There’s always one quarterback who comes out of nowhere and forces his way into the national conversation. Fernando Mendoza was that guy in 2025, a name far more casual fans learned on the fly than had circled in advance. And if this season follows the same kind of script, there are plenty of quarterbacks lurking well outside the spotlight who could be next.
The usual headliners are already getting the attention: Arch Manning, Dante Moore, CJ Carr, Julian Sayin, Trinidad Chambliss and Darian Mensah. But quarterback seasons have a way of rewriting the board fast.
Someone outside that group is going to crash the Heisman race or the first-round debate, maybe both. The trick is spotting who has the traits to make the leap.
Jaden Craig at TCU is one of the cleaner bets. The Harvard transfer brings an FCS-to-Power Four jump that looks steep on paper, but Trinidad Chambliss just showed that kind of rise is possible after coming from Division II.
Craig’s résumé at Harvard was efficient and controlled: 10 interceptions in 611 pass attempts over two seasons as a starter, plus 2,869 passing yards last season. At 6-3, he already has the frame, and early reports say his arm strength has held up as he adjusts to the Big 12.
He’s also stepping into an offense that has already done real work for Max Duggan and Josh Hoover. If he hits, the NFL Draft talk will follow.
At NC State, CJ Bailey is the kind of quarterback who could take a big step just by smoothing out the rough edges. He had a few ugly outings last season, but the overall arc pointed up after a promising freshman year.
He finished with three straight games of two touchdowns and no interceptions, a strong closing stretch that showed what he can look like when he’s in rhythm. At 6-6, Bailey is one of the tallest quarterbacks in the country, though his slight build could raise questions at the next level.
Still, the upside is obvious if he trims the mistakes.
Drake Lindsey at Minnesota might be the most intriguing long-term name in the group. The Gophers haven’t had a quarterback drafted since 1972, but that could change in 2027.
P.J. Fleck clearly thinks Lindsey is the right guy after he replaced Max Brosmer in 2025 and delivered 18 touchdowns to six interceptions.
The 6-5 Arkansas-born quarterback finished hot, too, completing 66 percent of his passes for eight touchdowns without an interception over his final five starts. He turned 21 just before the season, so there’s a real chance he’s still in college in 2027, and with his size and arm strength, he has the tools to get into the NFL conversation.
DJ Lagway’s story is all about the reset. Not long ago, he looked like a future NFL quarterback.
Then came a rough year at Florida, where he threw 14 interceptions and passed for only 2,264 yards. A move to Baylor gives him a fresh start in a system that should put him in position to throw more and play through mistakes.
He’s just 21, and the conference landscape should give him a little more breathing room. If the talent shows up the way it once did, he could either jump to the NFL or stay put and cash in as a senior in 2027.
Cutter Boley’s numbers at Kentucky don’t tell the whole story. The Wildcats were in a bad spot, and that matters when you’re judging a young quarterback.
Boley still threw 12 interceptions and didn’t pile up much yardage, but he also had strong performances against Tennessee, Florida and Georgia despite the talent gap around him. Now he’s headed to Arizona State, where Kenny Dillingham should give him a much better runway.
It may be too soon to put Boley in NFL draft terms, but the ceiling is there to become what Sam Leavitt was for the Sun Devils and make noise in the Big 12.
Jaron Keawe-Sagapolutele is probably already too well known to fit the “underrated” label, but he belongs in this conversation anyway. He’s been mentioned as a possible No. 1 pick or at least a first-rounder in the 2028 NFL Draft, and the freshman season he just put together only added fuel.
Thrown into the starting job in a tough situation at Cal, he dealt with some midseason bumps but still passed for 3,454 yards and showed off the arm talent scouts are already tracking. “JKS” ended the year with back-to-back games of at least 330 yards and didn’t throw an interception in six of his final seven starts.
With Tosh Lupoi taking over as head coach, the breakout many are expecting could arrive soon.
Then there’s Josh Hoover at Indiana, a name that fits the Mendoza blueprint almost too neatly. Indiana didn’t make Mendoza, but Curt Cignetti’s system clearly didn’t hurt him, and Hoover arrives with plenty of familiarity with the style of offense Mike Shanahan runs.
He’s got nearly three seasons of starting experience from his time at TCU, and the production could get loud in Bloomington. Turnovers remain the obvious thing to clean up, and his age works against him a bit since he turns 24 next June.
Even so, after Mendoza and Kurtis Rourke both delivered breakthrough years there, it wouldn’t be surprising at all if Hoover puts up huge numbers too.
In Other News...
TCUs Dublin Loss Just Reopened A Bigger Sonny Dykes Debate
TCUs trip to Dublin was supposed to be a fresh start, a chance to make a strong first impression in a showcase setting against North Carolina. Instead, the Horned Frogs came away with a sloppy loss that felt all too familiar, the kind of opener that quickly shifts the conversation from the game itself to the bigger picture around the program. Mistakes piled up, the night never really settled down, and the result only sharpened the sense that this team is still searching for a cleaner, more reliable identity.
For Sonny Dykes, the loss added another layer to a tenure that has already featured more frustration than TCU fans expected when he got his extension. The debate around his direction now lives in the background of every misfire, especially after other damaging defeats have lingered long after the final whistle. The Dublin setting also brought its own odd backdrop, with the so-called Ireland curse hovering over teams that travel there, but for TCU the deeper issue is closer to home: how many more nights like this the program can absorb before the questions get louder. [Read more 🡒]
TCUs 2027 Class Is Already Giving Horned Frogs Fans Something To Watch
TCUs 2027 recruiting class is already giving Horned Frogs fans a reason to keep one eye on Friday nights and another on the future in Fort Worth. The group stands at 17 commitments, all from the high school ranks, and several of those players are beginning their senior seasons this week, which means their final prep campaigns are about to become part of the conversation around the programs next wave.
The schedule watch is part of the appeal here, because each commitment is stepping into a season that should tell TCU more about what it is getting before those players ever arrive on campus. Their recent game performances and upcoming matchups offer a steady stream of updates for a fan base that likes to track recruiting closely, and this class already has enough names in motion to make it one of the more interesting long-view storylines on the Horned Frogs board. [Read more 🡒]