133 Quarterbacks Ranked Ahead of Fernando Mendoza in 2022

You know the story by now: Fernando Mendoza starred as a high school quarterback in south Florida, and wanted to play at Miami.

He couldn't get a scholarship offer from the Hurricanes, though. Or from almost anyone, so he went west to California and began his college career, before transferring to Indiana and leading the Hoosiers to the national championship and winning the Heisman Trophy.

Next up for Mendoza is the NFL draft, where he'll almost certainly be the first player selected.

It's hard to imagine he was an afterthought as a recruit, but that was the case as he was actually the 134th rated quarterback in the 2022 recruiting class by 247Sports.

Who were those 133 ranked ahead of him?

Let's see how many of these names actually ring a bell.

Below are the 133 players as well as the schools each ended up originally signing with (via 247Sports). I'll share quick thoughts on a few of the players throughout the list.

133. Brady Shannon (UCF)
132. Kevin Jennings (SMU)

Jennings has had more turnover issues than Mendoza ever did but the fact he was rated 132nd and turned into the player he did is remarkable as well.

131. Braden Waterman (Ole Miss)
130. Beau Green (Mercer)
129. Ashley Tucker (Alabama A&M)
128. David Dallas (Georgia Southern)
127. Chase Brewster (UMass)
126. Carson Haggard (Tulane)

125. Jackson Asary (Providence)
124. John Mateer (Washington State)

Mateer is now at Oklahoma, where he may have made a run to be in Heisman Trophy contention last year if not for an injury. Doing that from a No. 124 ranking puts him in the same category as Jennings and Mendoza.

123. Gunnar Hensley (Augustana University)
122. Brogan McCaughey (Yale)

There is an alternate universe where Mendoza accepts an offer from Yale and him and McCaughey end up having a fierce rivalry for playing time.

121. Zachary Siskowic (Bryant)
120. AJ Padgett (Rice)
119. Owen Bainbridge (Bowling Green)
118. Mekhi Lynn (committed to Buffalo at one point, but can't find where he eventually ended up)
117. Ryan Burger (Appalachian State)
116. Isaac McNamee (Murray State)

115. Jackson Jones (Washington)
114. Dom Montiel (Oregon State)
113. Landry Lyddy (Louisiana Tech)
112. Brandon Tennison (UTSA)
111. Callum Wither (Ohio)

110. Maddux Madsen (Boise State)
109. Devin Kargman (Kent State)
108. Gunnar Smith (South Florida)
107. Justin Holmes (Kent State)
106. Walter Taylor III (Vanderbilt)

It's impressive that Kent State had a pair of quarterback commitments ranked significantly higher than Mendoza.

105. Emmett Brown (Washington State)
104. Charlie Mirer (Stanford)
103. Jackson Holt (Eastern Michigan)
102. Delaney Crawford (Virginia)
101. Brendan Sorsby (Indiana)

Full circle spot on this list in a way, as former Indiana enrollee Sorsby wound up transferring to Cincinnati where he starred. He was seen by many as the top quarterback in the transfer portal this off-season and will have sky-high expectations at his new school, Texas Tech.

100. Avery Smith (Toledo)
99. Braden Fowler-Nicolosi (Colorado State)
98. Te'Sean Smoot (Jacksonville State)
97. Dontrell Jackson (Coastal Carolina)
96. Logan Gonzalez (Portland State)

95. Angel Flores (Northern Arizona)
94. Zan Dunham (South Carolina State)
93. Austin Meyers (Central Arkansas)
92. Blaine Hipa (Princeton)
91. Dylan Gebbia (Hawaii)

90. AJ Bianco (Nevada)
89. Mikey Pauley (Nebraska)
88. Kemper Hodges (Air Force)
87. Jalen Daniels (South Carolina)
86. JP Zamora (Washington State)

If you're counting, that was three quarterbacks in this class that originally signed at Washington State.

85. Deandre Smith (I can't find anywhere he ended up enrolling to play football at - any help is appreciated)
84. Chase Harrison (Marshall)
83. Larry Robinson (Army)
82. Brayten Silbor (Lehigh)
81. Cardell Williams (Tulsa)

80. Ethan Vasko (Kansas)
79. Bishop Davenport (Utah State)
78. Zeon Chriss-Gremillion (Louisiana)
77. Caden Becker (Wyoming)
76. Kyle Crum (San Diego State)

75. Byrum Brown (South Florida)
74. Owen McCown (Colorado)
73. Anthony Garcia (San Jose State)
72. Anthony Mix, Jr. (Miles College)
71. Jack Lausch (Northwestern)

Lausch has since given up football, concentrating solely on baseball now at that school in Evanston.

70. Bryce Archie (Coastal Carolina)
69. Cole Pennington (Marshall)
68. Caden Veltkamp (Western Kentucky)
67. Drew Dickey (Vanderbilt)
66. Jackson Stratton (Colorado State)

65. Adryan Lara (Kansas State)
64. Jayden Maiava (UNLV)
63. Treyson Bourguet (Western Michigan)
62. Jayden Sauray (Maryland)
61. Rocco Becht (Iowa State)

A couple of huge names on this list as Maiava enters 2026 as a Heisman possibility at USC, and Becht looks to take his game to an even higher level after following head coach Matt Campbell to Penn State).

60. Cameron Edge (Maryland)
59. Davis Lane, Jr. (Virginia)
58. Khalib Johnson (Louisville)
57. Ashton Daniels (Stanford)
56. Devin Ferrell (Virginia Tech)

55. Kaden Cobb (Ball State)
54. Jaxon Dailey (Arkansas State)
53. Joe Humphries (Maryland)
52. Donovan Leary (Illinois)
51. Bennett Meredith (Arizona State)

50. Alex Orji (Michigan)
49. Tyler Voss (San Jose State)
48. Carson May (Iowa)
47. Travis Throckmorton (Oregon State)
46. Brett Griffis (Wake Forest)

45. Tevin Carter (Memphis)
44. Braden Davis (South Carolina)
43. Steve Angeli (Notre Dame)
42. Josh Hoover (TCU)
41. Peter Delaportas (Boston College)

A year from now will we be looking at Hoover and doing the same kind of list? Hoosiers fans can certainly hope...

40. Noah Fifita (Arizona)
39. Bert Emanuel, Jr. (Central Michigan)
38. Zion Turner (UConn)
37. Davin Wydner (Ole Miss)
36. Myles Burkett (Wisconsin)

35. Max Brown (Florida)
34. Henry Belin IV (Duke)
33. Conner Harrell (North Carolina)
32. Richard Torres (Nebraska)
31. Brandon Rose (Utah)

30. Jacob Knuth (Minnesota)
29. Luther Richesson (Cincinnati)
28. Nico Marchiol (West Virginia)
27. Beau Pribula (Penn State)
26. Joshua Wood (Fresno State)

25. Braedyn Locke (Mississippi State)
24. MJ Morris (NC State)
23. Tanner Bailey (South Carolina)
22. AJ Swann (Vanderbilt)
21. Nate Johnson (Utah)

20. Garret Rangel (Oklahoma State)
19. Jayden Denegal (Michigan)
18. Zach Pyron (Georgia Tech)
17. Justyn Martin (UCLA)
16. Jacurri Brown (Miami)

15. Sam Horn (Missouri)
14. Holden Geriner (Auburn)
13. AJ Duffy (Florida State)
12. Tayven Jackson (Tennessee)
11. Katin Houser (Michigan State)

10. Brady Allen (Purdue)
9. Maalik Murphy (Texas)
8. Nick Evers (Oklahoma)
7. Gunner Stockton (Georgia)
6. Walker Howard (LSU)

5. Devin Brown (Ohio State)
4. Ty Simpson (Alabama)
3. Conner Weigman (Texas A&M)
2. Cade Klubnik (Clemson)
1. Drew Allar (Penn State)

Any year you do this exercise you can find names that are far too low on the list, but this should serve as a reminder to use recruiting rankings at your own risk, especially in the transfer portal era.

The most significant part to me was how many guys turned out to be really good college quarterbacks, but couldn't come near sniffing the top 60 or so on the rankings.