Oklahoma State’s 2026 season may have a lot of familiar faces, but when it comes to NFL draft buzz, the spotlight is pretty clearly on one player: quarterback Drew Mestemaker.
Some evaluators already see the redshirt sophomore as a potential first-round pick in the 2027 NFL Draft if he decides to leave college early. That’s a big label for any quarterback, and it lands even harder when you remember Mestemaker didn’t even play varsity football as a quarterback in high school.
The catch, of course, is timing. College players have to be at least three years removed from high school graduation to be eligible for the NFL Draft, which means Mestemaker could be on the move after the 2026 season despite having just one collegiate year under his belt. But if he’s going to make that leap, the thinking goes, it probably needs to come with first-round certainty.
Last week offered a snapshot of just how wide open that conversation is. The Athletic and ESPN both slotted quarterbacks in their mock drafts, and Mestemaker’s name was part of the debate.
The Athletic was the high-water mark. It projected Mestemaker at No. 18 overall to the New York Jets, who would be picking there because of a previous trade with the Dallas Cowboys. The site pointed to his “both in terms of his arm and athleticism” as traits that have caught the attention of NFL scouts.
That mock had a loaded quarterback top end: Texas’ Arch Manning at No. 1, Oregon’s Dante Moore at No. 2 and Notre Dame’s C.J.
Carr at No. 14.
ESPN told a different story. In its first-round mock, Mestemaker wasn’t included at all, a reminder of how much draft stock can swing from one projection to the next.
That board had Moore going No. 1, Manning No. 2 and Carr No. 3, with no other quarterbacks taken in the opening round.
ESPN didn’t offer an explanation for Mestemaker’s omission.
What is clear is that his 2025 season at North Texas changed the conversation. He threw for 4.379 yards for the Mean Green, enough to put him on the radar of NFL talent evaluators everywhere. Now the question is whether he can back it up in a power conference against better defensive competition.
If he does, the first-round mock drafts should keep coming. And if that happens, the pressure around an early jump to the NFL will only grow.
For Oklahoma State, it’s a huge season. For Mestemaker, it’s no smaller.
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Drew Mestemaker arrives at Oklahoma State with a growing reputation and a much harder stage ahead. After a productive year at North Texas, the quarterback is now stepping into a season that will test him against a far more demanding schedule, the kind of jump that tells a program plenty about where it stands and what it can become. For the Cowboys, his transition matters because it is about more than simply carrying over past success. It is about whether a quarterback who has already shown he can handle volume and responsibility can do it when the speed, pressure and weekly stakes all rise.
Head coach Eric Morris, who has spent enough time around good quarterbacks to recognize what translates, sounds convinced Mestemaker has the traits to make it work. Morris has pointed to his decision-making and preparation as strengths, and he expects those habits to travel with him as Oklahoma State leans on him in 2026. The bigger question is how that growth plays against tougher competition, because the Cowboys are betting that Mestemaker's development will shape not only their season but also the path he eventually builds toward the NFL. [Read more 🡒]