4,300-Yard QB Believed to be 'Best Story' in College Football

The first month of the 2026 college football offseason brought a wave of change to every program in the form of the NCAA transfer portal cycle.

Most of the thousands of transfers departed from their previous programs in search of greater NIL compensation and quicker routes to playing time. However, some groups of players clustered together in order to follow coaches from one program to another.

One key member of a cluster was former North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker, who transferred to Oklahoma State. Mestemaker is part of a larger group of players and coaches following head coach Eric Morris, who accepted the head coaching vacancy left by Mike Gundy.

The 6-foot-4, 211-pounder walked on at North Texas in 2024 and sat behind Chandler Morris during the regular season. Morris headed to Virginia via the portal prior to the Mean Green's bowl game, giving Mestemaker his first opportunity at a start.

He completed 26 of 41 passes for 393 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions while rushing for 55 yards and another touchdown in his first collegiate start.

Mestemaker gave the Mean Green a welcome surprise with his performance in 2025. He led all of FBS with 4,379 pass yards, 34 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. In addition to earning AAC Offensive Player of the Year and All-AAC First Team recognition, Mestemaker won the Burlsworth Trophy as the best player to begin his college football career as a walk-on.

The translation of the North Texas offense to a relatively open power conference is an exciting prospect for Oklahoma State fans ahead of the 2026 season. Shehan Jeyarajah of CBS Sports ranked Mestemaker as the No. 3 quarterback in the Big 12 heading into 2026, calling him one of the sport's best stories.

"Mestemaker is making the jump from the Group of Six level, but following coach Eric Morris from North Texas should make the transition seamless," Jeyarajah wrote. "The sophomore is one of the best stories in college football after not starting a single varsity game in high school, but he proved his upside as a passer and distributor during a legendary run to the American title game."

Who ranks ahead of Mestemaker on the list?

Jeyarajah noted the top three quarterbacks in the rankings have little separation between them. The No. 1 quarterback on the list is Arizona starter Noah Fifita, who enters his fourth season as the Wildcats' starter. Fifita has thrown for over 9,183 yards in his Arizona career, putting him in position to pass Willie Tuitama and Nick Foles to become the program's all-time leading passer.

The other quarterback ahead of Mestemaker is Texas Tech starter, Brendan Sorsby. After two-year stops at Indiana and Cincinnati, Sorsby is finishing out his career with a Red Raiders team that has positioned itself for another Big 12 Championship run.