Not long ago, Drew Mestemaker couldn’t get on the field for his own high school varsity team in Austin, Texas, which makes this fall all the more remarkable, because the Oklahoma State quarterback has forced NFL evaluators to seriously consider him as the first signal-caller off the board in the 2027 NFL Draft.
Mestemaker never started a varsity game before he walked on at North Texas, and it took Eric Morris betting on him to unlock what came next. In his first season as the Mean Green’s starter in 2025, he led the nation with 4,379 passing yards.
He completed nearly 69% of his throws for 34 touchdowns against nine interceptions, added five more scores on the ground, and collected the Burlsworth Trophy and American Conference Offensive Player of the Year honors along the way.
Drew Mestemaker Can Be the Top Quarterback in the 2027 NFL Draft
Following Eric Morris to Stillwater
When Morris took the Oklahoma State job, the partnership simply moved north. Mestemaker committed to the Cowboys in early January and inherited a program that had won one game in 2025 and had not beaten an FBS opponent in 21 tries.
His debut was rough: a 24-10 loss at Tulsa in which he threw two interceptions, but Mestemaker’s response a week later rewrote the story and turned his season around immediately.
Against sixth-ranked Oregon, a 23.5-point favorite, Mestemaker threw for 317 yards and two touchdowns while running for 109 yards and another score in a 39-31 upset that snapped the losing streak.
He threw for 389 yards and three scores at West Virginia, 304 yards against UCF, and 365 yards and three touchdowns in a three-point loss at Houston. Followed up with 386 yards and four touchdowns in a 57-24 homecoming rout of Colorado, then posted 323 yards and five touchdowns in Saturday’s 49-51 loss at Iowa State.
Drew Mestemaker threw 5 touchdowns and Oklahoma State still lost 💔
27/42, 323 PYDS, 5 PTD, 1 INT vs Iowa State
323 yards in Ames. The Cowboys still came up short https://t.co/o9wvdP4TwK
— CFB Performances (@performancesCFB) November 1, 2026
Through eight games, he has completed 65% of his passes for 2,649 yards, 25 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions for a 5-3 Oklahoma State team that was looking like a real factor in the Big 12 race.
Climbing Draft Boards Across the Industry
The draft industry has taken notice as well, with Mel Kiper Jr. slotting him second overall and first among quarterbacks on his big board, and Field Yates sent him to Miami at No. 2 in a recent mock.
UCF head coach Scott Frost, after watching Mestemaker carve up his defense, said he would be surprised if the quarterback were still in college next season.
There are still questions for scouts to settle, chiefly his consistency from week to week and how he handles pressure. As a redshirt sophomore, he also still has a decision to make about whether to declare at all.
For a player who began his career as a high school backup and a college walk-on, though, Mestemaker has turned an unlikely story into one of the most compelling cases in the class.
Here are his 2027 NFL Draft rankings according to various outlets:
CBS (No. 4)
ESPN (No. 8)
PFN (No. 11)
The Athletic (No. 30)
The Last Word
All in all, Mestemaker will come out of this season with only two full seasons as a starter under his belt, but the talent on film undeniably makes the Oklahoma State quarterback an intriguing option as a potential franchise quarterback.
He’ll check off an array of boxes during the scouting process, and if Oklahoma State can find a few more wins this season, then firmly expect Mestemaker to contend for QB1 in the 2027 NFL Draft process.
Of course, the gunslinger could also opt in for another year under Morris as well, but with how the quarterback class is taking shape halfway through the season, it may be in Mestemaker’s best interest to test for the NFL.
Main Image: USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
