Another quarterback from the sophomore class who has my attention is Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker.
Mestemaker is a 6-foot-3, 215-pound redshirt sophomore with the size, arm talent and confidence NFL scouts look for at the position. Through five games this season, he has completed 67.5 percent of his passes for 1,575 yards, 13 touchdowns and five interceptions. He is averaging 315 passing yards per game and has added 108 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
But this is about more than statistics.
The first thing that stands out is his willingness to attack the entire field. Mestemaker isn’t living on screens, checkdowns and manufactured throws. He can drive the football outside the numbers, challenge a defense vertically and fit passes into tight windows. The ball comes off his hand with plenty of velocity, and he doesn’t need perfect conditions around him to generate it.
He also throws with confidence. Sometimes that confidence can get him into trouble, but I would rather evaluate a young quarterback who believes he can make every throw than one who is afraid to pull the trigger.
Mestemaker has enough mobility to extend plays and punish a defense when the pocket opens. He isn’t a run-first quarterback, but he moves well for his size and can create outside the original structure of the play. More importantly, he keeps his eyes downfield when he escapes pressure.
His biggest area for improvement is decision-making. The five interceptions show up on the stat sheet, and the film shows a quarterback who will occasionally trust his arm more than he should. He must continue learning when to take the aggressive throw, when to check the ball down and when to simply live for the next play.
I also want to see continued growth in his processing against disguised coverage and pressure. College defenses will show him one look before the snap and rotate into something completely different afterward. NFL teams will study how quickly he recognizes those changes and whether he can consistently get to his second and third reads.
We also have to remember that we are talking about a redshirt sophomore. He is not a finished product, nor should anyone expect him to be.
My early evaluation is that Mestemaker has legitimate NFL ability. The size is there. The arm is there. The production is there. The mobility is good enough, and the confidence is obvious.
Now he must prove that he can become more disciplined without losing the aggressive mentality that makes him dangerous.
I want to watch more tape before placing a final grade on him, but Drew Mestemaker has worked his way into the 2028 NFL Draft conversation. If his decision-making continues to improve, he could become one of the biggest risers in this quarterback class.
This is a young quarterback worth following closely.
— Jim Baxter
JB Talking Sportz
