Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker has been one of the most talked-about transfers in college football, and the numbers behind that buzz make the case pretty quickly.
At North Texas last season, Mestemaker put together a monster stat line: he led the nation in passing yards with 4,379, in passing yards per game at 312.8, in total offense at 4,468 and in yards per pass attempt at 9.46. He also finished second nationally with 32 passing touchdowns.
That production is a big reason new Oklahoma State coach Eric Morris targeted him, especially since Morris coached Mestemaker at North Texas over the last two seasons. The fit in Stillwater was built around his skill set.
But if you want to see how EA Sports views the quarterback, the answer comes in the new College Football 27 preseason ratings, released ahead of the game’s July 9 wide launch. Mestemaker landed just outside the Top 10 with an 89 overall. Ahead of him sits Oregon quarterback Dante Moore, who checked in at No. 1 among quarterbacks with a 95 overall.
The game breaks players down beyond the headline number, giving them six individual ratings: speed, strength, agility, awareness, change of direction, injury and awareness. And in the comparison between these two quarterbacks, Moore edged Mestemaker in every category.
The gap, though, was not huge. Moore was only three points better in speed, and both quarterbacks were rated near the top in injury.
That lines up with what each has shown on the field. Mestemaker played every game last season after redshirting at North Texas, while Moore has played three seasons, including a redshirt year in 2024 when he appeared in five games, and has stayed away from major injury.
EA Sports clearly views both as durable options.
Moore’s rating reflects a quarterback who helped lead Oregon to the College Football Playoff last season and could have entered the NFL as a likely first-round pick. Mestemaker’s number says something else, too: he’s not far off from the elite tier. He missed the Top 10 by a sliver, and he isn’t all that far from Moore in the game’s eyes.
Of course, video game ratings don’t decide games. Still, they do offer a useful snapshot, and the picture here is pretty clear: Moore is the standard right now, but Mestemaker is right there among the sport’s rising names.
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