College Football 2026: Who could be this year’s Fernando Mendoza?

Fernando Mendoza became the latest college quarterback to complete one of the sport's most exclusive trifectas: winning the Heisman Trophy, leading his team to a national championship and being selected first overall in the NFL Draft — all within a matter of months.

Elite quarterbacks now have more opportunities than ever to pair with championship-caliber rosters. Indiana, for example, already had much of the infrastructure in place and simply needed to solve the quarterback position last offseason to produce one of the greatest seasons in college football history.

Mendoza was already viewed as a potential top NFL draft prospect during his time at California. While he removed any remaining doubt by the end of the season, it would be revisionist history to portray his rise under Curt Cignetti as a true rags-to-riches story.

The six quarterbacks highlighted below find themselves in a similar position to Mendoza a year ago: highly regarded transfer portal additions with dark-horse Heisman potential joining programs capable of making a national championship run.

Every quarterback on this list transferred schools this offseason. So while players such as Texas' Arch Manning and Oregon's Dante Moore may be among the favorites to be selected first overall next April, they won't be discussed here.

Oklahoma State's hiring of former North Texas head coach Eric Morris effectively transplanted much of the nation's most explosive offense 200 miles north to Stillwater. That includes quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who followed Morris after helping lead the top offense in college football last season.

The approach mirrors what Indiana accomplished after Curt Cignetti brought much of his 11-1 James Madison roster to Bloomington, where they immediately found success in 2024. Like Indiana entering that season, Oklahoma State is viewed by many as a program still a few years away from true national contention. The difference is that Mestemaker arrives with complete familiarity in the offensive system, eliminating much of the transition period that often accompanies a transfer.

In his first season as a starter, Mestemaker led college football in passing yards, yards per attempt and passing first downs. Only Fernando Mendoza threw more touchdown passes, despite playing two additional games, and Mestemaker's 45-point-per-game offense largely avoided turnovers as well.

FBS quarterbacks: Big-time throw and turnover-worthy play rates (2025)

Sorsby's sports gambling scandal has been one of the defining stories of the college football offseason, and the situation may not be fully resolved. As things stand, however, he has been cleared to play for Texas Tech in 2026, where he is reportedly set to receive $5 million as one of the most coveted transfer additions in portal history.

The off-field attention is far from ideal and could work against Sorsby in a close Heisman race. Still, his on-field performance is difficult to ignore. Few quarterbacks protected the football better last season, as Sorsby was charged with just seven turnover-worthy plays.

Sorsby's 86.3 PFF passing grade at Cincinnati last season is the highest among the quarterbacks on this list and ranks third among returning players nationally behind Julian Sayin and Dante Moore. He now joins a reloaded Texas Tech roster looking to build on last season's conference championship and contend for a national title.

Mensah will play for his third school in as many years next season. Last year, he showed he can operate in a slightly more pro-style offense at Duke, where he lowered his average depth of target to under 10 yards and brought his average time to throw below 3.0 seconds. Consequently, Mensah reduced his turnover-worthy play rate and also found the end zone 12 additional times.

He will have electric wide receiver Malachi Toney at his disposal this upcoming season in the horizontal, screen-heavy Hurricanes offense. While Miami has lost significant talent to the NFL in the trenches, Mensah could well be an upgrade over Carson Beck at quarterback, and, given that Miami is one of the prime destinations in college football, it retains plenty of talent that many others frequently lose to the portal. 

With a full year of ACC experience under his belt, an upgrade in weapons around him, and all the tools to develop further, Mensah is one who cannot be ruled out of Heisman, National Championship, and Draft day considerations.

Darian Mensah: PFF grades by game in 2025

Hoover has enormous shoes to fill at Indiana. While the Hoosiers lost a significant portion of their national championship roster, a reloaded team highlighted by Michigan State transfer wide receiver Nick Marsh, combined with Curt Cignetti's relentless culture, gives them a chance to remain among the nation's top contenders in 2026.

That will require a bounce-back season from Hoover. His play at TCU took a step back in 2025, as he managed just a 71.4 overall PFF grade from Week 4 onward, ranking 54th among 105 qualified FBS quarterbacks during that span. Hoover will look to recapture the form he showed in 2024, when he earned an 83.4 PFF passing grade while doing an exceptional job of avoiding pressure, taking just 15 sacks on 127 pressures.

Hoover is also one of the older quarterbacks on this list and will already be 23 years old on draft day. That reality will likely work against him in NFL evaluations, regardless of how successful his lone season at Indiana proves to be.

Leavitt was the highest-rated quarterback in the transfer portal this offseason. Like Josh Hoover, he played his best football in 2024, when he posted an 88.5 overall PFF grade. His step back in 2025 is easier to excuse, however, as he played through a Lisfranc injury that ultimately cut his season short and required multiple surgeries.

Leavitt threw seven touchdowns without an interception over his final five starts at Arizona State, though he was fortunate that seven turnover-worthy plays went unpunished during that stretch. By comparison, the 2024 version of Leavitt produced just three turnover-worthy plays across the entire regular season.

Recent reports suggest Leavitt will be fully recovered and have plenty of reps under his belt by the start of the season. Under new head coach Lane Kiffin, LSU could open as high as No. 10 in the preseason AP poll. The last quarterback before Mendoza to complete the triple crown of winning the Heisman Trophy, a national title and the No. 1 overall pick was Joe Burrow — another senior quarterback in Baton Rouge.

Brown is perhaps the least-known quarterback on this list, but his 91.5 overall PFF grade at USF last season was higher than that of any other passer discussed here. In addition to his success through the air, Brown rushed for more than 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns, earning the second-highest PFF rushing grade among FBS quarterbacks.

Brown also dealt with a receiving corps that dropped 9.3% of its catchable targets last season. While top receiver Cam Coleman transferred from Auburn to Texas, the overall level of skill-position talent at Auburn remains a significant step up from what Brown had at USF. The same can be said for the level of competition he will face.

Quarterbacks without Power Four experience have traditionally struggled when making the jump to SEC defenses. However, that move also brings the kind of national spotlight that can rapidly elevate a player's profile. If Brown can maintain his level of play in road environments such as Georgia, Ole Miss and Alabama, he will attract plenty of attention from both Heisman voters and NFL evaluators.

It's difficult to envision Auburn mounting a legitimate national championship challenge after five straight losing seasons. Still, Brown's dual-threat skill set evokes memories of another quarterback who captured college football's triple crown while carrying an otherwise unremarkable Auburn offense: Cam Newton in 2010.