The college football and NFL Draft communities alike are enamored with a former walk-on quarterback from Austin, Texas. No, this is not a repackaged story on Baker Mayfield, but rather Oklahoma State's Drew Mestemaker. CBS Sports' Shehan Jeyarajah wrote an excellent story detailing the Texas native's journey from earning district recognition as both a safety and punter, but never taking a varsity snap at quarterback to now being one of the hottest names at the quarterback position ahead of the 2027 NFL Draft.
Mestemaker's Cowboys have had an unorthodox start to the season; first falling to in-state Tulsa and then knocking off No. 6 Oregon. Each game provided evidence of both the player's strengths and weaknesses. What does the scouting report say about his draft prospects?
I solicited the opinion of retired old man soccer star and CBS Sports NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson for his thoughts on the quarterback captivating audiences. "Coming into the season, I was just working from the assumption that Drew Mestemaker would return to school for the 2027 season. "That was my point of reference when I watched him over the summer; he was coming off a huge 2025 season at North Texas, but he had only 13 career starts, hadn't faced a Power 4 opponent and still looked like a quarterback who would probably benefit from another year of development.
I had him as my QB9 back in August and while there was plenty to like -- he could work through reads from a clean pocket and consistently showed good touch on intermediate throws -- I also had questions about the arm strength, not always playing on time and occasionally locking onto his first read and forcing the issue. "Over the summer, I came up with the First-Round Readiness Score (let's call it FRED) to measure a quarterback's current development against the traits and production of past first-rounders. Let's just say the model was considerably more bullish on Mestemaker than my notes.
His combination of production, efficiency and early career development gave him one of the strongest scores in the class, behind only Julian Sayin and Jayden Maiava -- and well ahead of Oregon's Dante Moore and Texas' Arch Manning. "FRED was essentially telling me that I might be underselling how far along he already was," Wilson said. Speaking to my personal summer process, Mestemaker was a top 50 overall prospect, but clustered in Tier 2 behind Arch Manning, Moore and South Carolina's LaNorris Sellers.
First and foremost, the NFL game is changing. There is less of an emphasis on a quarterback's ability to run the football and more of an emphasis on operating on time and making quick, accurate decisions as a passer from the pocket. Mestemaker has the foot speed to get chunk yardage on the ground, as was seen against Oregon, but is more of a straight-line sprinter than a sudden athlete who will put defenders in compromised positions in space.
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