The Athletic Gives Drew Mestemaker Highest QB Status Heading into '26 Season
STILLWATER – The Athletic has named Oklahoma State transfer quarterback (from North Texas) Drew Mestemaker a tier one, top tier quarterback for the upcoming college football season. No, The Athletic has not been full proof in their college quarterback rankings. Nobody ever is, but it is still one heckuva predictor for how Mestemaker, theCowboys as a whole, and new head coach Eric Morris, who brought Mestemaker with him from North Texas, will do this season.
The second game of the season will be a match-up between two of the publications top tier quarterbacks when No. 2 Dante Moore and Oregon come to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State and the No. 6 Mestemaker at Boone Pickens Stadium.
The other top tier quarterbacks according to The Athletic include:
No. 1 Trinidad Chambliss of Ole Miss.
No. 3 C.J. Carr of Notre Dame
No. 4 Darian Mensah of Miami, Fla.
No. 5 Julian Sayin of Ohio State
No. 7 Arch Manning of Texas
No. 8 Sam Leavitt of LSU
The Athletic uses this definition or description to explain what a top tier quarterback is:
The best of the best. They have a strong combination of proven production and elite traits and are among the Heisman Trophy frontrunners. Coaches want to build their teams around them.
The comments in the story speak volumes about the OSU quarterback and his potential and abilities.
“There’s no question (he’s the best in the league),” a Big 12 personnel staffer told The Athletic. “That kid’s so good. … He’s good enough with his legs but his arm talent is freaky.”
Said a Big 12 assistant coach, “He’s probably the face of the Big 12 from a quarterback standpoint.”
Dane Brugler of The Athletic also did an NFL-style scout take.
With his talent to thrive off-platform, Mestemaker has an exciting skill set for the next level. He bounces around pressure with elevated eyes to find passing windows and fire downfield strikes. Mestemaker is still figuring out what he can get away with and what he can’t, so some mistakes should be expected with his play style, especially moving up to the Big 12. But his talent has the attention of NFL teams.— Dane Brugler
This is major news in simply the ranking.
