How Oklahoma State QB Drew Mestemaker’s NFL Draft Hopes Could Soar

The Oklahoma State Cowboys have a new quarterback this year and how he plays in 2026 will determine if they have him for more than one season.

Oklahoma State's Drew Mestemaker. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Drew Mestemaker is one of the better stories in college football than the last few years.

The former Vandergrift High School product out of Austin, Texas, walked on at North Texas when he couldn’t get a major scholarship offer and redshirted in 2024. The hiring of Chad Morris as UNT’s head coach in 2025 was jet fuel for his career.

Last year Mestemaker led all quarterbacks in FBS in passing yards with 4,379 yards and won the Burlsworth Trophy as college football's most outstanding player who began his career as a walk-on. When Morris left for Oklahoma State, it was only natural that Mestemaker follow, one of nearly 20 Mean Green players that transferred.

For many years under former head coach Mike Gundy, quarterbacks ruled at OSU and several were drafted, Mestemaker could be the next. But in his third year of college football, he may be the hardest potential quarterback prospect to read for the 2027 NFL Draft.

Drew Mestemaker, NFL Prospect?

Oklahoma State's Drew Mestemaker. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ESPN recently rated the Top 5 draft prospects at each position. Mestemaker, as a redshirt sophomore, was eligible for consideration. He was selected No. 5 behind Texas’ Arch Manning, Oregon’s Dante Moore, Miami’s Darian Mensah and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr. Mestemaker gets a chance to measure himself against Moore on Sept. 12 in Stillwater.

But the site also noted that he was the hardest prospect to rank. Their explanation was an easy one. Mestemaker played at a Group of 6 school last year and the Mean Green didn't face a single power conference opponent in 2025.

In fact, the other quarterbacks played conference football last year. Mestemaker will get his first taste of it against Oregon and then against a packed Big 12 schedule that opens with West Virginia on Sept. 26.

While ESPN’s analysts see him as hard to read based on the competition, there’s a potential boon for Mestemaker. Based on his talent, the site believes he’s the most likely quarterback of the five to make a “Fernando Mendoza” type rise in 2026.

Mendoza played three years at Cal before he transferred to Indiana for the 2025 season, as he won a Heisman Trophy and led the Hoosiers to their first national championship in the College Football Playoff era. He was selected No. 1 overall by the Las Vegas Raiders in April’s NFL Draft.

The difference is that Mendoza joined a team that went to the CFP the year before he arrived. The Cowboys have won four games in two years and have an 18-game Big 12 losing streak. Mestemaker has his work cut out for him. So do the Cowboys.

But, if he can help the Cowboys execute a turnaround and look great doing it, he may not be in Stillwater as long as some might have hoped.