Meet the 7 underrated QBs who could be college football's next Fernando Mendoza originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
There might never be a better example of how drastically a quarterback class can change in a few short months than the 2025 college football season.
LaNorris Sellers, Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier were all considered legitimate first-round prospects and potential Heisman Trophy contenders. The name Fernando Mendoza was known by a much more limited number of fans, with the exception of those who stayed up deep into the night to watch him duel with Cam Ward at Cal.
The quarterbacks to watch this college football season are supposed to be Arch Manning, Dante Moore, CJ Carr, Julian Sayin, Trinidad Chambliss and Darian Mensah. It doesn't usually work out that way, though.
At least one quarterback without much name recognition in Week 1 is going to find his way into the thick of the Heisman Trophy race or the first round discussion, if not both. A rise like Mendoza's is tough to mirror, but there are a number of quarterbacks who have the talent to reach stardom in 2026.
#sporting
There might never be a better example of how drastically a quarterback class can change in a few short months than the 2025 college football season.
LaNorris Sellers, Cade Klubnik and Garrett Nussmeier were all considered legitimate first-round prospects and potential Heisman Trophy contenders. The name Fernando Mendoza was known by a much more limited number of fans, with the exception of those who stayed up deep into the night to watch him duel with Cam Ward at Cal.
The quarterbacks to watch this college football season are supposed to be Arch Manning, Dante Moore, CJ Carr, Julian Sayin, Trinidad Chambliss and Darian Mensah. It doesn't usually work out that way, though.
At least one quarterback without much name recognition in Week 1 is going to find his way into the thick of the Heisman Trophy race or the first round discussion, if not both. A rise like Mendoza's is tough to mirror, but there are a number of quarterbacks who have the talent to reach stardom in 2026.
#sporting
2 months ago
