A Unique Way of Assessing Drew Mestemaker’s Potential Heisman Candidacy

One national site took a different approach to assessing the Heisman Trophy hopes of 30 players, including Oklahoma State’s Drew Mestemaker.

Oklahoma State quarterback Drew Mestemaker. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

There is only one Heisman Trophy winner in Oklahoma State football history. Barry Sanders has been lonely for a while.

Sanders won his Heisman in 1988 with one of the most incredible seasons in college football history. Few backs have approached what he did that season in Stillwater. And no Cowboy has come close to claiming the trophy awarded by the Downtown Athletic Club each year.

That’s why the buzz around new quarterback Drew Mestemaker is notable. Some national analysts see him as a dark horse candidate to win the award. That’s based on his incredible season at North Texas as a redshirt freshman in 2025. The jury is out as to whether that production will translate for the Cowboys in 2026.

But, earlier this week, a national site that covers college football took a unique approach to determine a pecking order for Heisman contention.

Drew Mestemaker’s Heisman “Draft” Selection

Oklahoma State's Drew Mestemaker. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The Athletic (subscription required) took the approach of doing a fantasy draft for the Heisman Trophy. Eight writers selected four players in a draft that yielded 32 candidates for the trophy. Mestemaker was selected No. 12 overall, or with the fourth pick in the second round, by Bruce Feldman.

He was the first Big 12 player selected, though two former Big 12 players went ahead of him in LSU’s Sam Leavitt (Arizona State) and Indiana’s Josh Hoover (TCU).

Feldman’s logic?

“I could see new Cowboys coach Eric Morris lighting up the Big 12 just like he did in the American when he and Mestemaker were at North Texas,” he wrote. Feldman also said a season as productive as 2025 could vault Mestemaker into the Top 10 of voting.

Mestemaker was one of the most productive quarterbacks in the country last season and was the FBS statistical champion in passing yards as he concluded North Texas’ 12-2 season with 4,379 yards and tossed 34 touchdown passes. As Feldman noted, Morris was his head coach last year and now leads OSU. In addition, most of Morris’ UNT staff followed him, including quarterbacks coach Sean Brophy.

His season earned him the American Conference offensive player of the year, first team All-American Conference selection and FWAA freshman all-America selection. He was also awarded the Burlsworth Trophy, given to the nation’s best player who started as a walk-on.

If he has another season like 2025, and if the Cowboys are in contention for a Big 12 championship game berth, Mestemaker may find himself in New York City in mid-December.