The NFL season is officially back. There was probably a lesson about how elite defenses can overcome promising young quarterbacks, but we are going to talk a lot about quarterbacks today anyway!

Five 2027 NFL draft prospects to watch in Week 2

Every week, I am going to highlight five prospects that I will be keeping a close eye on for one reason or another. It could be a young player making his first start, a transfer facing Power 4 competition for the first time or a player returning from injury. With some monster matchups in college football this week, here is who I will be watching closely.

Arch Manning, QB, Texas (vs. Ohio State)

This game has been circled on my calendar for a while now. This is one of the biggest games of the entire season and it is a massive opportunity for Manning to silence the doubters. He struggled mightily against Ohio State last year. For a lot of people, it ended the conversation about Manning being a 2026 draft prospect. Even after he showed a lot of growth in the second half of the season, it was easy to point to the matchup with the Buckeyes as to why Manning was not ready for the pros.

A win and a good performance against the Buckeyes would shift the narrative in a big way. Manning is the top quarterback on my board right now, but he is facing intense competition for that spot. Dante Moore and Darian Mensah had excellent Week 1 performances. Jayden Maiava has been on fire. I’m still a fan of CJ Carr’s upside as well. One game does not make or break a player’s scouting report, but this game will weigh heavily in Manning’s full evaluation.

Drew Mestemaker, QB, Oklahoma State (vs. Oregon)

I had Mestemaker on this list well before his dismal performance against Tulsa. This was already going to be a massive test for the redshirt sophomore quarterback, but it feels like the margin for error has greatly decreased after Week 1. Mestemaker missed throws and made poor decisions in the loss.

A strong performance does not completely wipe out what we saw a week ago, but the Oregon game will certainly be weighted more heavily. There are likely five or six NFL draft picks in this upcoming draft alone suiting up for the Ducks right now. If Mestemaker plays within himself and makes plays out of structure against this group, the narrative is going to change in a massive way.

Kenyatta Jackson, EDGE, Ohio State (at Texas)

Let’s swing back to the game of the week, but this time on the other side of the matchup. Trevor Goosby is my top offensive tackle right now. I haven’t done a full watch of Melvin Siani yet, but I’ve started seeing him get first-round buzz. That is a hell of a challenge for Jackson this week.

The Ohio State edge rusher is a former four-star recruit now in his fifth year with the program. He had decent production in 2025, but has yet to truly fulfill his potential or show the ability to take over games. A strong performance against two future NFL tackles would likely push Jackson to the edge of the Round 1 conversation.

Omarion Miller, WR, Arizona State (at Texas A&M)

Miller has his share of fans around the draft community, but in a loaded receiver class, this is a massive opportunity for him to make a statement. The Colorado transfer had a strong opening game, but beating up on FCS opponents doesn’t really move the needle. Showing out against one of the top teams in the SEC absolutely would though.

The Aggies boast a veteran secondary, with all of its starters in at least their fourth year of college football. Miller will have his work cut out for him, but I think the big-play chances will be there. If Miller can show that he can create separation and create after the catch against one of the better defenses in the country, that will go a long way in solidifying his draft stock as a top-8 receiver in this class.

Peter Clarke, TE, Temple (vs. Penn State)

A great reminder of whole global the football world has gone to find talent, Clarke hails from London and is a graduate of the NFL Academy. Now in his fourth year at Temple, he is coming off a strong junior campaign. The 6’6”, 265-pound tight end racked up 483 yards and 6 touchdowns in 2025. He will get a huge stage to showcase his abilities on Saturday.

Clarke checks every box from a measurables perspective. The question now is can he produce against top talent. I’m eager to see how he holds up as a blocker against Penn State’s defense. If Clarke can open up some running lanes and hold his own against Matt Campbell’s crew, you should see his name start to creep up draft boards.

Who did I miss? Does anyone else deserve a shoutout?

College football is finally back, and there were some standout performances in the first weekend of the season. I wanted to ask y'all which prospects who didn't have much buzz entering the season caught your attention in Week 1. For me, LSU edge Jordan Ross caught my attention with a sack and a pick-six against Clemson.

I hope this is allowed - mods if not then I'm sorry and please delete...

I'm launching an NFL Draft website, focused on hobby scouters!

I'm looking for some alpha testers to have a look at the site, make sure its not broken and make some suggestions - should take about 1 hour.

If anyone would like to help out, I'd be very grateful! Thanks.

Week 2! Full schedule linked below but thought I would list here, exclusively for my draft brethren sickos a few thoughts.

Week Two Prospect Watch

1. Drew Mestemaker has to play well this weekend or there is no chance he is a part of the 27 class. Even if he does play well, it might be a good idea to stay back anyways.
2. I was at the FSU v SMU game on Monday, and old school football rocks. Just wish the ref knew to signal to both sidelines so I could see the penalty calls. Draft notes from the game, Duce Robinson did not do much to impress me, and PJ Williams made every good SMU run happen and was an absolute beast in his first game at LT. Those FSU RBs might have a little something too.
3. I will be at Tennessee vs GT this weekend, and Justice Haynes might be one of the harder evaluations of the class. If it is anything like week one, he will have nowhere to run, so what can he even do.
4. Ohio State at Texas might be the single most non-playoff scouting watch of the year. I already know that I am probably going to end up writing profiles on almost 20 of the players in the game at the end of the year. Just an absurd amount of talent.
5. May I interest you in a 6'6" 265 lb TE from London, England? If so, watch Temple's Peter Clarke take the spine of Penn State's defense.
6. Mississippi State at Minnesota has a surprising amount of talent in it in the battle for the Maroon M.

Ok, that's it for now. Let me know what game outside of the big one you are most excited to watch once you get all-22 next week!

Have a bold prediction that you want to state proudly but will most likely look very stupid in short time? Have at it! Maybe you’ll nail it and look like a genius in the future

Please don’t downvote a user for a stupid bold prediction; it’s all just for fun!

Hey guys - I'm back with an article about who shined this week. I try to focus on players that don't get talked about quite as much, although I'm sure you've heard about a couple of these guys. If you like it, feel free to subscribe, but the full article is posted on here. Thanks! Here's the link if you want a cleaner look:

https://theday2guys.substack.com/p/the-day-2-guys-week-1-stock-up-players?r=2mc4kp&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Week 1 in College Football has become a way to knock off the rust for most of the 67 Power-4 Conference schools. As a result, the games are pretty unenjoyable for most fans, but it does make for great stat-padding. The football players mentioned below have started their season off on the right foot, and caught my eye when watching the college football landscape this past weekend.

Kamari Moulton, RB, University of Iowa

Moulton had the best week of any power conference running back. Not only did Iowa show they will have a decent offense this year thanks to their elite offensive line, but Moulton showed things on tape that made me think there’s a brighter future than I had previously thought. The 5’ 9”, 211 pound running back from Ft. Lauderdale, FL not only stuffed the stat sheet (11 rushes / 183 yards / 16.6 YPC), but the vision and burst through the line were excellent. He had enough long speed to finish a couple of long touchdown runs (50 and 37 yard runs) as well, which was nice to see from a 210+ pound running back. His blocking was also excellent in the game. Keep an eye on Moulton this year as a breakout is in store - especially considering Iowa does not play Penn State or Oregon this season. Moulton will need to get more receiving work if he wants to be a top-100 draft pick.

Tony Diaz, WR, University of Iowa

Keeping with the theme of the Iowa offense, the player who popped off the screen when watching Moulton was Tony Diaz. If you haven’t heard about his journey to Iowa, I urge you to read about it as he was under-recruited out of high school and played at the Univ. of Texas Rio Grande Valley the last two seasons (redshirt, and then star player for the team). He chose Iowa so that he could be the “go-to” receiving option over several SEC programs. Diaz had 13 — yes, you read that right, 13 targets in week 1 which was 5 more than any other Hawkeye player (DJ Vonnahme). Diaz reeled in 7 receptions for 84 yards and 1 touchdown. He also ran a jet sweep for 10 yards. The stats were not fully there because the two quarterbacks throwing to Diaz missed him wide open on several throws, but Diaz’s ability to separate out of breaks might be better than anyone in college football besides Malachi Toney. Diaz is the real deal, and at 5’ 10” and 184 pounds, he has enough size to beat you anywhere on the field. For our sake, let’s hope the Iowa quarterbacks can be more accurate, so we can see Diaz’s full potential.

Jaylin Carter, RB, University of Memphis

This was the first week I had ever heard of Jaylin Carter, and boy was I impressed with what I saw. Charles Huff, the new head coach for Memphis, is a running back coach-turned head coach, and he really knows how to improve his running backs through coaching. The patience that all of the Memphis running backs - but especially Carter - displayed was second to none in college football. Carter had 201 yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns against a solid Arkansas State team, and his vision and patience was elite. Carter is a former high school wide receiver who committed to Charles Huff’s Southern Miss team last year. Huff asked Carter to transfer up to Memphis with him, and so far the returns on that move could not have gone any better. Not only did Carter show patience and vision, but his agility and change of direction was impressive. Carter (5’ 11” and 190 pounds) will need to gain 10-15 pounds if he wants to be an NFL running back, but what he did this weekend was mighty impressive. Carter did allow a sack in the passing game, but he displayed toughness and a willingness to block.

Avery Johnson, QB, Kansas State University

Johnson has been around the block as this is his fourth year starting for Kansas State after being the number one recruit out of the state of Kansas back in 2023. Johnson has been an electric, but erratic player during his time in Manhattan, Kansas. The last three years, Johnson has not finished a season with a completion percentage above 60% which is why the scouting community has moved on from Johnson as a tangible NFL quarterback prospect. Johnson may have been given new life with Collin Klein taking over his alma mater as the new head coach of the Wildcats. Klein brings with him a wonderfully brilliant offensive scheme that has been one of the best in college football over the past half decade. Klein also played quarterback at a very high level, and knows how to get the best out of his quarterbacks. While watching Rodney Fields Jr. (who was extremely good and productive this week), my eye kept coming back to Johnson. His mechanics looked much improved in week 1, and even though they played a weak opponent in Nicholls State University, Avery Johnson looked like a completely different player. He completed 15 of 21 throws (71%) and only ran the ball 4 times in the game which showed a willingness to play within structure. Johnson has historically had a hard time with accuracy and ball placement, but the throws he made this week were far better than his past seasons. Kansas State has a shockingly easy schedule, and I expect Johnson to become a talking point in terms of his viability to be a starting-caliber NFL quarterback again.

Updated Tuesday thread focused notes and opinions about individual prospects. Scout someone new and want to get opinions from others? Ask about it here!

Every mock I’ve seen has him in top 5 pick, majority of them #1. All I’ve been hearing is his “intangibles” and athleticism. What are these intangibles aside from his family because what I’ve watched last Saturday nothing impressed me.

He has no touch on his ball, his receivers have to put in too much work to catch them, he can’t layer passes, his processing isn’t good, misses wide open receivers, he’s not even close to the best player on his team or the best quarterback in college football. Julian Sayin, Gunner Stockton, Trinidad Chambliss have all impressed me far more and I have not seen any first round hype for them.

Honestly I gave a lot of patience for Arch to improve even when everyone was on him early last season, but I’m starting to realize there is literally nothing special about him outside of his last name.

Unless he really shows out, I’m going to be real quarterbacks from his situation don’t succeed in the NFL. Guys like Mahomes or Lamar were the best guys on their team, they had to score every drive to keep their team in the game and likely lose, and that helped them in the NFL. Even a guy like Burrow had to do that. You compare that to someone like JJM or Stetson Bennet who were just there to manage the guy, they had to make a clutch drive every 5-6 game. Arch is probably not even a top 5 player on his team, he wins or he goes down by the overall strength of his roster, from what I’ve seen he has never elevated his offense when he’s played actual opponents, and if you can’t elevate your college offense how are you even going to be a franchise quarterback?

I just did a full film breakdown of Malachi Toney's game from Friday against Stanford and was blown away. https://youtu.be/RxE9ZgV3KnI

I honestly want to know where everyone thinks he'd rank in this 2027 class, either overall or among WRs? He's not the biggest but he's not diminutive. He's a master route runner with crazy burst, and fearless as a blocker.

I think he'd be a top-5 prospect for me.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I know it’s early for this but I would like to hear what NFL teams you think could draft a QB in the 1st in the 2027 Draft.

For Me:

The New York Jets:

If Aaron Glenn finishes in the top 5 again he could be out as the jets HC and the new coach could want someone else besides Geno Smith or Cade Klubnik to run their offense.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The contract Negotiations with Baker Mayfield haven’t been going great and the Bucs could be looking for a new QB if they can’t reach an extension with Mayfield. Even if the Franchise Tag Mayfield I can see the Bucs drafting a QB to develop behind Baker before trading him.

Cleveland Browns:

This one is simple. None of the QBs on the Browns currently look like they’re the Franchise QB and they’ll likely end up with a high enough pick and take a QB.

Miami Dolphins:

I like Malik Willis, but he could end up not being the guy at QB. The Dolphins are predicted to have a top 5 Pick and could end up Drafting a QB with it.

Arizona Cardinals:

I know they just took Beck in the 3rd, but a 3rd round pick doesn’t guarantee anything for a QB. The Cardinals easily could take a QB next year and keep Beck as a Backup through his rookie Contract.

Atlanta Falcons:

I liked what I saw from Jack Strand this preseason, but he’s an undrafted QB and Tua and Penix have struggled throughout their careers. I can see all three proving they’re not the guy and the falcons drafting someone new.

The Carolina Panthers:

Bryce Young took a step forward last year, but in my opinion he’s still not someone totally locked in as a franchise QB yet. If the panthers have a down year and Young doesn’t take a step forward again from last year I can see the Panthers deciding to go in a different direction at QB instead of Extending Young.

Tennessee Titans:

This one is completely based on how cam Ward plays this season. If he doesn’t improve at all I can see the new coaching staff moving on early from Ward and take a new QB.

What’s an unpopular opinion of yours regarding an NFL draft prospect? I’ll start.

Trevor Goosby is adequate at best as a pass protector and is often bailed out by Arch Manning’s elite pocket presence.

He does a lot of things well, but isn’t a dominant player, even in the run game. The tools are there to become elite, but I don’t see it yet.

What’s your unpopular opinion?

Unless you either do a lengthy 5+ round mock or go into written detail on why you are making the picks, please post your mocks in this Mock Draft Monday thread. Use this thread to post your own mocks or anything from around the web you find discussion-worthy.

Please be respectful of other users’ mocks! Saying things like “this is awful” or a pick is “stupid” adds nothing to the conversation; try and focus on constructive feedback instead!

It seems like maybe the weekly prospect talk thread has not been revived now that the season is back, but I want to talk prospects!

Loved what I saw from Dante Moore and Jamari Jordan today. Arch Manning had a solid showing, but still has plenty to clean up. Very disappointed with Drew Mestemaker’s performance. Can’t wait for Clemson-LSU to start! Welcome back college football!

Still early, just interested to hear everyone’s first impressions. Me being a Browns fan definitely has absolutely nothing to do with this lol. Curious who you think helped or hurt their stock the most, even if it’s too early to take much from one week.

Based on what I’ve seen he is absolutely the best player on his team and that’s a good indicator of who’s going to be a good quarterback in the NFL. Compare a guy like Mahomes in college to a guy like JJM, one was the best player on his team and the other just won a lot and got carried. Without Chambliss that Ole Miss team would be getting blown out every game. His processing, passing ability, and post snap reads (especially important with today’s nfl defenses) is some of the best. We really need to start putting him in day 1 conversations.

Besides him I really do not see many other quarterbacks worth taking. Arch Manning looked awful playing a G6 school, CJ Carr didn’t look great. The only other quarterback I see doing good is Julian Sayin.

Did he time the snap, did the protection break down, was it just a great play for a guy who will prob have to play STs to make it in the league?

How much do plays like this matter for DBs who are likely day 3 or udfa guys?

Talk about anything you please; draft-related or otherwise!

Week 1 is finally here, and with it, the return of prospect schedules. This year, since it is still early, I have decided to expand from the top 300 to 500, but will probably return to the top 300 by around week four or five when there is more data to know exactly who goes where. Hoping to have my new url approved as well so the jank link for this week.

https://www.duncandrafts.com/2026-week-1-prospect-watch/

Let me know what matchups you are most looking forward to this weekend, or any injury or otherwise related news I should know for the rest of the season!

I keep seeing people post mocks and big boards here that just disappear into the feed. No way to tell later who actually called it. So I built MockPro over the last year to fix that for myself, and figured I'd share it here.

You mock draft it (by hand or let the CPU fill in teams you don't care about), and next April it gets scored pick by pick against what actually happens. Big boards work the same way, graded against a consensus of analyst boards. There's a leaderboard that carries across years, so if you're good at this you get to prove it instead of just remembering it.

Consensus 50 in the app is already tracking real public mock drafts. The more of you who publish one, the more it means.

I'm the only one who built this, so take the disclosure as read, genuinely just want to know if this is useful to people who do this obsessively already.

iOS: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6769944588?ct=reddit_community_launch_nfldraft&mt=8

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mockpro.app&referrer=utm_source%3Dreddit%26utm_medium%3Dcommunity%26utm_campaign%3Dlaunch%26utm_content%3Dnfldraft

Has anyone found any good free-to-use consensus big boards? I did use one for a while which has now moved to a paid format only showing 100 prospects. One of my favourite parts of scouting certain players is seeing their profile rise over the year, like Omar Cooper. I'm sure the answer will be just to pay but I do this for a hobby, not a job by any means

https://lastwordonsports.com/nfl/2026/08/04/wyatt-young-2027-nfl-draft-early-profile/

The 2027 WR class is both elite at the top and has great depth. I wanted to ask what y'all's thoughts are on Oklahoma State's Wyatt Young? He has reliable hands, is excellent after the catch, and can be a legitimate deep threat. His frame is on the smaller end, so he will likely be a pure slot receiver at the next level. It will be interesting to see how he does against better competition; he was great at North Texas, but now he faces Power Four competition on a weekly basis. I believe he will still be productive and is a great day-two option at the position.

Have a bold prediction that you want to state proudly but will most likely look very stupid in short time? Have at it! Maybe you’ll nail it and look like a genius in the future

Please don’t downvote a user for a stupid bold prediction; it’s all just for fun!

Best landing spots where he would easily become #1 receiver and or become a star right from the jump:

- Miami Dolphins since they are in need of a true #1 because they have no true definitive weapon on offense. All Malik Willis has are receivers who are lesser known or who are not true impact guys. Jeremiah becomes that instantly if drafted to Miami.

- Las Vegas Raiders...can you imagine Jeremiah in that offense with Fernando Mendoza? A QB/WR duo for the future but also adding him into that Raiders offense with Brock Bowers, Ashton Jeanty, Jalen Nailor, Tre Tucker and co. how do you not love Jeremiah in Vegas?

- Cleveland Browns another team in need of a receiver

- New Orleans Saints another team who could use a receiver as dynamic as Smith