranked just inside Mel Kiper Jr's top 25 overall prospects.
Once viewed as direct competition for a top draft pick, Oregon's Dante Moore is also unfortunately out for the season after taking a bad hit to the head last month against USC. Moore is now ranked 25th by Kiper, just behind Manning.
In addition to Moore and Manning, other examples of quarterback prospects not reaching expectations this season include Sam Leavitt (LSU) and LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina).
Unfortunately, the declining stock of these quarterback prospects is bad timing for the Arizona Cardinals, who in all likelihood should be spending a first-round pick at the position.
2027 QB class is fading at worst possible time for Cardinals
The one exception to that would be if they finally start third-round rookie Carson Beck this season, and he shows enough to feel comfortable with him at signal caller going forward. But given the third-round draft pedigree and Arizona's poor infrastructure around Beck, odds aren't in his favor. Beck isn't someone the Cardinals should be relying on as the solution for the biggest problem of their entire rebuild.
For Arizona, the one standout quarterback prospect left to target has to be Oklahoma State's Drew Mestemaker. Kiper has Mestemaker ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect, only behind a generational talent in Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith.
Mestemaker should firmly be in consideration for the top pick, especially since ESPN's Pete Thamel recently pointed out how much NFL scouts favor Mestemaker compared to the other options at the position. In a poll that asked 25 NFL scouts who will be the top quarterback selected off the board, Mestemaker received 17 votes. The only quarterbacks to receive votes include Notre Dame's CJ Carr (4), Miami's Darian Mensah (3), and surprisingly still Oregon's Dante Moore (1).
When they had this poll back in August, Moore received 14 of the possible 25, while Mestemaker didn't even receive a single vote. It shows how drastically the stocks of these quarterbacks have changed, mostly for the worse.
Hopefully, the Cardinals are in a position to select Mestemaker, though he could even be playing himself out of their range. Arizona sits at 2-5, giving themselves a better record and subsequently worse draft position than teams like the Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, Washington Commanders, and surprisingly even the winless Los Angeles Chargers. The fact that Mestemaker is emerging as that clear-cut top quarterback prospect actually suggests the Cardinals could have their work cut out for them when it comes to finding their ideal prospect at the position.
The first step is seeing what they have in Beck, and hopefully the rest sorts itself out as the college season wears on. But with Moore out for the season and these other players like Manning struggling, Arizona could find itself in a surprisingly tough spot once Mestemaker is off the board this summer. That didn't appear to be the case, as the Cardinals were supposed to have their pick of all these talented quarterbacks in a loaded class. Now, it's not so simple.
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